I’ve had a few in the past and enjoyed them, but never kept one… seeing what some people have posted them for lately, makes me wish I would have held onto a few.
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What would you pay for an SKS
- Thread starter Jmccracken1214
- Start date
- Nov 3, 2010
- 9,702
- 20,404
Makes me wish I would have bought as many as I could when they were 85 bucks a piece
Buy 10, sell 1 and make your money back on the other 9….
Unless you have chance of buying one with some prominence, just look for a shooter. I'd say no more than $600. This is just my opinion, but the cheap ones shoot just as well as that expensive one.
I thought about offering him $600 but doubt he’d come down that much.
I really want one to thread the barrel and put a can on
It is very hard to tell what is going to jump in value 20 years later. I bought a numbers matching Norinco SKS in 2008 with about 150 rounds of ammo for $150. A few rounds were handloads and actually came in Lapua brass of all things. The gun remains the most accurate SKS I've ever been around. Had I known that it would be worth 4x that amount now, I would have bought a safe full.
I have a couple that I bought new for $125, something tells me in a short while that things like this may become priceless ( if you have ammo to go with them).
I let them sit on the shelf when they were under a hundred bucks because cheap ak’s could be had for 300. Only reason I bought the cheap ak’s was because those green crates of brass Yugoslav ammo would go on sale for 5 cents a round out the door.
Good times.
Good times.
IMO, They only made sense when they and the ammo were cheap being bought from ex soviet com blocks. I personally don’t believe most are worth the high prices people are asking as of late, most are heavily used. I’d rather put $$ into something new.
At $950 Id buy a new Mini-14
At $950 Id buy a new Mini-14
$250??? Not in today's world. I just saw a beater/trunk gun sell for $500 on Gunbroker. So, I'm guessing in the real world you may be able to buy it for $350-$400.
The other problem, no one locally is selling anything they own, so Gunbroker is almost the only game in town.
The last couple we have had in our store sold quickly at 650-700$ without all the goodies in the picture. My buddy who has been a gunsmith for 40 years or so has three crates full of them in his gun room in his house, one for each one of his grown kids. I don't even know if they know they are in that closet.
An SKS that takes AK magazines is worth double a regular SKS. For example, SKS-M, SKS-D, SKS Sporter, SKS 30, SKS-MC5.
These go for about $1,000 and up currently. So a regular SKS would be worth about $500 to me. However, most of the ones I see at the local shows around here in SW Missouri are Chinese, generally in decent shape, and are priced anywhere from $650- $1200. Anything Russian just seems to be WAY too high priced. I rarely see Yugo, Romanian, or Russian SKSs anyways, mostly Chinese. I have seen SKS prices (and other gun prices, as well as ammo prices) go down a bit lately, since Covid buying fever has slacked off a bit. Most stuff at local gun shows around here is overpriced to begin with, especially ammo.
These go for about $1,000 and up currently. So a regular SKS would be worth about $500 to me. However, most of the ones I see at the local shows around here in SW Missouri are Chinese, generally in decent shape, and are priced anywhere from $650- $1200. Anything Russian just seems to be WAY too high priced. I rarely see Yugo, Romanian, or Russian SKSs anyways, mostly Chinese. I have seen SKS prices (and other gun prices, as well as ammo prices) go down a bit lately, since Covid buying fever has slacked off a bit. Most stuff at local gun shows around here is overpriced to begin with, especially ammo.
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I dont know or care much about the market price of these, but last year a guy traded a couple into a local store. I picked up his pretty much immaculate Yugo SKS for 400 out the door. I'm happy with it for that price and it's a fun shooter. The deals are out there, they're just going to come from the people who bought a crate of them way back when.
I had SKS Paratroopers. Several, 90.00I think, new. AK mags. Tuna cans of ammo was 80.00. Don’t miss it. I have a 12.5” AR that shoots tight with 55gr. Norma.
Not what you want to hear but if you did not want one at 100,00, why now.?
Not what you want to hear but if you did not want one at 100,00, why now.?
I’ve got a Letter Sino Soviet Norinco KSI that I got in about 95. Best I can tell it is new/unfired 1959. Just sits in the safe & everytime I think about selling it, I change my mind. The old ones are pretty well built with a lot of milled & well fitted parts parts.
This goes for anything... If you need it, pay the asking price. If you just "want it" wait a year.
yeah ….that shit was around 2010 and it came with 500rds. i shot the ammo and sold it for 275.
Bought a Norinco crate with my buds back in the 90s. We all kept one and sold the others for $100 each. Meant we had about 75 bucks in the ones we kept. I shot it very little and sold it a year ago for $750 at a gun show right after I pick up a Russian for $300 from another guy. I like where am at and will keep the Russian for another 30years or so but I will be pushing 100 years old so maybe my son gets a Russian for free. Beats my deal but good for him.
