I met a truck driver who has half of a forearm because of an SKS in Vietnam. He was shot when his fire base was overrun by the VC, and at about 50 yards. He said that he uses one for home/farm defense, as he knows what it can do.
As far as the range goes, it was originally designed for the combat ranges of the period, which was 200-400 meters. Also, the SKS was designed for urban warfare, where the weapon had to be as light as possible for manouverability. The cartridge is intermediate, so it will never be a sniper weapon. And, as far as reloading is concerned, it may be slow, but there was more than one troop firing at a time in battle. I think it's an underrated weapon. It just got overshadowed by the AK.
As far as the range goes, it was originally designed for the combat ranges of the period, which was 200-400 meters. Also, the SKS was designed for urban warfare, where the weapon had to be as light as possible for manouverability. The cartridge is intermediate, so it will never be a sniper weapon. And, as far as reloading is concerned, it may be slow, but there was more than one troop firing at a time in battle. I think it's an underrated weapon. It just got overshadowed by the AK.
