Introduction to the SKS
The SKS was Soviet Russia’s primary infantry rifle for the short gap between the World War II Mosin-Nagant and the modern AK-pattern assault rifle; in fact, a few SKSs were fielded in the last year of WWII. Officially known as the SKS-45 (Samozaryadnyi Karabin sistemy Simonova, 1945/Simonov’s Self-loading Carbine, Model of 1945), the SKS was developed by Sergei Simonov, a respected Soviet weapons engineer with several other weapon designs already accepted into military service with the Red Army. The SKS leverages Simonov’s experience from two of his earlier designs, the AVS-36 automatic infantry rifle and the PTRS-41 automatic anti-tank rifle, which have more primitive versions of the SKS’s tilting-bolt operating system and feature the same “humpback” dust cover profile and oversized right-hand charging handle. The SKS was intended to be a carbine, as the 20” barrel was considered quite handy back in the day, but in modern terms it is most similar to a battle rifle. The SKS feeds from a fixed magazine supplied by 10-round stripper clips, which is an odd and outdated feature for a late WWII rifle (more on that later). Despite its limited capacity, the fixed magazine has some benefits, such as allowing more SKS ammunition to be carried for the same weight (a stripper clip is much lighter than a steel magazine), and the 10-round magazine is light, low-profile, and nearly indestructible. The SKS is auto-loading via short-stroke gas operation and has a milled receiver, chrome-lined barrel, tool-less field stripping, and a folding bayonet.
Although it is tempting to compare the SKS to the AK, this author firmly believes it is actually patterned after the American M1 Garand. As a result, the SKS has a lot in common with the M14 and FAL rifles of the 1950s, the “battle rifles” that mixed features of World War II bolt-actions and modern assault rifles. Like the M14 and the FAL, the SKS is an auto-loading rifle with a barrel length of about 20”. All three rifles are relatively long and heavy by today’s standards, and primarily use forged and milled parts with wooden furniture instead of stamped parts and synthetic furniture. All these elements are synonymous with battle rifles of the 1950s, but the SKS has one unique and impressive feature setting it apart: unlike the M14 and FAL, the SKS uses an intermediate cartridge, 7.62x39mm. This is a stunningly modern choice for an infantry rifle given that the SKS pre-dates the M14 and FAL by about ten years. The West was stuck on the idea of full-power cartridges like 7.62 NATO well into the 60s, at which point the Russians had been issuing the relatively modern 7.62x39 for close to two decades.
Despite its cosmopolitan choice of caliber, it isn’t all gravy for the SKS, which shows its age in several other respects. The SKS's fixed magazine is perhaps its most unusual (and complained of) feature, and to understand this design, it's necessary to understand more of the rifle’s history. It’s tempting to think that Simonov, who was in his fifties at the time and was raised in the heyday of fixed magazine rifles, went with an outdated fixed magazine due to a mistrust of the more modern detachable magazines. After all, infantry guns with detachable magazines had only become widespread in the later years of WWII, and not always with good results. However, it's unlikely that the decision to use a fixed magazine came from Simonov, given that he had been designing rifles and submachine guns with detachable magazines for at least two decades by the time he began sketching drawings for the SKS. Much more likely is that the Soviet brass insisted the SKS have a fixed magazine to offset the risk of their ambitious assault rifle program, a promising but radical design effort that would birth the AK-47 only two years later.
