My mods on SKS rifles.

[PAX]

Great job saving those trigger groups and decent parts-built guns.
I was pretty fortunate that most of my builds were on older SARCO salt mine arsenal /26\ chassis (those babies were rough with surprisingly good bores). The receiver serials put them as C&R, even if the rest was cobbled together or scrubber. I advertised a few showing them in T6s but put them in old "cracked stock specials", so they could still sell to 03 guys as C&R and included the poly furniture with the deal. I moved a bunch during the plague buying frenzy. Finally sold a couple kinda unique Paratroopers to my bud in Rathdrum Idaho last week at a wedding I was attending. It seemed to me that they sat too long with few tire kickers. I blamed it on the cheap steel & milsurp ammo drying up. Paras used to fly out of the rack PAX

[monaderio]

All Chinese, Russian, and Romanian barrels are chrome-lined, which contributes to their long lifespan. However, I cannot say the same for Yugo barrels. If you are building a custom rifle, I recommend avoiding Yugo barrels because they are not chrome-lined, and many of them have rusty, poor bores.

[PAX]

All Chinese, Russian, and Romanian barrels are chrome-lined, which contributes to their long lifespan. However, I cannot say the same for Yugo barrels. If you are building a custom rifle, I recommend avoiding Yugo barrels because they are not chrome-lined, and many of them have rusty, poor bores.

My "custom" SKS rifle building days are mostly over. Once upon a decade, NUMRICH, SAMCO, SARCO and APEX had Yugo barrels for $80 bucks or less. Scuttle butt has it that non-chrome are more accurate, many milsurp guns aren't chromed, like M1 Garands. PAX

[monaderio]

Both of my Yugo barreled receivers from the $80 source you mentioned experienced failures to feed (FTF) due to worn barrels. After replacing the worn Yugo barrels with Russian and Chinese barrels, the FTF issue was resolved. I've noticed that non-chrome-lined barrels require more maintenance, including regular cleaning and lubrication. While I agree that they offer better accuracy, I'm not a sniper; I'm simply a collector who uses the shooting range about once every six months. Overall, I appreciate the quality of all SKS Yugo parts except for the barrels.

[PAX]

These weren't barreled actions, they were NEW 59/66 barrels without the sights or grenade spigot. I think it was xt who posted some builds with them, 2011ish? The last couple SARCO barreled receivers I picked up (5-7 years ago) had bad wear at the muzzle. Cutting them back to 18.5" got into good rifling and left enough undercut to use a neutered front sight globe. Some commercial bayo ban guns were so cut. There's a link to those on the forbidden SKS site. After years of those actions hanging around my shop, I built the last of any SKS work I'll be doing, except one secret project, okay maybe two.
Here's the last 2 I built. One, a meat getter rifle, is in Butler Creek furniture with a Mojo sight and 5 round mag, I call it the Canadian Deer Slayer. The other went in a Shernic bull pup. I used an Alby carrier and mag for some flair and had to add a Ramline brake to get into legal OAL. I left the globe on incase the next guy wants to go conventional. Posted these here before in this thread, PAX

[monaderio]

Without regular maintenance, the Yuggo barrels could face significant problems.  This problem won't occur with chrome-lined barrels. That?s why I choose to stay away from them.

[PAX]

I think the first SKS rifles with the cuneiform bayo aren't chrome either, but they're at the top of the Russian collecting food chain, alongside Yugo M59s non-chromed long barrels, Bs & Cs. Also much sought after. My M59C looks new unfired or arsenal refurb, one of the nicest I've got.

Here's a quick and crappy shot of my humble Euro SKS iron heap. I got the top rifle out of Huston. Took 2 months of Kali DOJ hassle. (just sold it local, replaced it with an as issued '51l)
Top to bottom:
'51 Tula light refurb BBQ, where there's #s they match, only the stock is forced, doesn't seem run much, bolt and hammer face look new, over all excellent
'54 as issued Tula but ruined by the former 01 FFL who bought it new for $89 bucks back in the day, I call it the "Green Hornet"
'54 Izhevsk refurb all matching and not run much
'59 M59C Yugoslavian as issued with correct sling, about the cleanest SKS I have
'60 M56 Romanian, (Transylvania actually) forced in many areas, rough furniture, typical example for a Romy, good bore but looks like a vet
'69 & '70 M56 Albanian both matching, '70 is nicer
These guys are all cosmo free, clean and functional main battle rifles but are hanger queens. Someday I'll do a better pictorial layout, thanks for looking, enjoy. PAX

[monaderio]

You have a nice collection of SKS rifles. What do you think about replacing the "Green Hornet" stock with a standard brown stock or professionally removing the green paint?

[PAX]

You have a nice collection of SKS rifles. What do you think about replacing the "Green Hornet" stock with a standard brown stock or professionally removing the green paint?

Thanks, that's about 1/3 of the SKSs I've kept after culling out a boat load of rifles. 17 SKS rifles, mostly Chinese dupes or parts-built guns, a Romy and 2 Albys went in that batch. After selling 2 Paras I think I'm done for a bit.
I can just make out the matching serial under the green paint. It looks like it's removable but is way low on the priority list. I have a stack of good wood including a nice unnumbered Russian laminate, shown below being tried out on a Romy.  If I were to sell it, I'd put an "I really don't want to sell" price on it and get it. It was actually a barter deal, the Green Hornet and 1K ammo, for a 180 series Mini 14 I picked up for a couple hunnerd bucks. My first Russian. PAX

[monaderio]

I purchased a solid wooden stock for my Chinese Arsenal 0306 custom build instead of a "jungle" stock. I am temporarily using the "jungle" handguard until I find a matching wooden stock color.

[monaderio]

After a slight adjustment to the crossbolt, my new build is complete. It's time for testing at the shooting range.

[monaderio]

I returned four rifles, restoring their modified stocks to the original factory configuration. These rifles have mismatched serial numbers. Three of them feature M14x1 LH threaded barrels for muzzle brakes, and two have altered front sights. No other modifications have been made.

[LESchwartz]

I returned four rifles, restoring their modified stocks to the original factory configuration. These rifles have mismatched serial numbers. Three of them feature M14x1 LH threaded barrels for muzzle brakes, and two have altered front sights. No other modifications have been made.

Many folks add all sorts of aftermarket parts to their rifles, only to find the value is now toast -- and this despite spending $100s on parts.  On the other hand, I think you may have *increased* the value on these SKS rifles despite spending money on them . . .

Nice job,

Larry

[PAX]

Yes those are clean assemblies.
I think I finally decided to replace the FSB of my PS rifle versus attempting to quasi restore the wretched thing. When it was in the rack at my LGS, it was in ATI Monty furniture with a receiver cover mount, 2 matching parts gone forever. I did what I could with what I had. There were 2 set up like that (10 years ago for $300 each?). Replaced the ATI with a Timbersmith (thanks LESchwartz), added a repo Romy sling (I love those slings-they're elegant), blank receiver cover and Tech Site 200 that I had laying around. The FSB with no bayo but rod guides and lugs always bothered me. I've got a neutered and blued FSB I'll be using. I'm going to quit fretting about the correct configuration and go that route. It's virtually new and will always be a clean PS rifle and a decent assembly for an example. PAX

[monaderio]

I have two builds that I will not revert to their original factory configurations.

The first is a bullpup, which includes a modified bolt, a left-side charging handle, an AK-47 front mag release, and a modified Tapco 20-round magazine.

The second is a sniper rifle with a folding stock that features a Fab Defense chassis, a modified bolt that allows the magazine to be inserted with the bolt closed, an Alby bolt carrier, a one-piece dust cover, and a long Picatinny rail.