New rifle

[Taylor]

A friend called me up, asked what I got for my tomahawks. Offered to trade a Chinese Type 56 SKS. Got it in the mail yesterday. Never owned one, never shot one. Still learning about them, 4 digit sn. He also says it was made about 54-55.He says it's a battle field pick up and had blood on it when he got it. He cleaned it off. Stock is rough, I'll clean it and respray it with something. He gave me a sight tool too.

Got new Starline brass in the mail yesterday too. Have the Lee 312-155 (drops at 160) and H4895 to play with. Bullets cast and powder coated, but the Hornady gas checks don't fit so good. Gonna get one of Pat Marlins check makers. Got a birthday coming up, put out some hints to the family.

I'm already 3 guns behind on load development. Can't seem to get to the range, just too damn hot here.

Got a lot of research to do. I want to know for sure what exactly I have. I trust what he says, but just want to have a second opinion. I would have left the blood on it.

[nun2kute]

can you post pictures so I can be more jealous ?

[GhostHawk]

Mine was a Yugo with the gas shutoff and the ladder sights for rifle grenades.

All I did with my stock was to give it several layers of trueoil to lock in what it had.

It does have a name, couple of deep pits, a burned spot and other such battlefield scars it has picked up.

I think mine is a 52 which was the year I was born which just adds to it somehow.

Somewhere in the process of getting all the old cosmoline off, getting it bedded, lightly stoning a couple of trigger surfaces that yugo girl wiggled herself right into my heart.

I don't shoot it much. I have a hundred rounds on stripper clips in a box right below where it rests. Which is across the arms of an old desk/computer chair, down in my reloading casting room. Mag is full, bolt is locked back. Safe as houses till the bolt handle is jerked back. She's a rough tough ol girl and she does not seem to mind me calling her a Yugo female dog.

I've played around with load a bit. She likes the Lee .312 185 gr gas checked with tape on the mold to make em cast closer to .314. Gas checks get applied with a .314 sizer.

I upped the weight about a third so I dropped the charge about a third. After some testing I settled in on 20 grains of IMR 4895.

She seems to like it, at 50 yards she was picking off poker chip sized pieces of clay pigeon with very very few misses. Good enough for that old girl for me.

Rifling was dark when I got it, but I did manage to leaded up up good once shooting too small a bullet through it.

When I finally got it clean the grooves were shiny. Just took 3 days with lots of patches dampened with ATF follwed by tight dry ones. Wet it down again and walk away for a few hours. Just stick with it.

I would not trade mine for love nor money. She is peace of mind. Costs me nothing sitting there, a little oil on a rag a couple of times a year.

Be careful, I think once you have one that you enjoy they could easily breed on you. You could end up with a houseful.

I've been leaning towards a good Norinco with chrome barrel.

[richhodg66]

They're better rifles than a lot of people think. It's been a long time, but I did the cast thing in one years ago and tried downloading it to see how low you can go before it starts to malfunction and you can go way, way lower on charge than you'd think before functioning becomes a problem. With jacketed it was a lot more accurate than you'd guess, as accurate as I can shoot an open sighted rifle with a short sight radius like that.

Those kinds of things don't interest me much anymore, but I came away from the experience with a lot of respect for the design.

[Taylor]

I never had a great desire to own one. But for the most part it was free. Just had to pound out a tomahawk.245468

[Taylor]

can you post pictures so I can be more jealous ?

Sure can, maybe later on today. Too early to do anything right now.

[Lloyd Smale]

anyone remember when those things were 50 bucks a piece?? How stupid were we??

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Nice looking "hawk", Taylor!
I'll bet you'll really like your SKS. I like them better than the AK rifles.

[RED BEAR]

I just love mine its also a Chinese version. I don't remember $50 but got mine for $100. I also use the lee mold and it works good for me and i use gator or aluminum checks from sages and haven't had any problems. These really are better rifles than most think. I am old and don't like walking 100 yards to change targets but have no problem tearing the large bulls eye out of a target. My mini 30 is more accurate for the first 5 rounds or so but once the barrel heats up the sks will shoot rings around it. Still working on mini 30 need a barrel stabilizer and a little work on gas system and i expect improvement. But the sks like a timex takes a licking and keeps on ticking.