Let's back up for a minute. At the end of World War II, the Soviet military was quite pleased with their new intermediate 7.62x39mm cartridge, which was more powerful than a pistol round but not as uncontrollable as a full-size rifle round, and ordered the design of several new weapons that would all chamber it. This design effort gave birth to the RPD light machine gun, the SKS carbine, and the AK-47 assault rifle. The SKS and the AK were designed at nearly the same time, and fulfill the same role as a basic infantry rifle. However, the SKS was a design from Simonov, who was well known and had decades of design experience working with the Red Army. The SKS used proven operation principles and manufacturing techniques from Simonov’s earlier weapon designs, and can be considered an improved M1 Garand featuring a more sensible cartridge, a simple stripper-clip magazine in place of the loud and complex en-bloc magazine, and a lighter, more reliable gas system. In contrast, the AK-47 was designed by Mikhail Kalashnikov, a designer in his twenties with only a few years of experience designing firearms. The AK-47 copied the design philosophies of the first true “assault rifle”, the German StG 44, which was a promising but radically divergent design. In the late 1940s, the SKS’s use of 7.62x39mm was surprisingly progressive, but the fielding of the AK-47 was practically time travel. Lighter and shorter than almost any military rifle of the day, with triple the magazine capacity and select-fire capability, fielding the AK-47 probably felt like fielding a lasergun would today (on the other hand, even the AK-47 pales in comparison to the truly space-age British EM-2, a gun which arrived only five years later and would have advanced infantry rifle and ammunition design by half a century were it not murdered in its cradle by the American stubbornness [but that’s a story for another article]). At any rate, the SKS’s "traditional" design borrowed heavily from the American M1 Garand, at the time the most widespread and successful infantry rifle in the world, and as such was an excellent backup plan in case the AK, despite all its promise, turned into a disaster.
As a result, the SKS is well-engineered but purposefully outdated for its time. Like the AK, the SKS was designed to be inexpensive, sturdy, and accurate enough to do the job. Unlike the AK, however, the rifle used proven, old-school technology like a one-piece stock, forged/milled components, a fixed magazine, and a folding bayonet (the AK-47 was always intended to be a stamped-metal design, but early production AK-47s also used forged/milled receivers due to manufacturing difficulties). The SKS's design philosophy would ultimately prove to be misplaced, as the AK was a massive success and the SKS wound up as an excellent rifle to fight yesterday’s war.
Soviet Russia abandoned the SKS relatively quickly in favor of the AK, but they were willing to share the SKS with their friends long before they shared the (at the time) ultra-modern AK-47. Though not as mighty as the AK, the SKS was no slouch and served proudly with many nations, who found it rugged, easy to manufacture, and surprisingly accurate. In particular, Chinese troopers favored the SKS and its intrinsic accuracy long after they were supplied with AKs. This gave rise to the unique Chinese SKS variant that accepts AK-pattern magazines, known commercially in America as the “SKS-M” and “SKS-D” models. Somewhat ironically, more SKSs were produced outside of Russia than in, a testament the rifle’s enduring popularity in the decades following the second World War. Americans will most closely associate China and Yugoslavia with SKS production, as it was the Chinese and Yugoslavian versions that were imported most heavily into the US.
Despite the wild differences in design philosophy, it’s difficult to discuss the SKS without comparing it to the modern AK, so let’s do that (assume both are chambered for 7.62x39). The SKS has an advantage in both range and accuracy due to its milled receiver, one-piece stock, and longer barrel. However, those same features also mean the SKS is two pounds heavier and five inches longer than the modern AK. The SKS uses tilting-bolt short-stroke gas operation, while the AK uses rotating-bolt long-stroke gas operation, but both rifles have superb reliability. Both rifles can be field stripped without tools, have chrome-lined barrels, and elevation-adjustable sights. The AK has an advantage with its factory optic rail and side shell ejection, whereas the SKS will need machine work to properly mount a scope to the receiver and ejects cases up, often requiring a shell deflector for use with an optic. For combat, the AK’s trump cards are the detachable, 30-round magazine and select-fire capability. With those two features alone, the AK can wipe the floor with the SKS in terms of combat effectiveness. However, for civilian uses, this author will give the edge squarely to the SKS, which is a cheap, impeccably reliable firearm for hunting and practicing at the range, while also being completely legal for use in most states with rigid anti-gun laws, and still maintaining enough combat effectiveness for entertainment’s sake.
