My friend has 2 SKS rifles. One is russina and the other is the Yukrainian. THey are VERY nice rifles. You can buy these thing NEW for like 190$ but they are still boxed up from the 50's. They are in TOP shape. I am wondering if anyone has used them for hunting? I want a new deer rifle and that is cheap and cool. What do you think? I know @ 200 yards they are not very powerfull but they are good for under that... Any info is cool..

 

well the one thing is that its a 30 cal. but not very much range if you were in tight brush it would be good caz there not very long . lets say for pig hunting up close and very tight 7.62x 39 is not a bad round even better if your on a budget 3.00 a box. but like i said not very good range . althoutgh ther3e are some people that may disagree. me myself I like to hunt with a little more nock down power and you cant go yrong with a Weatherby. I myself shoot a 300 weath MAG, it can take down anything in the north cont. and even some mid size game in Afica! one shot one kill

 

I have a couple of friends that hunt with SKSs and they like them. Where we hunt, it's thick wooded terrain with briars, etc. You never hear of anyone taking more than a 100 yard shot in our hunting area. They work fine for them. And as you know, they're inexpensive. I'm mainly a bow hunter, but I rifle hunt for a few days during the season.

Also if you've never tried deer hunting with lawn darts or Aunt Shirley's biscuits & a wrist rocket, you're missing out![img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

The Good - Cheap, semi-automatic, ammo cheap, fun, many available accessories

The Bad - not very accurate, little down range power(knockdown power), limited scope mount options(the ones I've seen are of poor design), Cheap stocks with short pull.

I've had several different versions of the SKS and none I would consider a good hunting rifle although I have killed deer with them. They are fun as hell shoot though. The SKS rifles I had weren't very accurate past 100 yards or so. If your not long range hunting and don't mind looking like an Al-Qaida suspect then I think it would be fine. My current go to gun is a Browning A-Bolt chambered in 300 WSM. I took a nice Mule Deer out in Wyoming back in November @ just under 300 yards. Its got plenty of knockdown power, but it wasn't cheap, I had to sell several guns to get it. Good luck.

 

it's a good play gun wouldn't count on it for anything serious. but hey i get to be around the browning 50 cal it has a little knock down power. if you like to plink it fun other than that put more money toward something that is like a ds[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

Coyoteman, I've had five SKS's, all were the chinese type and every one of them could shoot better than I was capable of with open sights. What type were you using? I know the paratrooper version has a shorter barrel.
Hitting pop cans at 400 yards open sights seems pretty good to me but I don't riffle hunt so I'm not sure whats needed.

 

Personally I hate them.

Make sure you don't use the FMJ for hunting, good soft point ammo can sometimes be hard to find for old military guns.

I'm a Ruger fan. I deer hunt with a M77 .270 with a 1-1/2 lb Timney trigger. Varmint hunt with a KM77VT .223, and a CZ .17 HMR Varminter.

 

I love my Ruger M77 Mark II (stainless/synthetic) .300 Win Mag. She's a tack driver.