First SKS purchase

[ahead]

Hello, im considering purchasing an sks before the new year and had a few questions. aimsurplus.com has them for $149 (excellent condition) with the bayonet and grenade launcher. heres the link:

http://www.aimsurplus.com/acatalog/Yugoslavian_Model_59_66_7_62x39_SKS_Rifle.html

my questions are, are the bayonet and grenade launcher legal? if they aren’t, can i purchase it, have it sent to my FFL and then swap out the GL for a muzzle break and get rid of the bayonet? what should i look out for? from what ive read Yugo Sks's are decent and im not looking to spend to much money on this, so this sks fits my budget perfectly. if this one that i posted isnt CA friendly, can someone post up a site that sells CA friendly SKS's? Thanks in advance!

[wilit]

The grenade launcher makes it illegal. It can't be removed without cutting it off.. Some companies weld a sleeve over it to make it inoperable, but it's fugly IMO.

Try http://www.classicarms.us/ You have to scroll down a long way, but they have Model 59's on hand for $149. The 59's don't have the GL like the 59/66

[Dr. Peter Venkman]

You are going to want a decent bore first and foremost.

Any SKS can be a shooter, but a good bore really helps out a lot in getting tighter and smaller groupings on the paper.

[Adrian]

You are going to want a decent bore first and foremost.

Any SKS can be a shooter, but a good bore really helps out a lot in getting tighter and smaller groupings on the paper.

what should some one look for? Im thinking about buying a buddies Russian SKS also. First SKS i would own.

[fal_762x51]

The launcher is threaded with a pin which is located under the launcher. It can be removed with out cutting, but as great as AIM is, they won't remove it.

[chiefcrash]

you might see if you can purchase it from AIM, and instead of them shipping it to you, have them ship it to a gunsmith. The gunsmith can take of the GL and put on a muzzle break (or disable the GL)

[bwiese]

you might see if you can purchase it from AIM, and instead of them shipping it to you, have them ship it to a gunsmith. The gunsmith can take of the GL and put on a muzzle break (or disable the GL)

Make sure that intermediate gunsmith is located outside CA...

[chiefcrash]

Make sure that intermediate gunsmith is located outside CA...

thanks, forgot to add that.

IIRC, J&G Sales in Arizona has thos Yugo 59/66s for sale, AND they have gunsmithing services. You might call them up and see if they can hook you up...

[Incitatus]

Yugo 59/66 is $179.00 in "special" at Turner's, with the grenade launcher already removed and a muzzle brake installed in its place. You get to inspect a few of them and pick the best rifle before you buy. Much better deal over buying a rifle you can't inspect, pay a gunsmith for GL removal and pay shipping and transfer fees.
If you think about buying a Yugo 59, most of the ones I've seen are "fair" to "good" condition as opposed to Yugo 59/66 who are "very good" or "excellent".

[Dr. Peter Venkman]

what should some one look for? Im thinking about buying a buddies Russian SKS also. First SKS i would own.

Russian SKSs have chrome-lined barrels if they have been arsenal refurbished. That's probably the case with your buddy's. Take the SKS and open the bolt, making sure it's not loaded. Take a flash light and shine it down the barrel and look through the barrel at the muzzle. When you look down the barrel, the light should be reflecting all over, somewhat like a mirror, and should have distinct rifling clearly visible. Even if that is not the case, a good cleaning should take care of it.

As far as that goes, I'd recommend any bore cleaner you have, and a rubber stopper. Plug the barrel with the stopper near the action, and pour down the bore cleaner into the muzzle. Let it sit for at least a day. Pour it out, clean the SKS as you would normally, and re-inspect the barrel. I did this to my K98 and now the barrel shines, and I could never get it cleaned before.

If you want to completely inspect it, head over to www.surplusrifle.com and learn how to disassemble it. The main problem I have heard (and have had severely on my own) relates to the gas cylinder latch that holds down the handguard, which has the gas piston inside of it. Make sure the latch has a snug fit over the hand guard. I've heard a few instances where the fit is too loose and the cylinder pops up after every shot, making semiautomatic fire impossible.

I had to actually file with handguard and the lever that the latch rotates to meet the handguard. Took me a loooooooooooooong time to get it right. The lever was bent out of shape and had dug burrs into the handguard. Kinda proud of myself for not taking it to a gunsmith.

If he would let you test fire it, any problems would be immediately visible.

Best of luck.

[new cal shooter]

yugo info

the Unissued and Excellent ones from aim are just that, just moved to CA got 2 excellent one's and 1 unissued had a gun guy heat up and remove the launchers, got some custom made brakes, VERY nice quality, if your looking for a great new break, let me know, post some pics later

[ahead]

lots of good info in this thread, thanks guys!

the Unissued and Excellent ones from aim are just that, just moved to CA got 2 excellent one's and 1 unissued had a gun guy heat up and remove the launchers, got some custom made brakes, VERY nice quality, if your looking for a great new break, let me know, post some pics later

how much did the work the smith did for you end up costing you? pics would be great!

[new cal shooter]

cheap smith

good smith, ex-military $30 for all 3 rifles, nice old man, just put them in a vice and pipe wrench and some leather, then some red thread locker for the new ones

[mltrading]

AIM surplus neither ship YUGO SKS 59/66 to CA nor have CA-legal 59/66.

You'd better find some other vendors offering modified YUGO 59/66. Good luck!

[gn3hz3ku1*]

i forgot what site but they offered to make sks ca legal for 20 bucks.. it was a option right on the website

but then it is prob easier to just go to turners if you have one near by