Hi All
I want to put this Tapco stock: http://www.milsurpstuff.com/proddetail.asp?prod=STK66166B
On an SKS that I have. It is in the Chinese plastic stock that it came with and no bayonet.
If I change the stock it will have 20 round detachable mags as well. The stock and 2 mags and Shipping is $120.
What else would I have to change to make the rifle compliant? How much more $$$ and work will it be?
I would have to add a Tech-sights rear site as well ~$50. (Looking at it now just adding the Tech-sights is probably the best option.)
Or keep saving and go with A PSA completed blem lower and upper ~$500.
Thank you for your input,
Stand
To sksboards.com you shall go. Skads of threads on this topic.
gunboards.com also has a forum dedicated to AK and SKS, this topic has been discussed there before.
IIRC, the strictest BATFE interpretation of the regs required the removal (by grinding or cutting) of the bayonet lug if you changed anything on the SKS to make it differ from its' import configuration
also, the 20 round mags can cause problems, depending on which ones you get
depending on your state laws, you may also run into a problem, especially by changing the config to use detachable mags
http://www.tapco.com/products/sks/index.php?_a=viewCat&catId=36
http://www.sksstocks.com/SKS-T6-Tapco-Compliance-Kit-Black-p/tpc-comp66166-black-.htm
This is the Yugo kit, you will need the correct kit for your gun.
For it to be legal you need the entire kit thats about $130. Every part needs to be installed.
You can never put a non 9.22 compliant magazine in the gun once you upgrade.
Sounds like more hassle than it is worth. I will put the tech sites on it and probably leave it at that and stick to ARs and stockpile mags as they are getting cheaper and more available again.
Thanks,
Stand
Send PM to SI ItsanSKS - he's done it - had one when first we met and he's young enough to remember it.
SKS's really aren't the cheap rifle they once were.
$300 rifle plus everything to get it up to where you want it is going to cost about the same as a decent starter AR.
Ammo, is now about par with .223.
I built one, the tech-sights didn't work for me the way I wanted them to. And I didn't find the Tapco mags and stock to be what I was looking for either... If all I had was an SKS(which was the case) I might go that route. But hey, if you still wanna give it a try and don't mind used parts -- Send me a PM, I might know where you can get a good deal on some. ^-^
Paid $450 and prolly put about 200 more into mines, guns get more and more expensive. All I've done to my type 56 is a UTG 2" buttpad to fix LOP, Murray's spring return firing pin (we'll se how that works) tech sights and my trigger is with kivaarii now. Hoping I can squeeze out some 500M action from her, but if all it does is help me learn to shoot better even at just 25, then it was a good buy.
There is a lot of good info on this web page on the SKS. I have his kit in mine.
http://www.murraysguns.com/sksown.htm
Be sure to check out the atf rules when doing mods. If you do any changes you loose the C&R status of the imported SKS, and if you are over the allowed 10 imported critical parts you have an illegal rifle.
I do not recall ItsanSKS ever getting what he wanted from it, but it did likely offer an excellent opp for some adversity, which a Rifleman knows is merely a chance to build character. If u get some good ammo - the SKS is capable of decent accuracy. I can recall that ItsanSKS did tell me that any lack of accuracy was more in the ammo than in the rifle. Still, the 7.62x39, while devastating inside 400 yards, runs out of gas shortly thereafter.
We, each of us must find our own path and everything that transpires along the way works to make us who and what we are. I admire a Rifleman who persists against the tide - it the nature of that aminal. O0
I messed around with the detacthable mags and plastic stocks in the early 90's. Of course back then an SKS , and 3 cases of ammo could be had for $200.
In the end, I put it back in the condition I bought it. All of the extras added no accuracy, no dependability, and brought at least as much pain as benefit.
If you want detachable mags, get an AR or an AK. Same for a folding stock. In stock form the SKS is a rocksolid rifle, not the most accurate, but dependable and certainly accurate enough out to 300 yards. I also agree that the AMMO is a big part of any lack of accuracy with the platform. But it is not easy to get true quality comblock ammo and it is just as difficult to get reloadable brass and make your own.
Mike
Thanks for all the replies.
If I add anything it will just be Tech-Sights. I have owned the SKS for several years. I bought it from my friend as a gag birthday gift to my wife. Between the cost of the stock and mags and potential legal hassles I will just leave it alone.
I'm not lacking for MBRs I have a Service grade M1 and an AR.
I will probably concentrate on the AR platform now that prices have came back to earth.
I believe that if you add the tech sights you will still loose your C&R status, which will require you to do more. If you touch it at all you have to touch it a lot.
I also believe that this is a ridiculous law that doesn't achieve anything but hassling people, and I have not heard of anyone getting in trouble for it, but it's better to know just in case.
Changing the stock does not necessarily run you afoul of 922r. Turning the rifle into an 'assault rifle' is when 922r comes into play. My personal recommendation is to keep the internal magazine, get good with stripper clips, and consider a standard stock such as the ram-line, which will improve length of pull without invalidating its sporting rifle status.
IIRC not all sks's fall under C&R. Yugos and any that come with a bayonet attached and in original configuration generally are. My (best guess) 1979 type 56 does not. But if I want to put a pistol grip or detatchable mags on it, I need to play the 922r game. But AFAiK, tech sight aren't counted towards your us made parts nor are they a feature which changes the gun from sporting configuration.
922 only comes into play if you loose c&r status, and changing the stock will loose it. On a c&r gun, which most SKS are, if you change from original at all you have to start adding up how many of the 20 controlled parts your rifle has. A Chinese SKS generally starts with 14. Change the stock and handguard is two, so two more to be legal. You have to have 10 or fewer imported parts from the list of 20, no matter what else you add.
Lots of good information, but my favorite is jmdavis.
"In the end, I put it back in the condition I bought it. All of the extras added no accuracy, no dependability, and brought at least as much pain as benefit."
I had a similar experience with an AK47. By the time I was happy, it wasn't an AK; at least not the rifle MK designed it to be. New parts came off, old parts in and I had again an AK. I did learn a lot about the mechanics of the rifle, so not all was lost. There is an amateur gunsmith in all of us!!
aj