Paladin:
There's so many statements in your thread starter that I just cannot agree with, that I wonder if you made them just to stir up a variety or responses. My comments are in bold font:
They've been real plentiful on the milsurp market, and the Chinese have flooded our shores with them. True. But many tens of thousands more came from Russia, Yugoslavia, Romania, and Albania. Still more were made in East Germany and North Korea, but those variants are unobtanium in the US. Pretty ubiquitous weapon, having such widespread acceptance in so many ComBloc countries, no?
They are not really rifles, not really carbines . . . Uh, by my tape measure the SKS is a carbine.
. . . and in spite of the fact that they fire an "assault rifle" cartridge, they are not assault rifles . . . Agreed, but the term "assault rifle" applies to the weapon, not the cartridge. My Savage bolt action is aslo chambered for an assault rifle cartridge, the 308/7.62 NATO used in the G3, FAL, CETME, and M14. That doesn't make the Savage an assault rifle, because it, and the SKS, do not have assault rifle features.
- no hi-cap mag . . . The Chinese made and issued a 20 rd fixed mag for the SKS. That's hi-cap in a number of states.
and no full-auto capability . . . True, but an assault rifle need not be select fire to be an assault rifle.
The full metal jacket military rounds are no good for hunting True, but the 7.62x39 is available in SP and HP loadings from a number of ammo manufacturers, not to mention all manner of boolits for reloading. As others have mentioned, there were a spate of articles in the popular gun press in the late 80s and throughout the 90s about the SKS being the "poor man's semi-auto deer rifle," and in those states that allow hunting with a semi-auto rifle, the SKS has acquitted itself well as a mid-sized game getter.
and they aren't all that accurate for target shooting . . . Whoa, Hoss!! That's just plain wrong. I have a few SKS that are sub 2.0 MOA. In my experience with the SKS and the AK clones, the SKS generally hands-down beats the AK clones in the accuracy department, and I've been shooting the SKS and AK since I maintained captured examples as a Marine armorer (2111) from the early 70s through the mid-80s. The captured weapons were used for familiarization training. Accuracy was a big function of individual weapon condition, but in general the SKSs were more accurate than the AKs. That holds true for the SKSs and AK clones in my personal collection.
The chicoms aren't really collectible, although the Russian imports might have some claim in that direction . . . Tell that to collectors who are looking for SKSs made by particular Chinese arsenals (there seem to be 15 or 20 that made the SKS, and certain models of Chinese SKS, such as the early Chinese SKS that was more Russian than Chinese. Or the late model Chinese SKS with the plastic upper HG. Or the so-called shorter "Paratrooper" model which was purely for the US market, or the M and D models that accept hi-cap AK mags . . . Then there's the low-production Albanian SKS, the low-production Yugo 59 SKS without the grenade spigot that predated the 59/66 that comes with the grenade spigot, and the Russian SKSs made at Izhevsk, which are vastly outnumbered by those made at Tula . . . I could go on.
I have one, almost against my better judgment. This one was made at the Tula arsenal in the Soviet Union in 1951. That's a great example, and your photo is outstanding. Congratulations!
What's the charm of this interim Cold War relic? I collect and plink, but to me the interest is in the historical significance of the SKS. The SKS is the Soviet answer to the German Mp 44, and is the short-term "bridge weapon" that took the Red Army from the Mosin-Nagant to the AK series of weapons.
JMO, but keep in mind that my perception is my reality. YMMV.
Noah
Like I said, put one in the hands of a good warrior............
