I have had a Russian made 1951 SKS in my safe for 15 years. It is new and has not been shot. I am leaning towards shooting it and have given it a good cleaning.
Someone told me I should keep it unfired but I want to have some fun with it. I don't think it will decrease the value but am open to advise.
Dave
I feel compelled to mention that despite being marketed as such, there are no new unfired Ruskie SKS's, though I have seen some that are in excellent condition.
Fire it, enjoy it, they are terrific rifles and are superior to the AK in the accuracy dept.
Have fun and shoot it. These were all rearsenaled years ago in Russia. there should be a rearsenal mark on the receiver, a square with a diagonal line. I enjoy shooting mine and it is very accurate..
My philosophy with classic cars is "drive carefully, and enjoy."
Shoot carefully, and enjoy. It's a gun, not a relic of some lost civilizat...well, it did come from the USSR. So shoot higher quality ammo than the Red Army issued, clean it, and share the stories.
I think the resale value of an unfired SKS is about the same as a fired SKS that's in excellent condition. So. in other words, shoot the damn thing and clean it when you're done. It will not harm the value.
Not a Russian, but my Brother in law has a Norinco still in the taped box.
We bought them at the same time back in 1994 ($165).
I cleaned the cosmoline off mine and have shot the heck out of it.
His is still untouched.
I'm old enough to remember when you could get an SKS for around $89.00. Never thought I'd live long enough to see folks worried about collectability status on those.
I can remember in early 90's at gun shows in NC you could buy a case of those for $99 a piece....and $279 a piece for AK47's.....stock up on some wolf or tula ammo and shoot it like you stole it....
I have a well worn Chinese and a beautiful Yugo rearsenal with the grenade launcher and an appropriate dummy (practice) grenade.
I haven't shot the Yugo but only because I have the Chinese to shoot.
SKS spells fun!
Keep your firing pin clean and free traveling inside the bolt.
If your worried about value then just sell it now.
I've had several and have two now and one if not two coming one day from the father in law. If I could pull myself away from my AR and .22s I might shoot them one day.
GONRA's a semiauto collector. Russki, Chicom, many other SKS's are lottsa phun to shoot.
Get el cheapo NON CORROSIVE commie ammo, blast away, have phun.
(Check carefully to MAKE SURE ammo is Non Corrosive!)
You can teach the kids to shoot with a SKS! Maybe Wifey too! !!!
Sell it to Mr Antiques Roadshow for $2000. Or shoot the snot out of it as it was intended to be used. I once sold a nice revolver because I discovered it was NIB and could not bring myself to shoot it. Silly me. Later, I would see inferior examples at 2x what I sold it for. Never again. Have fun shooting your Cold Warrior. So long as you don't abuse it, your "investment" should be safe.
I buy guns to shoot. That said, I have a very, very nice laminated stock and with bayonet Russian SKS that cost me the grand sum of $149 back in the early/mid '90s. I've never fired it. Not that I wouldn't, but I essentially bought it as a show piece and had (still have) over a half dozen nice shooters ($69 to $90) at the time.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Ruger Forum
2.8M posts
106.7K members
Since 2006
A forum community dedicated to Ruger firearm owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about optics, hunting, gunsmithing, styles, reviews, accessories, classifieds, and more!