Wednesday, August 08, 2018

Sometimes I still outsmart myself...sigh

So the other day, I'm taking a young lady to the range for her first time out, and I happen to spot a beat-up SKS in a Tapco stock with no magazine and a dented gas tube on the consignment rack marked "for repair or parts". The price was already decent but I made a ridiculous low-ball offer and surprisingly--or not, as it turns out--the seller agreed to it and I walked out with the saddest-looking rifle I've bought in a long time.

Hey, I need to replace that Mini-14 with something, right?

Actually I bought it because I felt sorry for it and because I like to restore sporterized, neglected firearms to their proper glory...and I just so happened to have an old SKS stock just waiting for something like this to come along. and how hard could it be to snag a factory box mag and gas tube, eh? Those are the parts that every bubba rips off of their SKS to replace with Tapco crap, right? The stuff is everywhere...

Well not so much, it seems. Looks like all of the SKS parts have seriously dried up since I last paid attention to such things.


I figured that I was going to be able to restore this rifle to factory spec for hella cheap and have something to hand out to a neighbor in need come the next hurricane or liberal uprising, but I made a fatal assumption on the market and availability for SKS spare parts. Anyone out there got any SKS parts in their junk boxes that they want to sell, specifically a ten-round magazine assembly and a gas tube with handguard?

26 comments:

  1. Nope, and good luck with that one...

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  2. Ask Harry over at Self Sufficient Mountain Living. I know he has "some" older rifles, and if he doesn't have parts, then he probably knows where to get them.

    http://harryflashmansblog.blogspot.com/

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  3. Found this:

    https://www.gunsamerica.com/933581943/SKS-10-ROUND-MAGAZINE--25-00.htm

    and:

    https://www.gunsamerica.com/969874175/SKS-GAS-TUBE-NEW--49-00.htm

    And that's $75.00 in parts right off the bat.

    Ain't no such thing as a cheap rifle anymore. But still, 75 bucks to fix her right, hope you saved that much on the haggle.

    Good luck.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Beans! I checked them out though and both are already sold. The pursuit continues!

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    2. Dagnabit. Mayhaps call around to some bubba gun shops more local to your area not located in your city.

      Ebay has some, but that's Ebay.

      Then there's:
      https://www.buymilsurp.com/magazine-original-10-round-magazine-sks-rifles-p-274.html for $35 plus.

      Cheaper-than-Dirt (those commie bastards) has a Tapco gas tube for around $35. Don't know if you deal with them or not.

      Good luck, enjoy the ladies and the guns.

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    3. I will deal with Cheaper than Dorks if need be, but never EVER Tapco junk. I did see that $35 mag but they look rough. I will if I have to but hope I don't have to. Thanks!

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  4. What you have to do is visit dinner more places where that sorry of thing washes up, buy a couple more beaters, then build a decent rifle out of it. There's been a real winner in the rack at jefferson Gun for a while. Unless that's the one you bought?

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    1. Haven't been there in forever. Need to go take a look. Thanks!

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  5. Hey Murphy;

    My last comment vanished, Nothing wrong with old rifles, and SKS's are pretty reliable. You still should be able to restore it to "original" condition. Many bubba's take all the original stuff off to "tacticalize" the rifle and you still should be able to find stuff fairly cheap, and believe it or not, check ebay.

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    1. I'm looking, but it's scarce and pricey.

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  6. Sarco should be able to fix you up. They have beau coupes SKS parts. If not, Numerich should have what you need. If neither of them come through, let me know and I'll ask around.

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    1. If you can scare up a 10rd box mag I'd be grateful as anything!

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    2. Somewhere I know I have one of those Zytel (or whatever it was called) 20 round box magazines for the SKS. I know it's in a box either out in the barn or in the shop somewhere. I put it on an SKS and it worked fine, but I don't like to monkey around with classic guns so I put the original magazine back on. I will check around and see if I can come up with a metal original magazine for your gun, but you can have the 20 round job if you want it. I don't see that I will ever get any use out of it myself.

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    3. Check these guys out.

      https://www.desertfoxsales.com/ORIGINAL_SKS_MAGAZINE_p/sks-066.htm

      I don't know who they are, never done business with them, but they say they have the goods on hand. Might be worth taking a look. If they pan out, I'll add them to my list of "go to" places for hard to find things.

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    4. I saw their ad. I'd have bought one but shows out of stock.

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    5. I'll keep looking. There's a guy works at a gun store who has lots of spare parts, I'll go by Saturday and see if he is working.

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  7. eBay has an abundance of parts for the SKS

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    1. Yep. But at crazy prices these days. And no buy-now listings. I don't care to wait a week for an auction to end just so someone can snipe me in the last five seconds.

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  8. So, what's the status on the search for pieces-parts? Any luck yet?

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    1. Got everything except a box magazine that isn't going to cost me $50. Sigh. First SKS I ever bought only cost me $59.00 shipped.

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    2. Well, that's one step closer. Man, I kick myself regularly for missing out on the great milsurp days.

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    3. Oh, those were good days too. My only gripe is not buying more, esp. those $129.00 M-1 carbines, $39.00 Enfields and yes, $59.00 SKS rifles. Should have bought cases and cases...screw the stock markets.

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  9. If you have to go polymer, Pro-Mag makes a 10 shot mag for the SKS. Available from Bass Pro Shops at least. Dunno if that's what you'd be happy with, but they're about $24.00. Have a 4 out of 5 rating.

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    1. Thanks but no. Doing a proper restoration, which means 100% factory. I did see those and may get one just for a emergency repair part for my SKS tool box though.

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    2. I understand where you're going, as I like my guns 'original' also. But if you can't find an original magazine for less than an arm and a leg, and you want it shootable, polymer is an option. Good hunting, the elusive metal mag is out there, some where, hiding in the wilds of a junk drawer or parts cabinet and not on fleabay.

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