[Taylor]

can you post pictures so I can be more jealous ?

Here you go. She slugs at a perfect .312 and the bore is clean and shiny. Good grooves and lands.
245477245478245479245480245481245482245483

[TNsailorman]

Good deal Taylor. Having shot both, I prefer the SKS over the AK for the most part. On the battlefield I would take the AK only because it is quicker to reload. james

[Taylor]

I already have a Mosin, guess I need an AK to complete the series[smilie=b:, man,..if it ain't one thing, it's another.

[TNsailorman]

Yes. It's one of those things momma didn't warn you about.

[Texas by God]

The SKS is an excellent carbine. If it had a reciever sight it would be better. I also prefer it to the AK. BUT I prefer the 7.62x39 AR that I just built over them.

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[RED BEAR]

I actually like my ak better than the sks or mini 30 may not be quite as accurate but with a receiver mount and a descent sight it is accurate enough. I have a sunn sight and a green laser on mine and with 75 round drums its a blast. I have a hard time seeing the laser much past 50 yrds in bright light it works past that i can see it with my spotting scope i just can't see it with out magnification.

[Bigslug]

You've got one that has the larger barrel spud - no gap between the barrel and rear sight block - that I've understood to mean it's a threaded barrel, not a pinned one. Looks to have a beech stock instead of the usual orange boxwood. Nicely done!

Ranch Dog / NOE mold designed for the 7.62x39: http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/index.php?cPath=30_324&osCsid=uu3d1plen4s2gukh8et5pcnps3

[Rcmaveric]

I am still trying to work an SKS from my brother in law. He doesnt want to ship it. I dont know anything about them other than i just wanted that caliber.

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[Taylor]

I've been "horse trading" with my brother for years, always come out on the short end of the stick. So I know what you mean. Took me 20 years to get a Marlin Golden Boy from him...but I got it.

[RED BEAR]

I've been "horse trading" with my brother for years, always come out on the short end of the stick. So I know what you mean. Took me 20 years to get a Marlin Golden Boy from him...but I got it.

Talk about coming out on the short end dealing with brother. Mine borrowed a 9mm of mine when i went to get it back he claimed i gave it to him. Who needs strangers to screw you over. I should have known better he's famous for doing this. I just wrote it off just not worth starting a mess in the family. But i learned and so did he. I used to load all his ammo . Not anymore, he calls complaining about the price of ammo i just say yea it really has got expensive sorry i just don't load much anymore.

[LAGS]

@ Red Bear.
It seems like we must be related.
We seem to have the same Brother.

[Taylor]

I have 4

[Adam Helmer]

A friend called me up, asked what I got for my tomahawks. Offered to trade a Chinese Type 56 SKS. Got it in the mail yesterday. Never owned one, never shot one. Still learning about them, 4 digit sn. He also says it was made about 54-55.He says it's a battle field pick up and had blood on it when he got it. He cleaned it off. Stock is rough, I'll clean it and respray it with something. He gave me a sight tool too.

Got new Starline brass in the mail yesterday too. Have the Lee 312-155 (drops at 160) and H4895 to play with. Bullets cast and powder coated, but the Hornady gas checks don't fit so good. Gonna get one of Pat Marlins check makers. Got a birthday coming up, put out some hints to the family.

I'm already 3 guns behind on load development. Can't seem to get to the range, just too damn hot here.

Got a lot of research to do. I want to know for sure what exactly I have. I trust what he says, but just want to have a second opinion. I would have left the blood on it.

Taylor,

Very interesting post you made. Please elaborate how you, "Got it in the mail yesterday?" In what state did the SKS seller reside? Did this transaction violate the GCA 1968???

Adam

[Taylor]

Rhode Island. I have a C&R. The gun shop has an FFL.

Your questions are quite interesting also.