Although it is tempting to compare the SKS to the AK, this author firmly believes it is actually patterned after the American M1 Garand. As a result, the SKS has a lot in common with the M14 and FAL rifles of the 1950s, the “battle rifles” that mixed features of World War II bolt-actions and modern assault rifles. Like the M14 and the FAL, the SKS is an auto-loading rifle with a barrel length of about 20”. All three rifles are relatively long and heavy by today’s standards, and primarily use forged and milled parts with wooden furniture instead of stamped parts and synthetic furniture. All these elements are synonymous with battle rifles of the 1950s, but the SKS has one unique and impressive feature setting it apart: unlike the M14 and FAL, the SKS uses an intermediate cartridge, 7.62x39mm. This is a stunningly modern choice for an infantry rifle given that the SKS pre-dates the M14 and FAL by about ten years. The West was stuck on the idea of full-power cartridges like 7.62 NATO well into the 60s, at which point the Russians had been issuing the relatively modern 7.62x39 for close to two decades.
Despite its cosmopolitan choice of caliber, it isn’t all gravy for the SKS, which shows its age in several other respects. The SKS's fixed magazine is perhaps its most unusual (and complained of) feature, and to understand this design, it's necessary to understand more of the rifle’s history. It’s tempting to think that Simonov, who was in his fifties at the time and was raised in the heyday of fixed magazine rifles, went with an outdated fixed magazine due to a mistrust of the more modern detachable magazines. After all, infantry guns with detachable magazines had only become widespread in the later years of WWII, and not always with good results. However, it's unlikely that the decision to use a fixed magazine came from Simonov, given that he had been designing rifles and submachine guns with detachable magazines for at least two decades by the time he began sketching drawings for the SKS. Much more likely is that the Soviet brass insisted the SKS have a fixed magazine to offset the risk of their ambitious assault rifle program, a promising but radical design effort that would birth the AK-47 only two years later.
Let's back up for a minute. At the end of World War II, the Soviet military was quite pleased with their new intermediate 7.62x39mm cartridge, which was more powerful than a pistol round but not as uncontrollable as a full-size rifle round, and ordered the design of several new weapons that would all chamber it. This design effort gave birth to the RPD light machine gun, the SKS carbine, and the AK-47 assault rifle. The SKS and the AK were designed at nearly the same time, and fulfill the same role as a basic infantry rifle. However, the SKS was a design from Simonov, who was well known and had decades of design experience working with the Red Army. The SKS used proven operation principles and manufacturing techniques from Simonov’s earlier weapon designs, and can be considered an improved M1 Garand featuring a more sensible cartridge, a simple stripper-clip magazine in place of the loud and complex en-bloc magazine, and a lighter, more reliable gas system. In contrast, the AK-47 was designed by Mikhail Kalashnikov, a designer in his twenties with only a few years of experience designing firearms. The AK-47 copied the design philosophies of the first true “assault rifle”, the German StG 44, which was a promising but radically divergent design. In the late 1940s, the SKS’s use of 7.62x39mm was surprisingly progressive, but the fielding of the AK-47 was practically time travel. Lighter and shorter than almost any military rifle of the day, with triple the magazine capacity and select-fire capability, fielding the AK-47 probably felt like fielding a lasergun would today (on the other hand, even the AK-47 pales in comparison to the truly space-age British EM-2, a gun which arrived only five years later and would have advanced infantry rifle and ammunition design by half a century were it not murdered in its cradle by the American stubbornness [but that’s a story for another article]). At any rate, the SKS’s "traditional" design borrowed heavily from the American M1 Garand, at the time the most widespread and successful infantry rifle in the world, and as such was an excellent backup plan in case the AK, despite all its promise, turned into a disaster.
As a result, the SKS is well-engineered but purposefully outdated for its time. Like the AK, the SKS was designed to be inexpensive, sturdy, and accurate enough to do the job. Unlike the AK, however, the rifle used proven, old-school technology like a one-piece stock, forged/milled components, a fixed magazine, and a folding bayonet (the AK-47 was always intended to be a stamped-metal design, but early production AK-47s also used forged/milled receivers due to manufacturing difficulties). The SKS's design philosophy would ultimately prove to be misplaced, as the AK was a massive success and the SKS wound up as an excellent rifle to fight yesterday’s war.
