A few SKS Questions

[Cyrano]

The Yugos were the only SKS variant that did not have a chromed bore. That has a lot to do with why they have a reputation for not shooting as well as some fo the others. I have one; it was my first centerfire rifle and my first ComBloc rifle. It shoots pretty well for me; I'd have no heistation to use it on deer now that I've scoped it.

[Cyrano]

Originally Posted by Archetype_wyo

Does anyone have or know where to get a stock mag for the SKS for anything less than $40 shipped?

Take a look at Southern Ohio Gun. They often have SKS mags for under $20.

[thrillbilly]

LOL that's what I need...another gun to "collect" LOL I'm still working on the MNs! I mainly want one to shoot the crap out of and throw in the truck...my brother got his NIB norinco for 90$ back in the day...wish he'd been thoughtful and picked me one up! LOL I wasn't old enough to buy a gun till 2000...the MNs are the only cheap mil-surp left, and they get higher every day.

I'm liking the tapco 6-position stock...any pros or cons from owners out there? The factory stocks are way to short for my 6'7'' frame...so a stock of some sort is needed. I will probably stick with the 10rd fixed mag, since everything I'm hearing says that's the only 100% reliable way to go.

[Archetype_wyo]

Originally Posted by Cyrano

Take a look at Southern Ohio Gun. They often have SKS mags for under $20.

No dice. I have a couple tapco mags and just want to deal with the regular stock mag that the SKS comes with out of the factory.

[WannaBeGunsmith]

Originally Posted by Archetype_wyo

No dice. I have a couple tapco mags and just want to deal with the regular stock mag that the SKS comes with out of the factory.

I'll sell you mine for $30 shipped

[Archetype_wyo]

This is the integral SKS mag right?

[WannaBeGunsmith]

Yes, the 5 rounder that I have never used. I have 7 tapco 20rd mages and I had a 30rd Cobray that magically grew legs and walked off...

[Archetype_wyo]

Yeah the one I'm lookin for is the 10rounder. Stripper clips only come in 10rounds lol.

[WannaBeGunsmith]

Maybe it is 10 rds. I've never used it. It came with my rifle when I get home I'll load it up and let you know.

[gandog56]

Originally Posted by Mooseman684

I have one and A Brand new Norinco still all greased up !

Rich

With polar bear grease?

[larmus]

Originally Posted by thrillbilly

I'm liking the tapco 6-position stock...any pros or cons from owners out there? The factory stocks are way to short for my 6'7'' frame...so a stock of some sort is needed. I will probably stick with the 10rd fixed mag, since everything I'm hearing says that's the only 100% reliable way to go.

thrillbilly, i love my tapco stock very ergonomical, I keep the stock at the second position and it works well for me... when its fully extended its a little to long for me, and im 6' on the money... so i think you would do well with it. I recently put a vert foregrip on it and it makes handleing alot better...

[res45]

There is a lot of misinformation concerning chrome lined bores,this FAQ explains a lot.

OnePoint SKS Board:

Chrome lined barrels are generally thought of as trading accuracy for longevity, and that would be correct generally, but not specifically. In other words just because its chrome lined doesn't mean it wont shoot well, or that if its not chromed it won't last.
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1st off, a primer on how barrels are made. More indepth explanation can be found here - Lilja Precision Rifle Barrels - Articles: The Making of a Rifle Barrel

A barrel starts out as a chunk of specifically heat treated round bar stock of chrome moly steel. To get the required hardness of 4140 or 4150 they add harder (and denser) elements of Chromium and Molybdenum within the steel as its smelted. 410 or more commonly 416 stainless is also used on a lot of barrels, being relatively the same hardness as 4140 chrome moly steel. From the forging company, usually about 1" in diameter for small arms, but varies depending on what the purpose is. These are purchased in bulk lengths by barrel makers, cut to length and bored under size to whatever spec the caliber is. This is done on a deep bore drill, basically a specialized mill. Then the blank is rifled. To get the bore to the correct diameter, they use reaming, to improve consistency of the bore and produce a smoother finish than the higher speed drill leaves. Its the reaming process that has impact on accuracy on most barrels, some barrels are not reamed at all, just inspected for minimum tolerance and sent out. Some are reamed once, and others are reamed several times depending on the specs they are building to.

