A memory I have of the SKS was during a foreign weapons training event. The instructor took an SKS, dropped it in a mud puddle, drove through the mud puddle with his M151 jeep (I do not know if he actually drove over it). Pulled the weapon out of the mud, cleared it, fresh ammo and it fired perfectly. The point with that training was that’s all Charlie had to work with. The Russians designed their weapons to run in the dirt and keep on working.
Confession time: I have had my SKS for 25 years and never, ever cleaned it once. Oiled it, yes, but to actually dissemble or run a brush down the barrel, never.
Of course I cannot do this with my higher grade closer tolerance weapons, especially semi auto pistols.
Yep. They are one of the most simple, durable, reliable, and practical semi-auto weapons ever designed. I have owned several and NEVER had one jam. I actually prefer it over an AK because of the stripper feed. And it’s best attribute is the chrome lined barrel. Like I say, I own a lot of fine weapons, but if things got down and dirty I am going to grab the SKS first. I know I will still be rocking while they are jamming, cleaning, or refilling mags.
Similar here with the cleaning. I do just field strip it now and then to blow it out with the air gun and re-oil. Main thing for me is just making sure the gas port is clear. I figure with the chrome lined barrel the next round I put through it will clean the bore for me. lol
I was on the receiving end of a young VC gal using a Chinese built SKS.
I did, however, put three 7.62 rounds from my M14 into her.
When it got quiet, we went to check out the damage. This young lady (probably 21 to 24 yo) was down but not dead. I took the SKS from her hand, got the bleeding under control and got her a helicopter ride to the hospital. I even saw her at the women’s POW cam about 5 or 6 weeks later. She thanked me for saving her life and not finishing her off.
The SKS she had could fire fully auto, but why? It had a 5 round built-in magazine and was not replaceable. It needed reloading through the breach after every 5 shots.
Years ago, a buddy of mine traded a Bersa .380 to his neighbor for an SKS. Showing it to me, he said "Yeah, it's a real mess, isn't it?" It absolutely was - improvised sling made of very worn leather, wooden stock with an amazing amount of dirt ground in and also deeply cracked at the wrist (with a large splinter missing and the crack reinforced by a handmade leather sleeve, laced up tight and shrunken against the wood). The outer metal surfaces were heavily worn and/or rusted, but the bore looked serviceable.
I told my friend that it must've been some Vietnam veteran's battlefield trophy (it looked like it had been dragged through a thousand miles of rice paddies). He never could confirm that, but we did discover that the gas piston was rusted in place. We knocked the piston out with a hammer and punch, ran a bore brush and oiled patch through the gas tube, and it worked just fine thereafter. Tough rifle.