Soviet Russia abandoned the SKS relatively quickly in favor of the AK, but they were willing to share the SKS with their friends long before they shared the (at the time) ultra-modern AK-47. Though not as mighty as the AK, the SKS was no slouch and served proudly with many nations, who found it rugged, easy to manufacture, and surprisingly accurate. In particular, Chinese troopers favored the SKS and its intrinsic accuracy long after they were supplied with AKs. This gave rise to the unique Chinese SKS variant that accepts AK-pattern magazines, known commercially in America as the “SKS-M” and “SKS-D” models. Somewhat ironically, more SKSs were produced outside of Russia than in, a testament the rifle’s enduring popularity in the decades following the second World War. Americans will most closely associate China and Yugoslavia with SKS production, as it was the Chinese and Yugoslavian versions that were imported most heavily into the US.
Despite the wild differences in design philosophy, it’s difficult to discuss the SKS without comparing it to the modern AK, so let’s do that (assume both are chambered for 7.62x39). The SKS has an advantage in both range and accuracy due to its milled receiver, one-piece stock, and longer barrel. However, those same features also mean the SKS is two pounds heavier and five inches longer than the modern AK. The SKS uses tilting-bolt short-stroke gas operation, while the AK uses rotating-bolt long-stroke gas operation, but both rifles have superb reliability. Both rifles can be field stripped without tools, have chrome-lined barrels, and elevation-adjustable sights. The AK has an advantage with its factory optic rail and side shell ejection, whereas the SKS will need machine work to properly mount a scope to the receiver and ejects cases up, often requiring a shell deflector for use with an optic. For combat, the AK’s trump cards are the detachable, 30-round magazine and select-fire capability. With those two features alone, the AK can wipe the floor with the SKS in terms of combat effectiveness. However, for civilian uses, this author will give the edge squarely to the SKS, which is a cheap, impeccably reliable firearm for hunting and practicing at the range, while also being completely legal for use in most states with rigid anti-gun laws, and still maintaining enough combat effectiveness for entertainment’s sake.
Common Variants on the US Market:
The Yugoslavian SKS:
The Yugoslavian M59/66 is one of the more common SKSs in the USA. It differs from the Russian design in that it has an additional, ladder-style iron sight for launching rifle grenades. An attachment used to mount the rifle grenades is also pinned to the muzzle, as well as an adjustable gas block to close the gas system when a rifle grenade is being used. Also unlike the Russian design, the muzzle attachment can be removed (with some effort) to expose a threaded barrel, and the blade bayonet fixes to the barrel via a lug instead of a muzzle ring. The barrel is not chrome-lined, which is highly unusual for an SKS.
For a time, it was possible to buy brand new, unfired Yugo SKSs for a marginal markup. However, these supplies have long since dried up.
A more uncommon variant is the M59/66A1, which features all the modifications of the M59/66 plus a rubber butt pad and flip-up night sights with tritium illumination, although the tritium has faded in most cases.
The Yugoslavian SKS:
The Yugoslavian M59/66 is one of the more common SKSs in the USA. It differs from the Russian design in that it has an additional, ladder-style iron sight for launching rifle grenades. An attachment used to mount the rifle grenades is also pinned to the muzzle, as well as an adjustable gas block to close the gas system when a rifle grenade is being used. Also unlike the Russian design, the muzzle attachment can be removed (with some effort) to expose a threaded barrel, and the blade bayonet fixes to the barrel via a lug instead of a muzzle ring. The barrel is not chrome-lined, which is highly unusual for an SKS.
For a time, it was possible to buy brand new, unfired Yugo SKSs for a marginal markup. However, these supplies have long since dried up.
A more uncommon variant is the M59/66A1, which features all the modifications of the M59/66 plus a rubber butt pad and flip-up night sights with tritium illumination, although the tritium has faded in most cases.
