# Glass bedding an SKS



## lehi (Sep 13, 2007)

What do you guys think? Would it improve accuracy? My plans are to buy a new synthetic stock. (wich will arrive at my house tomorrow) Install a solid scope mount, cut maybe 1 or 2 inches and recrown the barrel, have a trigger job done, install an aftermarket 5 round Magazine for hunting, and maybe glass bed the action and barrel. So, do you think it would shoot 2 inch groups or better at 100 yards?


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## Loke (Sep 7, 2007)

What does it shoot now?


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## lehi (Sep 13, 2007)

[quoteWhat does it shoot now?][/quote]

That is a very good question. Ive never tested it on paper at any range. Only plinking activities. Shoots okay i guess.


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## El Matador (Dec 21, 2007)

For all that trouble I'd probably just buy a cheap bolt action for hunting. Nearly any bolt rifle will shoot a 2" group and there are plenty of calibers better suited to big game hunting than the 7.62x39. You can get one for under $300, and there are some pretty nice ones available for $400-500.

However, the 7.62 is not a bad cartridge with the right bullet. And none of the things you mentioned will hurt your accuracy. But remember, "You can only polish a turd so much."


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## lehi (Sep 13, 2007)

El Matador, I realize their are better rifles. But I just want to make it as accurate as i can is all. Just sort of a fun, fixer upper personal project. I am buying a savage 12fv soon for big game and yotes. But I still want to make my SKS a good thick brush rifle.

After everything is done, Ill give you guys a 100 yard range report. I got the sks for $150, so im guessing ill be into it about another $130 or so (minus the scope). Depending on what some of the local gunsmiths charge. Anybody got any suggestions for for one in cache valley? I want to glass bed it myself. I heard it wasnt all that hard with the kits they have now.


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## Gee LeDouche (Sep 21, 2007)

IMO, to get 1-2 MOA at 100 yards out of an SKS is nearly impossible, UNLESS you do some serious fine tuning to the trigger, with a higher end optic, and either factory loads or dial in some hand loads at the minimum. of course, bedding the barrel and action are not a bad idea, nor is the crowning. if you can accomplish it with less I would be surprised. but you arent going to get that tight of groups with wolf / brown bear / golden tiger ammo's, that much I can assure you.


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## Donttreadonme (Sep 11, 2007)

El Matador said:


> "You can only polish a turd so much."


This is the only worth while post thus far IMO.

If you want accuracy, buy a gun that is capable of such. If you just want to go out an shoot up a bunch of ammo, have at it and don't worrie about doing all that work for very little pay off.


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## Guest (Feb 1, 2008)

Its an intriguing concept but I have to agree with Gee and others, the SKS is just not made to be a tack driver and there are so many aspects of the rifle, besides just the stock and bedding, that limit its accuracy potential. Don't get me wrong, I love my SKS, and I put a Butler Creek stock on it that makes it a lot nicer to shoot, but I wouldn't sink too much money into it. You're a lot better off putting that money into something else.


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## Frisco Pete (Sep 22, 2007)

The SKS is not a tack-driver, but it can be improved a bit.
First thing to realize is that a better trigger helps things along. I recommend a trigger job by a guy in Texas, Tom Prince aka "Kivaari," who can be emailed at [email protected]. He did two of my SKS triggers and does good safe work and really understands the SKS trigger system.

For a scope mount I would use the Choate mount that needs drilling and tapping for the ultimate in solidity. Be aware that those SKS receivers are very hard steel. A scope allows for a little more accurate aiming than the issue irons.

I recommend the Choate Conventional synthetic stock for an aftermarket SKS hunting-type stock. ATIs are much poorer in ergonomics.

I would not cut off any barrel length, but would re-crown the existing length.

Seeing as how it is legal in Utah to use the existing 10-rd magazine hunting, I would not bother with an aftermarket 5 round job.

Lastly, ammo really does make a difference in accuracy, so you should see what brand your particular gun likes best. Wolf is NOT the best in mine, for sure.

For a lot of info on the SKS, I would try http://www.sksboards.com/smf/index.php#2


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## Surfer Coyote (Jan 14, 2008)

donttreadonme said:


> El Matador said:
> 
> 
> > "You can only polish a turd so much."
> ...


 :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

I can tell you from experience that trying to make an SKS into a poor man's Dragunov is a feeble attempt at best. My brother went really crazy and had at least $800 invested into an SKS that didn't have any groupings to write home about. I got lucky and got more than I invested out of the rifle I put together, but my bro took a serious loss. The SKS is a fun rifle to tinker around with because there are lots of toys available for it, but nothing is really going to make it much more than it's intended design.


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## Guest (Feb 4, 2008)

Frisco Pete said:


> The SKS is not a tack-driver, but it can be improved a bit.


This may be true, but I think for most of us its just a question of cost effectiveness. Lets face it, the real appeal of the SKS is that they are cheap. They are the poor man's battle rifle of the American civilian arsenal. There is certainly a lot that can be done to improve them, but IMO, you have to be very judicious in what you attempt to do, and you have to lower your expectations of what you expect the final result to be. You can sink hundreds of dollars into an SKS, several times more than you paid for the rifle originally, but it will never be an AR or an M1A. It is what it is: a cheap, decent, reliable weapon of the Communist bloc during the 1940-50's that is widely available and cheap to own as well as cheap to shoot. Nothing more.

I have an original Russian that I got years ago and paid only $200 for it. I put another $100 into it replacing the stock, putting a sling on it, and getting a few odds and ends for maintaining it and adjusting the sights. I am still considering mounting a red dot sight on it, but I have set a hard limit of $400 because I didn't want to put more money into the gun than I spent on it originally.


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## Frisco Pete (Sep 22, 2007)

In any discussion of the SKS and its 7.62x39mm intermediate-power round - you should realize that it, and its cartridge, are designed as a rather short-range weapon and that as a deer rifle it should be limited to at best no more than 150 yards - due to its low velocity, bullet weight, limited power, arching trajectory, and normal accuracy of the SKS carbine. If you can hit well with your SKS and choose proper bullets for the job, while not ideal perhaps, it can still get the job done up close, if that is what you desire. It can be as accurate as a lot of .30-30s I've seen, and many have used it successfully on smaller mule, and especially whitetail and blacktail deer, wild boar, and black bear at close ranges by owners across the nation. 

Try shooting at paper plates at various ranges from normal hunting positions and see what your range limit is. As mentioned before, a better trigger and careful ammo choice has helped my accuracy to a degree.

I will agree that you should really enjoy it for what it is and limit what you spend and the mods you make.


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