SKS--Yugo 59/66

[DanC_1968]

I used to hate SKS's, and passed on the chance to buy one 12-13 yrs ago when the Chinese ones were $80. But at my local gun show the other day, someone was selling a huge stack of Yugo 59/66's for $90 each, and I decided not to pass on it this time.

Mine looks to be used very little, with excellent wood and nicely blued metal(except for the top receiver piece which covers the bolt return spring). The odd thing is, all parts have matching #'s except that piece--it is 633496, while all other parts are 633796--very strange! Inside the box was an arsenal log book for this specific serial numbered gun with dates ranging from 1980 to August of 2004--too bad it's written in Russian(I think?). Is it common for the log books to be included with these guns?

I read up on all types of methods for removing the cosmoline, but I simply wiped it off of exposed parts and stock and cleaned the bore. I don't intend to refinish the stock, and any nooks and crannies which have a little cosmoline I figure will be well preserved. Is there any problem with this?

It has the blade type bayonet and what I'm told is a "NATO spec" grenade launcher, and someone at the show said you can obtain dummy grenades to fire with it. Someone else said that Russian or Russian-satellite nation manufactured SKS's are better made guns than AK-47's, due to having mostly milled parts vs. stamped ones--agree or disagree with this?

I bought 100 rds of Wolf 7.62 X 39 ammo for it, and will shoot it this weekend. Anyone else own one of these? Has anyone owned and shot both the Chinese and Yugo type SKS's? Any other type of comments or info are welcome.

Other military weapons I own: SMLE Ishapore 7.62 NATO, Carl Gustav M96 Swedish Mauser, Husqvarna M38 Swedish Mauser.

[southernshooter]

What's up DANC

and what I'm told is a "NATO spec" grenade launcher, and someone at the show said you can obtain dummy grenades to fire with it.

http://www.surplusrifle.com/reviews2006/fore/index.asp

Someone else said that Russian or Russian-satellite nation manufactured SKS's are better made guns than AK-47's

To me they have always been alot more accurate

I have shot Yugo's and Chinese SKS's. I like my Chinese over my old Yugo

[DanC_1968]

Thanks, Southernshooter! I might have to try that golf ball launcher.

[gunfreakboy]

I love my yugo. The only problem you will have with that ammo is that it's not nearly enough.

[hoser1]

I like my Yugos fine but I would get all the cosmoline out. Take it apart and you can use boiling water or a steamer to get it off. Steamers you can get at Home Depot for not a whole lot. Some places wouldn't matter if there was any cosmoline or not and others would matter. That stuff isn't grease. It is a very sticky protectant.

[LDBennett]

DanC_1968:

I picked up the best condition version of these, modified for California (sleeve welded over granade launcher boss on barrel). It looks to never have been fired (except for testing at time of manufacturer) and the bluing is virtually 100%. The stock is nice but has some small creases from the packing crate strorage. Better yet it shoot great!

I too never desired a SKS as I had worked on a couple of Norico's to put scopes on them for friends. But this Yugo model was new and of all milled parts. For effect it includes a fold out bayonet, fold out granade launcher sights, and fold up night sights. While no match gun, it shoots better than most of my lever action open sighted guns. Of course the limit seems to be my old eyes.

I don't have very many surplus military guns in my collection of guns: a CZ52, Walther P1, Moisin-Nagant, Swiss K31, a couple of M1 Garands, and a pre-WWII Mauser K98. All are in excellent condition and the SKS is a real nice addition to this part of my collection of guns. Did I say it shoots great too!

LDBennett

[Pistolenschutze]

I own two SKS's Dan, one a Russian-built model I bought about 15 years ago, and the other a new Yugo 59/66 like the one you purchased. I chose to modify both of my rifles by putting them in after-market synthetic stocks and by removing the bayonets. This saves a considerable amount of weight, I might add. I also removed the grenade launcher from the Yugo, which is quite a task but can be done with the right tools. The result in both cases was an EXCELLENT shooter. On the Russian I replaced the rear sight with a Mojo aperture; on the Yugo I mounted a scope. These rifles are an absolute blast to shoot, by the way. Though they are semi-autos, they can be fired darn near as fast as a full-auto. The only problem with them is that they go through ammo like it grows on trees. I have found them both to be quite accurate battle rifles out to about a 150 yards or so, perhaps a little more. I use them mostly as plinkers rather than serious bench rifles. They would certainly be more than adequate for even deer-sized game within reasonable ranges. The 7.62 x 39 round is ballistically not too different from the 30-30 Winchester in terms of power.

[DanC_1968]

Thanks for all of the info, guys. I've thought about some of the modifications you've talked about. If I like the way my gun shoots I might by another(if the price stays low) so I'll have one military spec and the other modified. I liked one I saw which had a scope, bipod where the bayonet currently is, and dragunov type synthetic stock.

[DWARREN123]

Soak the bolt in mineral spirits to remove cosmoline and chance of slam fires.
Have fun.

[DanC_1968]

Thank you. I just followed your advice and also cleaned the gas piston, as it and its chamber was also filled with the goo. Hopefully it'll have a better chance of cycling now.

[Pistolenschutze]

Originally Posted by DanC_1968

Thank you. I just followed your advice and also cleaned the gas piston, as it and its chamber was also filled with the goo. Hopefully it'll have a better chance of cycling now.

I suspect you will find, now that the rifle is really clean, that it works like a charm, Dan. The SKS is a great rifle for plinking, but when they stored them the amount of cosmoline they used to preserve them was, to say the least, a bit excessive! It took me half a day just to clean all of it out of the ones I bought after a complete stripping of the whole rifle.

[polishshooter]

You have NOT seen "CosmoPoop" unless you bought a some of those 3/$99 91/30s AIM sold a few years ago, that apparently were in storage since 1945...

I SWEAR some PO'd Soviet conscripts that thought they could go home when the war was over were trying to use up all the cosmoline at once so they could stop for the day, at least on mine.

Soaked in Denatured alcohol overnight, THEN pushed out what looked like turds when they came out of the barrel!

I EVEN had to use the "No-No" method on one or two particularly coated ones (but it works GREAT, as long as you are OUTSIDE and away from any spark )....GASOLINE.

The only particular bad thing about alcohol and gasoline is if you use it on the wood, while it cleans it quickly, it also dries it out quickly so you have to oil it pretty well, and pretty quickly after cleaning it or it will start cracking.




I've only owned one SKS, a milled Romanian, that I kind of liked, but it wasn't particularly accurate, even with a scope, but then again it was probably me. I just might have to buy one of those Yugos before they "go away...." and I kind of like the looks of the grenade launcher too.

I see them advertised as "fits NATO rifle grenades..." How did THAT happen???