The Chinese SKS:
There are two main categories of Chinese SKSs: military surplus rifles and commercial sales from ChiCom or Norinco (some speculate that the “commercial” SKSs are actually refurbished surplus SKSs, but this is difficult to either confirm or deny). In general, Chinese military SKSs differ very little from the original Russian design, and for practical purposes they can be considered clones. The only obvious change is that many later surplus SKSs have a spike bayonet, whereas the Russian and earlier Chinese SKSs have a blade bayonet. Some Chinese surplus SKSs also have fiberglass stocks, but the vast majority are clad in hardwood just like the Russians. Military surplus Chinese SKSs vary widely in condition and manufacturing quality, with some being reliable, accurate machines with minimal wear, and some, well… the opposite of that. Some of this duality is a result of normal military wear and tear, but the Chinese also spread production across the country in order to avoid a single military strike cutting off production. As a result, the Chinese military SKS was made at many factories with varying degrees of professionalism, so buying a surplus Chinese SKSs can often be a gamble.
On the other hand, commercial Chinese SKSs are well regarded. Before imports were banned in the 90s, you could buy a Norinco SKS from a gun catalog, just like any other gun, and several variants were offered over the years. Many versions lacked a bayonet to comply with import restrictions, but that is not universal. A true carbine version with a 16” barrel was offered, known as a “paratrooper” or “cowboy companion”. Thumbhole stocks were also seen, as well as versions with an adapted magwell that accepted standard AK-pattern magazines (the famed “SKS-M” and “SKS-D” models). A small number were also imported in different calibers, such as 5.56 NATO and 5.45x39mm.
There are two main categories of Chinese SKSs: military surplus rifles and commercial sales from ChiCom or Norinco (some speculate that the “commercial” SKSs are actually refurbished surplus SKSs, but this is difficult to either confirm or deny). In general, Chinese military SKSs differ very little from the original Russian design, and for practical purposes they can be considered clones. The only obvious change is that many later surplus SKSs have a spike bayonet, whereas the Russian and earlier Chinese SKSs have a blade bayonet. Some Chinese surplus SKSs also have fiberglass stocks, but the vast majority are clad in hardwood just like the Russians. Military surplus Chinese SKSs vary widely in condition and manufacturing quality, with some being reliable, accurate machines with minimal wear, and some, well… the opposite of that. Some of this duality is a result of normal military wear and tear, but the Chinese also spread production across the country in order to avoid a single military strike cutting off production. As a result, the Chinese military SKS was made at many factories with varying degrees of professionalism, so buying a surplus Chinese SKSs can often be a gamble.
On the other hand, commercial Chinese SKSs are well regarded. Before imports were banned in the 90s, you could buy a Norinco SKS from a gun catalog, just like any other gun, and several variants were offered over the years. Many versions lacked a bayonet to comply with import restrictions, but that is not universal. A true carbine version with a 16” barrel was offered, known as a “paratrooper” or “cowboy companion”. Thumbhole stocks were also seen, as well as versions with an adapted magwell that accepted standard AK-pattern magazines (the famed “SKS-M” and “SKS-D” models). A small number were also imported in different calibers, such as 5.56 NATO and 5.45x39mm.
Why it’s good:
The SKS is cheap as a Datsun and reliable as a Honda; ask around and you'll find folks who have put thousands of rounds through their SKS without a hiccup. It shoots 7.62x39mm, which is a competent hunting round out to 150 yards as well as an effective combat round, and as cheap as it gets for centerfire ammunition. The magazine is small by today's standards, but stripper clip reloads are fast, easy, and fun. Dozens of SKS stripper clips can be had for the price of a single magazine for another gun, and 30 rounds on stripper clips is both lighter and smaller than a loaded 30 round magazine. The SKS's chrome-lined barrel is also nothing to sneeze at, especially when corrosive ammunition might be on the table. Finally, the folding bayonet is just plain cool.
Another big plus to the SKS is that it’s an honest-to-God military firearm from Soviet Russia. In simplest terms, that means it’s built like a goddamn tank. While you could spend only a little bit more and get a brand new budget long gun from Kel-tec or Mossberg, the modern gun would likely have polymer or cast steel components and a cost-effective action that was never intended to see the mud of a battlefield. The SKS is old-school forged steel, with a buttplate that can get in a fight with a brick wall, and win. The SKS competed in brutal torture tests against rifle designs from other Soviet designers, including a design submitted by Mikhail Kalashnikov, and was selected by Soviet arms specialists because it was the best. At the SKS’s price point, no modern gun can even come close.
