Originally posted by VooWho
Self defense from burglers and home born terriosts. Fun shooting and charging hay with they bayonet. The nocking power of the 7.62 x 39mm is just awsome. Will I would perfer it because its the only military type rifle I have. Maybe I'll get an AR-15 soon. I would love a Kar-98k rifle though.
Well, the SKS is a fun rifle and a decent general purpose weapon. A good plinker that could be pressed into home defense or hunting. They are generally reliable and ammo is cheap and plentiful.
The limitations include less than average accuracy, short pull stock milled from really crappy wood. There is the risk of slam-firing the entire magazine if the firing pin sticks forward due to power residue fouling (seen that happen too often). So, I suggest cleaning the bolt every 200 rounds or sooner while at the range. 15-30 seconds of gunscrubber spray will do the trick.
If you prefer a long arm for home defense, see if you can find a used Marlin Camp 45 (.45 auto) or Camp 9 (9mm) carbine. About the size and weight of a Ruger 10-22, it will stop bad guys without over-penetrating. Both will accept oversize mags (single stack only on the Camp 45). The Camp 9 uses S&W mags, but there are high capacity mags available. These are simple blow-back rifles, so reliability is excellent. They are, however, more complicated to tear down and reassemble than the SKS. This is due to a trigger/mag interconnect. No mag in the gun; trigger is locked-out.
Other good carbines for self-defense are the lever action Winchester 94 Trapper (16" barrel) or a used Rossi 92 SRS in .44 or .357 mag. I prefer the Rossi as the action is super-slick and super fast. Most full pressure .357 mag cartridges out of a 16" barrel will stop any two legged critter instantly. You can get 2,300 fps out of handloads, which is in the 30-30 and 7.62x39 class. Not bad for a 5.5 lb rifle.
Your SKS is perfectly adequate, if not ideal. However, you cannot beat it for the price. BTW, if you remove the bayonet, the SKS is much better balanced and not so muzzle-heavy.
My regards,
Widewing
