Current SKS pricing?

[barefoot]

Hi Everybody - I hate to start a thread about this, but I haven't been about to find any good current info on what would be reasonable to pay on SKS rifles of various conditions or origins. Can anybody point me to a good resource for this info? (or just tell me)

When visiting a gun store this weekend in San Antonio, I saw what looked like a very nice-condition Norinco/Chinese w/o the bayonet - it was priced at $475 (on consignment) which I thought was high, but I don't know. They had several others, but they were all priced in the $500-$700 range - which is WAY too much - at that price I'd rather have an Arsenal AK.

Thanks in advance!

[captain concrete]

i live in NW Illinois and just bought a 99% norinco with matching numbers, bayonet, sling and cleaning kit for $268. that is about the average here. you can find them a bit cheaper if you look hard and wait but i really liked this one and ive never been one of those guys who will argue and argue and let $20 spoil a gun deal.

i dont expect prices to go down any in the next few years so if you find something you like, dont let $25-50 spoil the deal. now if your just trying to buy cheap and flip it for some cash, then ofcourse you'll have to be a bit more picky. but if your just wanting to add to your collection, now is the time... at least thats what i keep telling the wife

[barefoot]

Yeah, if it's a few bucks I wouldn't worry about it, but this one was $200 over the price you got.

I guess the Russian ones are more expensive, and I'm sure if it's NOS/NIB, it would come at a premium, but the ones I saw were neither Russian or new. Apparently, my town is the place to sell, not to buy.

[captain concrete]

yeah $475 is way too high. if its NIB condition and you really really want it, $300-325 would be about top price and then there would be no room for resale on that price.

only seen 2 russians in the last couple years here locally and they were very nice ahape and in the $450 range. i personally dont own a russian but for that price, id want it to be a little something special (like a DDR) not just a common one.

i dont own anywhere near the number of sks' like some on this site, im sure others will have a better price base for you.

[sksrosie]

 Location is everything. Around me 300 is the average and many for less if you search for them.The last gun show here I saw a couple yugo's for 200 and Chinese were around 300 but I'm sure with some dealing you could have got one for less. There was a 50' Russian refurb that the seller has had there for two years marked at 350 he dropped his price to 310 and it was gone.

[ranger1968]

Location is everything. Around me 300 is the average and many for less if you search for them.The last gun show here I saw a couple Yugo's for 200 and Chinese were around 300 but I'm sure with some dealing you could have got one for less. There was a 50' Russian refurb that the seller has had there for two years marked at 350 he dropped his price to 310 and it was gone.

  Location/region does seem to have a lot to do with pricing; I know that in my area, the most common SKS rifles are the Chinese, and I see them in the $200's....other places they fetch quite a bit more; The same seems to apply with the other nations SKS's as well....

  Check Craig's List, the Arms List website for your area, the classifieds, pawn shops, gunshows etc, in your area to get a composite of what the average SKS pricing is in your particular region.....
   

[boomer34]

If you go to the Russian thread and look for my usual posting of Russian prices in May you will fing a list, including year of orgin and type, for the rifle actually sold in May. If you want to dig further you will find 14 other monthly reports. The report is on the first page down low and titled "OK folks, here is my May GunBroker report".

[MakarovingCharges]

Gunshows and gunbroker are your best bet for lower prices. If you live in an area where the few gunshops KNOW they gotcha ... guess what they usually gotcha and a half! Speculators have been driving the prices up too. Not much you can do. We both should have gotten into this when the milsurp wave was new and these were less than a hundred bucks a piece.

[KOOLmike]

Gunshows and gunbroker are your best bet for lower prices. If you live in an area where the few gunshops KNOW they gotcha ... guess what they usually gotcha and a half! Speculators have been driving the prices up too. Not much you can do. We both should have gotten into this when the milsurp wave was new and these were less than a hundred bucks a piece.

That must be a regional thing as well. SKSs are usually priced through the roof at the shows around here, and even on GB, an auction that closes at $200 has to have $40-$50 or more added to it for shipping and FFL.

I find the best deals come from individuals via local classifieds. Even Chinese ones listed at $300 can often be negotiated down to $200 if the ad has been up for more than a week with no sale.

Right now, things are pretty dry here in the KC area. Someone just listed a Tapco'ed-out Chinese for $550-- that's the first SKS I've seen on our local listings in nearly a month. Lots of luck to him to get anywhere near his asking price. Note to newbies: Don't expect anyone to want to help you recoup all the money you wasted trying to turn your SKS into something it can never be!

[Hillbilly61]

From what I have seen, region does matter quite a bit as to price and availability of a specific breed SKS for gun shops and gun shows. Time spent plying local traders often turn up the best deal. If not for outright $ for what the average SKS of that origin goes for, then for finding that rare bird a private person is getting rid of and he/she does not know what they really have on their hands. (In such an instance, if you pay their asking price, then they got the deal they wanted and you got a super deal. Everyone were happy with the deal and, therefore, no one got ripped off).

This is a gun that is worth shopping and be sure to include the on line auction houses. Since you appear to be in California, be sure to check out any auctioneer's prohibition against shipping to California in their "fine print." Some will not ship there and will hold it against you if you reside there and get the winning bid.

As a very positive side benefit of shopping this gun, you will learn a great deal more about this fine weapon's platform. This is a great gun and it can be understood why some Vietnam vets have bad feelings concerning it... since it was used against them. To compare, I have never heard of the same expressed from a WWII vet concerning the Mauser.

[harleyrider]

Here's all I know about SKS pricing:

Their always too high when I'm buying.

Their always too low when I'm selling.

 

HR

[BigBill]

Ive seen the norinco sks's here for $450 to $500 and there selling, there gone when i go back soon after.  These look like still unshot rearsenalled condition, they still look like there just out of the box new.   With the present yugo sks bringing a higher price plus someone on the net(dealer has chinese sks's) who was offering these at higher prices too.  The days of affordable cheap sks's are over and there going to go sky high when the yugo sks's finally dryup.  So grab what you want now and don't cry that you missed them when they were cheap......When they hit $1,000 there's going to be a lot of crying then i'm sure.  So spending a $100 more or less means squat right now. Bill

[Silver_Bullet_00]

Here in SE NC & NE SC, Norinco is going 299.99-350, Yugos 299.99  I seen 1 Russian it was 400.00

Pawn South had a Half off all used pawn Items, and I picked up my first SKS, a nice arsenal 636 Norinco for 149.99 plus tax about 2 weeks ago .
If I had more money I would have went home with a mac-90 for 300.00 during the half off sale  now I got paid and the sale is off and its back up to 600 

[barefoot]

I'm seeing an ad for Cabelas selling yugos for $299 - I'm gonna check them out - anything I should look for?

[barefoot]

Update - found a rifle that looks nice at Cabela's and it followed me home. Got a PM from another member with another rifle for sale right after picking this one up - my life seems to be defined by bad timing, it seems. (and for some reason PMs don't seem to work for me here - I've tried several times to reply and don't see anything in my 'outbox', so thanks for reaching out, Amigo)