For accuracy, the SKS acquits itself surprisingly well. Despite being designed to favor reliability and low manufacturing costs over accuracy, the SKS's milled receiver, long barrel, and one-piece stock mean minimal tuning is required to score a reliable 2-3 MOA. That's pretty fine shooting for a budget rifle (if you want to empty your wallet and make some phone calls for custom work, the SKS can start to flirt with sub-MOA, but the cost is fairly prohibitive).
For upgrades and improvements, there is a substantial pool of aftermarket support for the SKS. Trigger jobs, extended bolt handles, railed gas tubes, muzzle devices, and replacement internals are all ready for purchase. Replacement stocks are available in a variety of styles, from low-end injection-molded units to laminated target stocks. Detachable magazines are also available, although they tend to be clunkier than a typical AK-pattern magazine.
Why it’s bad:
The SKS is a heavy weapon by today’s standards, hovering around 9 lbs unloaded. Add a loaded magazine and optic (with mount) and you can easily push up to the 10-12 lbs range. The SKS is not the safest of rifles, with a free-floating firing pin that can be prone to slam-firing in poorly-cleaned guns. The safety also disables only the trigger, and does not restrain the bolt in any way. The fixed 10-round magazine is also a turn-off for many shooters, as detachable magazines are faster to change and have a variety of capacities. The bolt locks open when the magazine is empty, but the SKS does not have an external bolt hold-open, so it cannot be "topped off" with one hand.
The SKS can be modified to accept AK magazines, but this is a difficult and unreliable process. Aftermarket detachable magazines which do not require any modification are available, but some of these magazines have questionable reliability and all are larger and more cumbersome than a normal magazine. Additionally, most SKS aftermarket magazines do not retain the factory magazine's BHO (bolt hold-open) feature, yet cannot be loaded on a closed bolt, so the bolt must be held open in order to seat an aftermarket magazine. There are various fixes and tweaks to make the SKS easier to reload, but despite what the marketing reps and fanboys will say, there is still no generally accepted "fixer" that can equal the factory magazine's reliability (the exception being the Chinese SKS-M and SKS-D models, which accept AK-pattern magazines without issues).
It is also difficult and often expensive to mount a scope or dot sight to the receiver of the SKS, as most effective SKS mounts require drilling and tapping. There are gunsmith-free “dust cover” mounts, but these are generally useless. A few dust cover mounts come with set screws to secure them to the receiver, improving stability to acceptable levels, but this also makes the dust cover impossible to remove without removing the set screws. This in turn makes routine cleaning of the SKS difficult, and also usually requires re-zeroing the sight after each removal. Optic mounting is further complicated by the SKS's top-ejection of fired cases. A shell deflector is often required to avoid damaging optics, and most optics are too large to allow the SKS to be re-loaded via stripper clips. Thus, most shooters who put an optic on their SKS exclusively use aftermarket detachable magazines, adding both expense and a potential source of unreliability to the SKS's operation.
Forward-mounted optics such as LER scopes and dot sights are usually simpler to mount on the SKS, with sturdy and relatively inexpensive mounts that attach to the rear sight available from several vendors, but LER scopes tend to be less common and more expensive than traditional scopes. A forward mounted dot sight is well-suited to the SKS, but does not offer the magnification that many shooters want.
The SKS is cheap as a Datsun and reliable as a Honda; ask around and you'll find folks who have put thousands of rounds through their SKS without a hiccup. It shoots 7.62x39mm, which is a competent hunting round out to 150 yards as well as an effective combat round, and as cheap as it gets for centerfire ammunition. The magazine is small by today's standards, but stripper clip reloads are fast, easy, and fun. Dozens of SKS stripper clips can be had for the price of a single magazine for another gun, and 30 rounds on stripper clips is both lighter and smaller than a loaded 30 round magazine. The SKS's chrome-lined barrel is also nothing to sneeze at, especially when corrosive ammunition might be on the table. Finally, the folding bayonet is just plain cool.
