Three SKS rifles

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Niner
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Three SKS rifles

Post by Niner » Mon Nov 10, 2008 3:23 pm

Having some time on my hands at the moment I decided to do one of those show and tell stories. This one is to compare three of my SKS rifles. I trust the Australians, who used to have them until 1996, and my Brit friends, who are not familiar with them first hand, would forgive me as I do not wish to rub salt in any wounds. If we believe all the ranting at some gun sites I may be in the same boat myself one day.

The three are the Albanian, the Russian, and the Yugo 59/66. The Albanian turns out to be fairly rare. According to some sources there were 18,000 total ever made and half of them were destroyed. I got mine for less than $100 and wish I had bought more. The Russian is said to be the best quality and is not all that easy to find now days, although made in much larger numbers than the Alabanian, and does bring a premium price, at least a lot more than the $160 or so of the Yugo that seems to be plentiful.

The Yugo is 4 and a half inches longer than the other two at about 44 ½ inches OA owing to the granade launcher that looks like a flash hider. The Albanian, however, has the longest upper hand grip three inches longer than the other two at 8 ½ inches long.

The Yugo doesn’t have a chrome lined bore but the Russian does and the Albanian probably should, although I couldn’t swear by it.

The metal finish is shinny on the Russian and dull on the Yugo and shinny but not as much so as the Russian on the Albanian.

The front sights on the Albanian and the Russian are identical and the Yugo is nearly the same with the addition of a fold up “night”, glow in the dark, front post. All three have identical 100 to 1000 meter rear sights.

The round knob charging handle on the Russian and the Yugo are about the same. The Alabanian has a curved finger grip like an AK.

The Yugo and the Russian have blade bayonets. The Russian has the ring that goes over the barrel, the Yugo has a half ring that locks under the barrel. The Albanian has the cruciform bayonet that hooks by a complete ring like the Russian.

The sling swivels are the same on the Russian and the Yugo. TheAlbanian has a side placed swivel rather than underneath the butt.

The butt caps are each slightly different. The Russian has a metal butt cap with a single spring door storage compartment. The Yugo is much like the Russain but has a rubber butt pad. The Albanian has a metal pad but with two spring loaded storage compartments.

The stocks are made of different wood. The Albanian looks like beech. The Yugo is more like oak with a distinct grain and seems the hardest wood. The Russian is dark stained and I wouldn’t venture a guess.
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Last edited by Niner on Mon Nov 10, 2008 5:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Woftam
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Post by Woftam » Mon Nov 10, 2008 5:33 pm

Very informative post. I may never get the chance to play with an SKS but at least I can now make intelligent comments if I ever do.
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Post by joseyclosey » Tue Nov 11, 2008 12:08 pm

Is the Yugo grenade launcher interchangeable with the other two rifles? How does it attach to the rifle?

Joe
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Post by Karl/Pa. » Tue Nov 11, 2008 12:45 pm

joseyclosey wrote:Is the Yugo grenade launcher interchangeable with the other two rifles? How does it attach to the rifle?
Joe
Not interchangable. Welded on. Its the NATO launcher.
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Post by joseyclosey » Tue Nov 11, 2008 2:01 pm

Thanks Karl.

Joe
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Niner
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a bit more about the grenade launcher

Post by Niner » Tue Nov 11, 2008 3:33 pm

On the Yugo there is a shutoff valve on the gas tube. It is in a L shaped cutout and contains a spring loaded catch with a round cap that rests in the down side of the L just above the folded ladder of the grenade sight. You push in on the button that releases the catch and move the shank of the catch up until it lies on the same axis as the bore. This, at the same time, allows you to pull the legs of the sight ladder to the up position. When the cut off is moved up this cuts off gas feed that would otherwise cycle the bolt when a cartridge is fired. The round that fires the grenade is of course blank and of some less power than a regular powder load that would be under a live round.....so I read.
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Post by A square 10 » Fri Nov 14, 2008 10:13 pm

very nice , you have much to be proud of in those ,

reminds me i need to rephoto my one and only chinese , i need some decent photos like yours
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Post by oldironsights » Sat Dec 20, 2008 12:31 am

Karl/Pa. wrote:
joseyclosey wrote:Is the Yugo grenade launcher interchangeable with the other two rifles? How does it attach to the rifle?
Joe
Not interchangable. Welded on. Its the NATO launcher.
Sorry Karl, but someone has misinformed you.

The Yugo 59/66 NATO grenade launcher is threaded on the barrel & locked in by a pin.

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Post by A square 10 » Fri Jan 16, 2009 7:21 pm

very nice , i only have one chinese , but i know a good one if i see it and your into three of them , congrats
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Re: Three SKS rifles

Post by Niner » Tue Oct 09, 2012 10:43 am

I know this is an old topic...but I just read something that brought this string to mind. On the grenade launcher attached to the Yugo M59/66 I just read something interesting in a magazine....Military Surplus Battle Classics.

The numbers on the left with the sight blade up are for launch distances shooting a grenade made to act against solid objects like vehicles and buildings and the numbers to the right are for grenades made for anti-personnel use. Different weight and flight ballistics. What a soldier did was use the V in the ladder and sighted with the nose of the grenade taking account of the distance the projectile would have to travel.
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