Clark: Thanks for the link on accurizing the SKS. Does anyone know of someone who has done this? I had wondered if the receiver would be held tightly enough without the "springiness" of the normal setup. Brady

I have also done the trigger modifications described one line.

I bought a new one 10 years ago.3-5 inch groups at 100 yds with 4x scope.

Clark: Thanks for the link for glass-bedding. That was pretty much the way I was going to do it, but I didn't know if it would work without action screws to tighten the receiver into the stock. Brady

I got a little better accuracy using handloads with 123 gr. Hornady bullets that are .312 (I think, am not at home). They fit the bore a little better than .308's. I didn't get very good accuracy with military ammo. In general I think the Russian rifles are better made and more accurate. Gun Tests magazine did a test on them and found a large variation in accuracy. The most accurate one turned out to be the one that was the most beatup.

The battle sights are not very conducive to good accuracy, especially for older eyes (mine). You can get a peep sight to replace the rear sight, but it is still pretty far from your eyes. I got a scope mount (no name on it, but came with a Leepers scope) that replaces the dust cover. It is made a little oversize, so that you can get a tight fit, but I still have to rezero the sight when I remove the dustcover for cleaning. I thought I had a good tight fit, but the accuracy improved when I tightened the screws on the mount that clamp the dust cover to the receiver for stability. They do tend to mar the finish a little though.

The big problem with autoloaders is that there is a lot of junk hanging off the barrel that interferes with the vibration pattern of the barrel. I have two ways that I have thought of that might improve the accuracy, but haven't found the time yet (need to get a round tuit )
(1) Putting a soft compound between the barrel and the stock and the forearm to absorb vibration. Be aware that some substances such as silicone rubber have the reputation for removing bluing.
(2) Blocking the gas port so that it would act like a straight-pull action, similar to the Schmidt-Rubin, maybe removing the gas tube. This would have the added benefit of preventing inadvertent full automatic fire. I asked about doing this on this site and nobody had heard of anyone making this modification.

I did read of a gunsmith who supposedly got 1" accuracy @ 100yds by changing the method of fastening the stock to the receiver (from the present method of using the trigger guard to clamp the receiver to the stock) to a conventional method using stock screws. This would allow the action to be glass bedded in a similar manner to that of a bolt action. I don't know if glass bedding an unmodified rifle would work or not, because to be tight this system seems to rely on a certain amount of stress on the trigger guard and the stock.

HTH, Brady

I have done the glass bedding described on line [with no pictures, I had to think], but I don't see any pictures of my bedding in my file

The gun is in storage.



Here is all I have of that gun, a picture of a case fired in a YUGO SKS:
22.5 gr W296, 180 gr, 2.19", note raised area of case head that flowed into ejector slot of bolt face

"Accuracy" is a relative term with military autoloaders. But actually, the SKS does tend to be more accurate than the later Kalishakov designs. I worked with a couple of Chinese SKS models and have found them to be fully as accurate as the sights are capable of (which is somewhat limiting.)

By the way, watch closely for "doubling" with the heavy firing pin of the SKS, and I would recommend ONLY shooting military loads OR handloads using extra tough military-type primers. With softer primers the SKS can fire simply upon closing the bolt. In fact, I'm surprised that there haven't been some lawsuits over them (or maybe the importers are judgement-proof.)

I was wondering about that too. The SKS I have does not lock the bolt, so blocking/removing the gas system would basically make it a blowback design, with too heavy of spring for reliable cycling of the action...or am I missing something?

Now if there was a way to lock the bolt and thereby stiffen the system, that might be interesting...

CDH: The SKS does employ a locking lug, it is on the underside of the bolt and cams downward into it's engagment surface in the rear of the reciever when the bolt and carrier are in the forward position. The action of said lug can be easily observed by removing the stock and trigger group from the action and cycling the bolt by hand.

My comment concerning gas in the face when the gas tube is removed has to do with the angle of the gasports in the barrel and the gas block. The way in which the gas ports are angled will direct the gas directly back into the shooters face in the event that the gas tube is removed.