Another big plus to the SKS is that it’s an honest-to-God military firearm from Soviet Russia. In simplest terms, that means it’s built like a goddamn tank. While you could spend only a little bit more and get a brand new budget long gun from Kel-tec or Mossberg, the modern gun would likely have polymer or cast steel components and a cost-effective action that was never intended to see the mud of a battlefield. The SKS is old-school forged steel, with a buttplate that can get in a fight with a brick wall, and win. The SKS competed in brutal torture tests against rifle designs from other Soviet designers, including a design submitted by Mikhail Kalashnikov, and was selected by Soviet arms specialists because it was the best. At the SKS’s price point, no modern gun can even come close.
For accuracy, the SKS acquits itself surprisingly well. Despite being designed to favor reliability and low manufacturing costs over accuracy, the SKS's milled receiver, long barrel, and one-piece stock mean minimal tuning is required to score a reliable 2-3 MOA. That's pretty fine shooting for a budget rifle (if you want to empty your wallet and make some phone calls for custom work, the SKS can start to flirt with sub-MOA, but the cost is fairly prohibitive).
For upgrades and improvements, there is a substantial pool of aftermarket support for the SKS. Trigger jobs, extended bolt handles, railed gas tubes, muzzle devices, and replacement internals are all ready for purchase. Replacement stocks are available in a variety of styles, from low-end injection-molded units to laminated target stocks. Detachable magazines are also available, although they tend to be clunkier than a typical AK-pattern magazine.
Why it’s bad:
The SKS is a heavy weapon by today’s standards, hovering around 9 lbs unloaded. Add a loaded magazine and optic (with mount) and you can easily push up to the 10-12 lbs range. The SKS is not the safest of rifles, with a free-floating firing pin that can be prone to slam-firing in poorly-cleaned guns. The safety also disables only the trigger, and does not restrain the bolt in any way. The fixed 10-round magazine is also a turn-off for many shooters, as detachable magazines are faster to change and have a variety of capacities. The bolt locks open when the magazine is empty, but the SKS does not have an external bolt hold-open, so it cannot be "topped off" with one hand.
The SKS can be modified to accept AK magazines, but this is a difficult and unreliable process. Aftermarket detachable magazines which do not require any modification are available, but some of these magazines have questionable reliability and all are larger and more cumbersome than a normal magazine. Additionally, most SKS aftermarket magazines do not retain the factory magazine's BHO (bolt hold-open) feature, yet cannot be loaded on a closed bolt, so the bolt must be held open in order to seat an aftermarket magazine. There are various fixes and tweaks to make the SKS easier to reload, but despite what the marketing reps and fanboys will say, there is still no generally accepted "fixer" that can equal the factory magazine's reliability (the exception being the Chinese SKS-M and SKS-D models, which accept AK-pattern magazines without issues).
It is also difficult and often expensive to mount a scope or dot sight to the receiver of the SKS, as most effective SKS mounts require drilling and tapping. There are gunsmith-free “dust cover” mounts, but these are generally useless. A few dust cover mounts come with set screws to secure them to the receiver, improving stability to acceptable levels, but this also makes the dust cover impossible to remove without removing the set screws. This in turn makes routine cleaning of the SKS difficult, and also usually requires re-zeroing the sight after each removal. Optic mounting is further complicated by the SKS's top-ejection of fired cases. A shell deflector is often required to avoid damaging optics, and most optics are too large to allow the SKS to be re-loaded via stripper clips. Thus, most shooters who put an optic on their SKS exclusively use aftermarket detachable magazines, adding both expense and a potential source of unreliability to the SKS's operation.
Forward-mounted optics such as LER scopes and dot sights are usually simpler to mount on the SKS, with sturdy and relatively inexpensive mounts that attach to the rear sight available from several vendors, but LER scopes tend to be less common and more expensive than traditional scopes. A forward mounted dot sight is well-suited to the SKS, but does not offer the magnification that many shooters want.
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