Plinking Fun Chinese SKS

[Bald1]

Ha! $800? This rifle was bought around 2013 for $300 and I thought that was expensive back then. To me it is a beater rifle, although I don't abuse it at all. It's a shooter and probably had several thousand rounds through it. I repaced a firing pin and an extractor, but otherwise it just keeps on going. I'll take good care of it as long as I own it. Between this one and my Arsenal AK, I have several thousand rounds to shoot and I intend to get through them before I end up in the dirt next to this SKS.

2013 in NY they were asking 1200-1500 for them at gun shows. Right before NY Safe Act went into effect. I think I paid $150 in the early 90s. But it currently resides in one of my sons safes in TN.

 

[MAUSER888]

Doesn't look like an SKS paratrooper to me? It looks like a standard SKS.

Agree!!

 

[oneeyedpete]

I have 3: a 1956, 1957 and 1959 production at the Jian She factory. All with chrome lined barrels that shoot well for what they are. They were all a little over $100 if I remember correctly. They all shoot the Wolf Classic ammo best, even better than my reloads. They are great fun for the kids to plink with and surprisingly well made.

 

[jakerudy]

Correct....A contrived market based gun that never existed outside of Century Arms and other importers wishes....I never wanted one as I like the looks of the standard 20" version.

Interesting - I didn't know that. Bought a "Paratrooper" for $139 back in the 1990's when they were dumped on the market. It had a tendency to double fire and after awhile it went to someone that wanted it worse than me. The current prices are shocking.

 

[Model19man]

Got in a little trigger time with the SKS Carbine. This rifle will never be a target rifle, because of the heavy trigger and crude sights (not to mention my 73-year old eyes; is that the front sight or the target?). Nevertheless, it is still shooting to point of aim at 100 yards with Wolf (Russian) Military Classic. I would call it "minute of bad guy,"

Back around 1987 I read where former President Nixon had gone to China and made a trade deal with them. Then I went to the Market Hall gun show later that year and there was an SKS with 1000 rounds of Chinese made steel case ammunition. The price for all of it with a leather sling and a bandolier was $79. The chrome lined barrel made it resistant to even the crappy chemically foul ammunition that came with it. I bought maybe $10 worth of groceries and had a "vegetable hunt" with my new SKS. I was able to easily walk the bullets into the vegetables shooting at around 25 yards.

I looked in my safe recently and saw the SKS sitting there with 500 rounds of the steel case Chinese ammo remaining. I took the rifle, ammo, bandolier and sling to a local gun show. A nice fellow gave me $700 for all of it. I thought that was OK.

 

[firefighterjohn]

Ha! $800? This rifle was bought around 2013 for $300 and I thought that was expensive back then. To me it is a beater rifle, although I don't abuse it at all. It's a shooter and probably had several thousand rounds through it. I repaced a firing pin and an extractor, but otherwise it just keeps on going. I'll take good care of it as long as I own it. Between this one and my Arsenal AK, I have several thousand rounds to shoot and I intend to get through them before I end up in the dirt next to this SKS.

That's a great looking SKS! You're right, they are a blast to shoot. I think the Norincos are some of the best ones out there!

 

[My Toy]

In the early 80s you would see dealers at gun shows with crates of them selling for $100 to $110 bucks. At one time I heard jokes about them being so cheap that it was a waste of time cleaning one. Just throw it away and buy another one. At one point I had 4 of them. They had really rough/crude innards. Another member of a club I was in back then tried polishing the fire control parts of one. That one had a new operating mode: burst. Not sure of that members skill level but not long after I disposed of mine.

 

[fofoguy]

I had one I paid $90.00 for. A buddy of mine that helped me do stuff without pay asked about them. I gave it to him. A few years later, I asked about it. He said he sold it. I wish he had asked me first, I would have bought it. I cringe when I see them for sale for big bucks…

 

[silicosys4]

I don't think that is a paratrooper. On a paratrooper the bayonet attachment is directly under the gas block. 20" barrel is the standard length.

