Guns and Gear Review # 3: SKS M59

Hello people, 12-Gauge Chimp bringing you the third gun review in the ongoing series. Today we'll be looking at the Yugoslavian Model 59 SKS.

The SKS is actually a Russian designed weapon, but built in various Soviet satellite countries, such as Yugoslavia (or whatever its called now), China, East Germany, and others. It fires the 7.62x39mm cartridge and has a ten round internal magazine, which if feed by either individual rounds or by stripper clips. It uses a gas piston system similar to that of the famous AK-47 rifle.
Certain models of the SKS were modified to accept AK-47 magazines and these are primarily Chinese made models of the SKS known as SKS-D or SKS-M rifles.

I purchased my SKS M-59 in 2006 and it was my first centerfire rifle (I had purchased a semi-auto .22 a month or so earlier), and at the time 7.62x39mm ammo was a bit hard to find due to the enormous popularity of the rifle. It's simple to use, basically idiot proof when it comes to field-stripping for cleaning and maintenance, and is relatively affordable.

I learned a few things from owning my SKS rifle, one of the most important being, wear ear protection whenever you shoot a centerfire rifle. You can get away with not using ear plugs when shooting a .22, but with something like the SKS, do not be an idiot, wear the ear plugs or ear muffs.

You can still find SKS rifles for relatively little money, though they are not as cheap as they once were, but they are still a good buy. Russian SKS rifles still show up from time to time, but the majority of SKS's out there are going to be either Yugoslavian made or Chinese. The rarest SKS rifles are Albanian and East German SKS rifles, if you ever find one, buy it right then and there, if you can of course.

Well that's it for now, tomorrow I'll be looking at a Mossberg Bullpup 12 Gauge shotgun.
As always this is 12-Gauge Chimp signing off.