Wow... the price sure has changed.
I bought one for a Hundred bucks... and a 1200rd case of copper plated case for another 100bucks.
At the time.. the main reason for the purchase was.... a little more money than a 10/22 and a lot more ooomph.
Me and my friends treated those SKS's like dirt... only cleaning out any salts from the fired corrosive ammo.
I am not sure I could bring myself to pay $950 for one today.
I bought one for a Hundred bucks... and a 1200rd case of copper plated case for another 100bucks.
At the time.. the main reason for the purchase was.... a little more money than a 10/22 and a lot more ooomph.
Me and my friends treated those SKS's like dirt... only cleaning out any salts from the fired corrosive ammo.
I am not sure I could bring myself to pay $950 for one today.
Houston Astro Hall gun show, was going to buy one they were $69 . Couldn't do it, ugly , horrible sights , felt horrible, didn't do it. Wished I had now. During Clinton years one of his bans remember seeing people waving cash 3,4, deep buying anything. Bobtail trucks in parking lot lines of people buying crates of ammo. Dealers were rolling in dolly loads of sks crates. Rip them open throw empty against the wall open another . East Tx. Throwed their 30-30 away and every 4 wheeler had an SMS on it
I remember those shows, however my shows had them covered in the stickiest cosmoline. Not just covered, but lathered in the stuff. Barrels were plugged with the stuff too. They were a terror to clean up. weeks to months to clean some of them.
I also remember $70 Garands in a wooden barrel at the 5 and dime store back when I was a young kid.
A buddy’s dad “got his wife” an SKS for mother’s day that year because the ban was coming. She wanted a sewing machine instead. It’s a bold move to arm your disgruntled wife.
Going rate for a Yugo SKS all matching is around $600- $700. If you really want one just search around on different forums marketplace or try a gun show.
Why the Yugos go for more than a norinco is beyond me especially since the barrel isn't chrome lined (not a huge issue). If you just want an SKS then look around for a Norinco which you can probably find for around $400-$500.
I got luck in the 80s a shop openned clost to us , i bought 20 of them for $75 a pop , i have all but 2 still in the cosmaline. They are Russian made bought some ammo and stored it in the gun cases
$75 plus the gun show $10 parking fee.
MAYBE a bag of jerky too. And a beanie baby while I get my knife sharpened.
MAYBE a bag of jerky too. And a beanie baby while I get my knife sharpened.
They were like $199 in Canada a couple of years ago. They're ok rifles but definitely wouldn't pay $600.
Definitely why I bought mine. I just need a yugo to finish my sks collection. They wouldn't be bad investments either as the SKS has only gone one way value wise. Pay now and enjoy shooting it, then pass it on to the kids or sell it for what you paid for it (possibly more) 10-20 years down the road.
I remember seeing pallets and tables full of them at fun shows in the early 90's along with cases of ammo. Centerfire bullet hoses from back in the day. Now the ammo isn't even cheap. Never bought any because I could buy 10 bricks of Winchester Wildcat for $89 and had a .22 that I felt was more accurate than any SKS ever made.
The price is always what people are willing to pay. But when you can buy an AR for $750 or so, why?
The price is always what people are willing to pay. But when you can buy an AR for $750 or so, why?
Just to illustrate how completely far out of these loops I am, I bought my first G11 Swiss long rifle for $12.50 with one box of ammunition in 1959 the year before I joined the service. That same rifle now is between six and $800 from Simpson's Limited.
In the mid-70s when I was still a very active dealer, I paid $49 apiece in groups of 10 for the SKS's. I actively sold them for $75 apiece. I wasn't impressed enough with the rifle itself or the caliber to keep any in the armory at all, so I didn't. In retrospect, it probably was not a mistake because I could not have foreseen the insanity that continued on in the firearms business in the following years.
In the mid-70s when I was still a very active dealer, I paid $49 apiece in groups of 10 for the SKS's. I actively sold them for $75 apiece. I wasn't impressed enough with the rifle itself or the caliber to keep any in the armory at all, so I didn't. In retrospect, it probably was not a mistake because I could not have foreseen the insanity that continued on in the firearms business in the following years.
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Or $499 or $599 for basic rack grade ARs these days.
Of course when original Soviet production SKS rifles were $89 and available by the truckload of crates full of them, I was too poor to buy more than 1
I picked mine up for $134 including tax, I think in the 2006-ish timeframe. They are decent enough rifles, and were great back when they were the cheapest reliable semi you could get, but ARs have gotten way cheaper, and they've gotten more expensive. There's way too many better options in the same price range for me to give SKS's any thought. Hell, I picked up an RM1 special Garand with a new stock and Criterion barrel 3-4 months ago for $750, and you can still get rack grade rifles for $650... Hard to figure opting for an SKS, even if you want something historical.
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