On Sunday November 27th I braved miserable weather to shoot a few rounds with my new SKS. I purchased the rifle on-line during Thanksgiving through the new web site LANZ Shooting Supplies had posted. The month between buying and now shooting the SKS gave me a chance to fully clean the Cosmoline from the rifle and yes, there was a lot of it.
This SKS is my first semi-auto rifle and I feel it's well designed for the common man such as myself. I once owned a LADA and after that experience vowed never to own anything made in Russia ever again. For those of you who know what a LADA is you know my shame. With a flip of the Take Down latch the entire Rear Housing, Bolt, Spring, and Carrier mechanism comes apart enabling full maintenance of the action. Another lever by the Rear Sight Assembly releases the Handguard, Gas Cylinder and Piston. It’s very simple to field strip this firearm so I guess the Russian gunsmiths put their smarts where it really counts.
To me, half the fun of owning this rifle is researching it's back ground. Starting with the concept for the design, which I believe, came from captured German Sturmgewehrs. And it's no mistake the Kalashnikov AK-47 also has strong similarities to the SKS. The one I bought on-line from LANZ was made in 1953 at the Tula Arsenal (aka Tula Arms Plant). Although all the serial numbers match the stock has come from another firearm making it refurbished. As for the city of Tula it has wonderful history dating back to at least the 14th century. Peter the Great, in 1712, commissioned blacksmiths and it became the first armament factory in Russia. It was also here in 1869 that Tolstoy wrote his celebrated novel War and Peace.
Okay, enough of the history lesson and onto the fun. Light rain blew in sideways out on Range Five. I pointed the muzzle down range at the 60 m target and loaded five rounds into the SKS. I tucked the butt into my shoulder, gripped the stock, aimed and fired. The SKS barked, the shell ejected. BAM! A perfect relay of engineering. The recoil of this Russian SKS handles very well. I've always liked the heavier wood stock of the older rifles for that reason. I've shot slugs from my current Remington 870 and after 25 rounds I'm ready to call it a day. This rifle is well balanced and easy to handle confidently and securely. I easily went through 200+ rounds of surplus 7.62x39 ammo. The next time I'm out at Silverdale I'll spend some time to sight the rifle. I understand there can be discrepancies with groupings at 100 yards. Today was just to have fun.
The only strikes I have against the SKS so far is the use of stripper clips and cleaning. I found I could load five rounds faster by hand then using the clip. If you go on You Tube you'll see other sportsmen having the same issue. The second strike is cleaning the firearm after shooting. That surplus ammunition causes a lot of residue that's thick, sticky and it get's everywhere. The bayonet is a nice touch but the silver paint cheapens the look. But I’m here to shoot the target, not stab it.
By David
