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What is your opinion of the SKS?

Overall I LIKE the Yugo M59/66. But there are things to be aware of.

For one, these are NOT the Chicom (Norinco) SKSs. Generally, they are of a much higher quality. Some would argue about this, but it's a fact. It doesn't matter much except that the vast majority of SKSs floating around this country are Chinese. So a great many of the parts made for SKSs don't fit the Yugos well. They either just DON'T fit, or require "fitting". We discovered this when we bought a couple of replacement magazines. I gave them to a buddy of mine with a Norinco, and it worked like a charm. :-) Ditto for the front sight adjustment tool. I had to take a file to it to make it work with the Yugos. It didn't bother me since it was a $4.00 part from Tapco.

Also...from a functional standpoint, there aren't a lot of good options from the standpoint of upgrades. For example...I would REALLY like to have electronic optical sights (LED red dot, or tritium). The only decent mounting systems I can find are one made by D.C Engineering, but it's $85.00 (on a $200.00 rifle?!), and the other is a "drill and tap" operation. The D.C. Engineering solution is a receiver cover replacement that will cause you to need special tools for field stripping and cleaning.

I WANT IT ALL...and by this I mean, I would like an optical sight, in ADDITION to open iron sights, without sacrificing ANYTHING...including the ability to field strip as it was intended!

Now...having said that, understand that I'm a PURIST who wants it all. I realize that I seldom get exactly what I want.

So I'd have to say that it's a VERY GOOD rifle for the price and functionality it provides. It's simple to operate, holds 10 rounds, but you can get higher cap mags. Sights are VERY basic. It's not excessively loud if you MUST fire it without "ears" on.

We've gotten BETTER than MOA accuracy out of ours at 200 yards depending on the ammo you use. Which from what I've been told is VERY good for the SKS.

One of the best things about the SKS is that you can buy 7.62x39 ammo from The Sportsman's Guide for "about" $60.00/thousand.

I've been telling everybody I know to BUY TWO OF THEM NOW!.

Yeah...thumbs up from me. It's a ood, solid, simple, reliable semi auto for "about" $200.00.