[Texas by God]

I see why Adam had the question. "Got it in the mail" implies USPS to most folks. You can't ship guns through the post office unless pre 1899 manufacture afaik.

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[Taylor]

I have 4

Well, guess we better make that 3. Brother Eddie passed away last night. Everything points to heat stroke. Damn it man.:(

[Speedo66]

I see why Adam had the question. "Got it in the mail" implies USPS to most folks. You can't ship guns through the post office unless pre 1899 manufacture afaik.

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You can’t ship pistols through the mail unless you have an FFL. I believe you can ship rifles to a person in your state or to an FFL.

[Gtek]

Lions, tigers and bears, oh my! The problem with all the different shipping "stories" is due to all the different regulations individual municipalities/states have imposed. One should be very sure about your location and understand it fully to avoid any discomfort, it does vary greatly.
In regard to SKS, if weapon is clean you have made a very good to excellent deal. May I suggest you visit Yooper John's SKS pages and absorb some of his wonderful work and amount of time he has spent on a great site. SKS is a tough critter to fully document but you can get real close confirming pedigree/configuration. The quick look and limited pictures appears to possibly be a Sino-Soviet, which happens to be one of the more desirable ones.
There are a few safety issues that I wish everyone understood. The sear angle can be a variable and has the potential to be a very bad thing, please take the time to google it and understand it (positive, neutral, negative). Also, sticky or stuck firing pin or even very clean and loose and single feed with nothing in magazine will create a very high probability of a slam fire. Only first two years of Russian Type 56 had firing pin spring IIRC, Chinese no spring and has a floater. Other than all the scary stuff, I really like my small collection and enjoy them. Also if your black helicopter is airborne do not throw anything away if you modify, anything from original unit configuration unless 922R comply. Enjoy!

[Texas by God]

I'm so sorry to hear about your brother like that.

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[Taylor]

Thanks Texas, least I got to see him a couple of weeks ago.

[Lloyd Smale]

kind of laughed. My dad had a 22 mag rifle, a tc carbine with 4570 and 3030 16 inch barrels another tc wiht a 14inch 410 barrel and a browning side by side 20 of mine that I LOANED him. He has had the shotgun for about 10 years. One day for some reason I thought about that gun. Tried to figure out where I sold it or traded it. Then the light went off in my head. Dad had it. His only hunting anymore is the first couple days of deer season so I called him and told him I was going to drive down and pick it up. He told me he gave it back to me years ago. I knew better and told him hed better look a bit closer. Well he called me back and said he remembered. He said I gave it to him (a 1500 dollar shotgun in the 80s) and my brother in law liked it so much that dad gave it to him. Seems dad is thinking he isn't going to be around long and wants to give thing to family members to pass down. thing is hes giving my guns to people not his. Found out he gave the 22 mag and the 410 to my nephews in montana, the tc carbine with both barrels to another nephew that lived close to him. I about flipped I was so mad. I told him to march his (you know what) over to my brother in laws house and get my browning back immediately. I told him I was on my way to pick it up. Well we had words ( I guess I had word) He also had my glock 43 that I had loaned him about a year ago and I made him show that to me. Told him it was to much hastle to get the guns back from MT and he could have the tc stuff as it doesn't do much for me anymore. He also had a single six of mine that he borrowed probably 20 years ago and I had forgotten. He gave that to me too. He should have kept quiet about that one because id forgotten all about it. Told him that my glock better not leave his house. Shook my head over the whole deal. Told him most fathers leave there guns to there kids. They don't leave there kids guns to someone else!!!!!!!
Talk about coming out on the short end dealing with brother. Mine borrowed a 9mm of mine when i went to get it back he claimed i gave it to him. Who needs strangers to screw you over. I should have known better he's famous for doing this. I just wrote it off just not worth starting a mess in the family. But i learned and so did he. I used to load all his ammo . Not anymore, he calls complaining about the price of ammo i just say yea it really has got expensive sorry i just don't load much anymore.

[William Yanda]

@ Red Bear.
It seems like we must be related.
We seem to have the same Brother.

Maybe they just went to the same school.