I plan to go tomorrow and buy an SKS. I think they are very fun rifles and cheap to own. I need to know, there are many different countries who made these. Is there a particular model i should look for? Any certain one to avoid. i have been told to go after russian models, and stay away from chinese. Any truth to this?

Plus, where is the best place (cheapest) to buy the 7.62x39 bullets? Just a few years back they were like $79 for 1000. Now i am seeing $219 per 1000. Are gun shows the best way to go to get ammo???

 

the ar15 is a lot better gun than the sks, the only thing the sks has going for it is if hillery or obama gets elected it might be the only type of ammo you can get.

 

I dunno on which SKS to get, but Sportsman's Guide has a pretty good deal on sealed tins of 7.62 x 39 - suitable for burying in your backyard.

 

The Yugos and the Ruskies SKS seems to be very well made. For that reason they are worth more than the other communist block versions.

MikeyB

 

I agree with mikey, yugo and russian are the top line altho yugo is more common.

Romanian is the way to go on AKs. AK isn't that much more than an sks.

 

How much more is a typical AK??? If I am not mistaken the AK also fires 7.62x 39. Is this correct???


Plus, can you recommend a decent gun safe that does'nt break the bank. (No Pun).

 

SKS is a great rifle. Will never let you down and is cheap to own and shoot and reasonably accurate.
Russia, China, Yugoslavia, Romania (I think), Albania and I am sure there are others all made SKS rifles.

The only particular one that some might stay away from is the Yugoslavian as it does not have a chrome lined barrel. However a non-chrome lined barrel isn't a deal breaker for me.
Nothing wrong with the Chinese SKS or AK's as they are some of the best out there.

As far as cheapest place to buy AK/SKS ammo (7.62x39mm) would be www.ammoman.com or www.aimsurplus.com, www.copesdistributing.net it runs about $190-200/1000 shipped these days.

Back to the SKS. For the price of an SKS it is an absolute bargain. If the SKS was made stateside by a company like Remington or Ruger it would cost in excess of $600-800 but since there is an abundance of surplus SKS out there you can buy them for around $200 a piece.

Romanian AK's like the SAR1, 2, or 3 were pretty good AK's back in the early 90's but today's WASR's which are today's Romanian AK offering can have some questionably assembly quality at times.
If you start looking at new AK's I would suggest checking out the Yugoslavian underfolders that are out on the market at the moment.

To answer your other question: The typical WASR AK runs about $450 +/-. However, that would not be my first choice if buying a new AK. I would spend the extra hundred bucks and get a Yugoslavian variant be it full stock or underfolding stock. For around $550-750 you can get a nice Vector or Ohio Rapid Fire AK.

 

For me the two of the finest AK's made is the Finnish Valmet and the Israeli Galil. Both are a pleasure to shoot and very accurate.

MikeyB

 

there is someone that advertises in shotgun news out of prescott AZ that has Romanian AKs for like $400.
a good SKS is going to run $250 to $300 (altho, I think that shop in Prescott has them for < $200.
The chromed chamber (not the whole barrel), is to make it easier to clean.
Accuracy in an AK or SKS really depends on the ammo. The soviet spec 7.62 is 0.311 to 0.313 inches. some high end ammo loaded for the 7.62 X 39 is loaded with .308 bullets.

 

dont like the ak or the sks, love my ar15. Russian SKS is much better than the Chinese. The SKS and the AK shoot the same round, they arnt that accurate but the rifles will last forever. The sks is usually gonna be cheaper than the ak and the ak is cheaper than the AR15. The AR is much more expensive, but you can get surplus ammo cheap.

 

Cheap being a relative term... I have seen surplus go from $200/1000 for British to $500/1000 for Malaysian.

 

Well don't be trying price surplus 7.62mm NATO. That round has gotten expensive! Even the crappy corrosive versions.

MikeyB

 

.308 is priced about like 5.56
even surplus 30-06 is getting expensive and there is supposedly another 10 to 15 years at current sales growth rates of that.

 

Yes, J&G sales out on miller valley road. I do LOTS of business with them. Shipping kills you though, so whenever someone I know goes that way I have them bring me back some ammo.

 

Agreed, I have a Valmet in .223 EXTREMELY Accurate for the length of barrel and of course I prefer the NATO rounds for availability. It won't group with my heavy barrel Colt AR, but surprising none the less.

In the SKS rifles as well as the AK's you want a milled receiver for quality and durability.