Of course, my apologies, I will delete my compliment immediately

 

[desi2358]

I got my first SKS back in the 80's, one of the many Chinese ones coming in at that time. It was a Factory 26 made piece in like new condition. Bought it at a gun show in Memphis, iirc it was $79 and got a can of surplus ammo with it for @ $20. Shot that rifle a lot! Later bought several more including 3 Russian made ones, a couple Yugos and an Albanian. After we closed the gun shop I ended up selling almost all of them off. I still have the Albanian one and keep looking at ones that show up at gun shows or local shops. Prices are an awful lot higher than they used to be! If I find one I like at a price I can deal with may just have to buy it. They are just a fun, reliable little rifle.

 

[Dave Haynes]

May '66 Up in IICORP all of the Russian style weapons were Chinese. M-16s and AKs were scarce unless you were in a maneuver battalion up on the Cambodian/ Laos border. AKs were trading material. We had a 101st Infantry Capt. trying to trade an AK for some fresh PRC 25s. I saw my first SKS in the lobby of MACV Headquarters at Nha Trang. It was a nice little handy weapon with a bullet hole through the stock right where the NVA's head would be. Around Khanh Hoa province you would be shot with a US Carbine or a 98K. 6 months later all that changed. The NVA got serious.

 

[roundgunner]

I bought a pair of what is commonly called Paratrooper quite a few years ago for about $120 each. Fun to shoot, loud AF!
A friend gave me a much larger version with a bayonet and a fixed magazine 20 years later. For that kind of money I may let one of the small ones go!
As you can see in photos one barrel length is 16" the other is 20" Overall length is close at 38.5 & 40.5" look at the difference in length of pull!
I like the marking on the larger, looks like "bullets go this way"

 

[shil]

They were never intended to be target rifles. Great fun to shoot, though! I bought mine from a large LGS 30+ years ago. One was on the rack. I liked it. Clerk brought me one in the box from the back room. The display rifle had a MUCH nicer piece of wood. I went home with the display rifle.

 

[shil]

Postscript: When a lot of the Russian rifles were imported years ago, I looked in vain for one made in and stamped with my birth year, 1950.

 

[Dano]

Pawn shop/gun shop here got a case of them in in 1991. Layered in grease
Norincos. I bought one for $90 bucks out the door. Great little gun. He sold
the whole crate in a couple weeks and ordered more. Deer hunters around
here bought them as fast as he could get them in for awhile. Been a lot of
deer, feral pigs and wild boar taken with those SKS's over the years. I own
a few AR's but when I'm reading a Post Apocalyptic novel, I see myself with
an SKS, not an AR.
Dano

 

[wundudnee]

I am amazed at the price they bring now. I did give $300.00 for my `950 Russian Tula a few years ago and $90.00 for the Yugo. Shoulda, couda, wouda.. I gave the Yugo to my grandson, I still have the Tula.

 

[undy]

I have a 73 year old original Russian SKS in mint shape. I have a small scope/mount and all the original sight pieces. The value on Russian made SKS' have gone through the roof. I have a GunBroker account and have been contimplating getting rid of it.

 

[LVSteve]

If Type 56 SKS are fetching $800 these days, I wonder what my Russian refurb model is worth.

 

[rotor1]

Bought one for $300 and found out it needed a new gas tube, hard to find nowadays. Bought 2 on gunbroker from a guy in Ukraine. See Norinco listed locally now for $600 and that is probably a good deal. These are really fine rifles but clean that firing pin to avoid slam fires.

 

[Terry G]

Wish I hadn't gotten rid of mine, for several reasons. Might have to pick up another soon.

You won't be picking one up for a couple of hundred bucks any longer.Top 4 are Yugoslavian 59/66, five new in crate for $600.00.Bottom two are Chinese Norinco's Standard SKS and "Paratrooper' . I took the bayonets off. I sold one of the Yugoslavian for $650.00 and a Friend said I could have gotten $800.00 easy.