Next comes rifling. The oldest method was to actually cut the rifling one groove at a time into a barrel. The most common rifling now is called button rifling. Its made by pushing a football shaped plug with the grooves on it through the bore which pushes the metal of the barrel to form the rifling. Another way is called hammer forging, where they insert a full length plug with the grooves and hammer the outside of the barrel so it forms around the plug. (Read more on it here - Hammer forging) All of these produce a traditional flat groove style rifling. There is another style that is a non edged type instead of the square edged type called polygonal rifling, it produces a smoother bore with flat "lands" that induce the bullet to spin. Glock is one maker who uses this type.

After rifling, some barrel makers will lap the barrel at this point. Armalite claims to lap their barrels before going to chroming to improve consistency of the rifling and bore.

After rifling the chrome layer process is completed. It basically puts a layer of chrome down on the interior of the barrel and welds it to the steel, chrome is roughly twice as hard as 4150 steel. If done correctly it should never separate like chrome does on bumper, its not a separate layer but bonded. They do have to accommodate the extra thickness of the chrome layer, so they slightly oversize bores for barrels intended for chroming.

_

This is why chrome lined barrels tend to not be as accurate. Any time you put a layer of something over an contour, it magnifies it, so any imperfection in the barrel surface is made more so with the extra layer that adds to the surface. There was in the early days of chrome lining process problems keeping the lining thickness uniform as well, though the process has become much more automated and a lot of that has ceased to be an issue.

For normal shooters, chrome lining is not an accuracy killer. The barrel quality control underneath the lining is far more critical than the lining itself. In many cases the lining being an accuracy issue is only one to those like match shooters trying to shave 1/4 MOA off groups.

The main advantage of Chrome is being much harder and impervious than 4150 steel, will hold up to wear a lot longer giving a much longer effective lifespan of a barrel. Its also much easier to clean as powder residue and lead will not work into the pores, like it does in bare steel.

However a chrome lined barrel can still wear and reduce accuracy quickly depending on the use its subjected to. Most wear occurs in the throat, where the most heat and contact friction is, if the wear is sufficient it can cause the bullet be less stable as it travels down the barrel, even chrome lined rifles will have reduced practical accuracy life in full auto use.
Chrome lining also does not protect the crown, which can have a major impact of accuracy of a barrel.

The bottom line is, for any utility or defense rifle there is no reason to not opt for chrome lining where offered. But its not necessary either. A lot of rifles have lived generations without chrome lining, and if you are into accuracy then without question the more accurate barrels are not chrome lined.

Lilja Precision Rifle Barrels - Articles: The Details of Accuracy

[AK Hunter]

Originally Posted by Archetype_wyo

No dice. I have a couple tapco mags and just want to deal with the regular stock mag that the SKS comes with out of the factory.

Try here, these guys have just about everything you would want for any gun.

SKS | 59/66, TYPE 45, TYPE 56 | ITEM#491020 | e-GunParts.com

thrillbilly, have you looked at any Yugo SKSs? You get an extra with a Yugo, not only is it a very accurate gun the Yugo comes with a grenade launcher attached that when loaded with a blank cartage will launch a practice grenade. It is a lot of fun with friends, we make a game out of it. I'll shoot the first shot and mark where it lands, then the rest take turns tiring to get as close to my shot as they can.

[Archetype_wyo]

Yeah only problem with Numrich and alot of these other places is they call alot of things what they aren't and don't provide pictures.

[MilkMan]

AK Hunter, where did u get the dummy grenade from? I found one place on the internet but they are always sold out.

[AK Hunter]

Originally Posted by Archetype_wyo

Yeah only problem with Numrich and alot of these other places is they call alot of things what they aren't and don't provide pictures.

Here is another place to try.

Yugo SKS 10rd Magazine - $24.95 : Military Gun Supply, Your Source for Military Guns and More!

Or you could get on this forum and ask them I'm sure they will know.

Survivor's SKS Boards - Index

[res45]

M1A2 Grenade Adapter

[AK Hunter]

Originally Posted by MilkMan

AK Hunter, where did u get the dummy grenade from? I found one place on the internet but they are always sold out.

I mostly find them at gun shows but I have found them at mil. surp. stores.
You could need to ask if they could order one for you.
Here are some spares, the one I use are painted orange so they don't blend into the grass on the range.
The blanks I use come in blister packs of 10 like this.



Just set the dummy grenade & launcher over the end of the muzzle don't press it down over the muzzle.
If you hold the gun at a 45 degree angle the dummy grenade will go about 75yds.

[MilkMan]

Thanx AK, Res45!

[Belt Fed]

I have two, both are Chinese with arsenal 26 stamps, milled and threaded. One I brought back from Nam and the other I bought new in the USA. The new one has a serial no. over 800,000 lower than the one from Nam. They must have made an awful lot of these.