SKS Type 56

[Ontario Hawken]

A gun dealer here is selling never fired Chinese SKS Type 56 and I was thinking of picking one up as a deer gun. Are these guns accurate out to 100 yds? I know that the quality of the SKS can vary depending on the maker, but how does the Chinese Type 56 stack up?

Thanks for your help.

Scott

[Adam Helmer]

Scott,

I bought five New Chinese SKS rifles and four were very accurate. The odd gun out got swapped with another rifle for a Match Garand.

What is the dealer charging for the Type 56 SKS arms? I suggest you buy two or three and cull out the inaccurate arm. Out to 100 yards, the 123 grain spitzer soft point SKS bullet will, probably, kill small deer. I suggest you shoot twice, or three times, at 100 yard deers. The SKS is a marginal deer gun in my humble opinion.

Adam

[skeet]

I sold some of those Chinese SKS guns quite a few years ago. They will kill deer with dispatch in reasonable ranges. Had a bunch of friends that used them for Sika Deer in the swamps of Md. Sika deer are Japanese elk and weigh 150 lbs for a really big one. Most under 100. Ther rifles worked well in the swamp environment. The swamps are actually large marshes with tall Phragmites and swamp grasses so ranges are short. The only negative on the Chinese guns is the bbl. It is a drilled through tube with a glued in liner made of really hard chrome lined Metal(steel??)..or they used to be made this way. Out of some 100 of them I had two that the liner cracked on and half the barrel flew out the barrel of the gun. Most of them were fairly accurate and reliable. Of course they only cost 60-80 bucks then. Good ammo shoots pretty well these days. The old surplus was pretty bad.

[Adam Helmer]

skeet,

Those Chinese SKS guns are fun shooters. One day, long ago, at the local club a fellow loaded up one that cost $85 new in the box with the goodies. He put five rounds in the magazine and when he pulled the trigger, they all went down range. I told him he had a NFA Firearm. He said, "No this is a KEEPER!" Nuff said.

Adam

[skeet]

Adam..I have also seen that happen..and to the best of my knowledge they never made a select fire or full auto SKS. But with Chinese manufacture et al..who knows. I had a fellow bring a Bulgarian AK bring back from Viet Nam with all the capture papers etc and it was never demilled..and did all it was supposed to. Seriously though..a full auto AK or anything else costs beaucoup bucks here in the US and I have seen them for sale on the street in other places for 75 dollars US. I understand that fellow considering what he had as a KEEPER. The Eastern Block SKS and AKs are much better made than the Chinese variants. The SKS is a very good buy for keepin round the farm stead..and the caliber is somewhat better than the 30 Carbine for most uses. And now days..the ammo is cheeper. I have been known to appreciate cheeper LOL And as I have seen on here...so do you!!

[Gil Martin]

I also consider the Russian and Eastern Bloc SKS rifles well above the Chinese models. Most SKS rifles that I have seen were robust and functional. They seen to be more accurate than the AKs. All the best...
Gil