I remember SKS 30 round duckbill mags everywhere it seemed. I bought some in a grocery store. They were selling off their stock while they could. Back then it was all USA brand and they all worked. I owned a bunch of them for a while and I never saw one fail for any reason. Later versions of the same mag were a joke. But those were great back pre-ban. There are still some around for sale or there were the last time I looked. I don't need any and I probably wouldn't even convert an SKS now because stripper clips are just as fast to load ammo. Maybe faster. And you can carry a lot more ammo that way.
7.62 x 39 ammo was still pretty cheap too. I remember stocking up for the future. I still have some of that ammo actually. I still have a lot of it.
An SKS was 1/10th the price of a good AR or less in those days. I would have much rather had an AR but the price was too high relative. Now you can buy an AR cheaper than a good SKS. Go figure. They have all been shot hard and put up dirty. I've seen them where you couldn't even pull the bolt back for the gunk. Probably the result of a love affair with WD-40 I'd guess. I almost never clean my SKS and it still runs perfect after all these years. It's pretty much retired now of course but I see no reason to get rid of it. No one would pay what they're worth IMO. Mine is relatively accurate and as dependable as they come.
Also I remember a lib friend of mine crying because the ban cost the Democrats control of Congress for the first time in a very, very long time. Lots of other things played into that like Hillary Care and the rise of talk radio but mostly it was the gun ban that doomed the Dems. I joined the NRA for the first time around that time. A lot of people did. They let people join for $10 just so your name was on their rolls. I was fighting back from some serious health issues which had hurt my ability to make money big time. So price was important to me on everything at the time. But I managed to buy my share of guns while they could still be bought. I even bought a TEC-9. Talk about a waste of money. They worked OK but it's good they had lots of ammo because you needed it to hit anything.
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