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sks barrel replacement

23K views 10 replies 5 participants last post by  1911crazy 
#1 ·
anyone have any experience with changing an sks barrel? i have been contemplating having a 22 or 24 inch barrel installed to see what sort of long range accuracy would be possible with the right handloads. thanks
 
#2 ·
The work bench might be a better forum, but to try and answer your question I don't think you'd see much improvement, the 762x39 is designed around the 16-20 inch barrel and really doesn't gain alot with a longer barrel. You might want to look at the bolt action sporters and see what they do if anything better.
 
#3 ·
Here's a thread I made a couple of years ago.

http://www.sksboards.com/smf/index.php?topic=65022.0

My experience is that the shorter 16.5" barrels actually shoot more accurately than the 20.5" barrels. Not sure if it is because there is better rifling and a new crown from being cut down to Paratrooper length, or if harmonics/whip play a role.

I don't know where you would find a 22" or 24" barrel for an SKS, anyway. Unless you can find a long barrel M59 Yugo, and if you do, you would want to hang on to it the way it is. That is a rare commodity.
 
#4 ·
good point, Mriddick. due to the case size and load selected, there may not be much to gain beyond a 22 inch barrel. however, a 308 diameter bore would allow for a number of different bullet weights and loads as appossed to a 311 barrel. thanks!! and merry xmas!
 
#7 ·
Before you give up on the barrel thats in there try loading some .308 dia bullets of the type you want to use. Just because the bore is .311 doesn't mean it won't work with .308 bullets. I shoot .308 bullets in my 54R rifles with great results, run .308 tracers too. I've also loaded .308 bullets into .303 as well as 7.5 Swiss. The key is to find a bullet that works with your rifle and likely you will find something useable. I've got a friend who shoots 175gr Sierra Matchking .308 bullets in his Brit Enfield sniper rifle and finds they are much more accurate than the .311 bullets he can buy or original military .303 ammo.

As someone else noted shortening the barrel frequently helps as it decreases the barrel whip by increasing the frequency and decreasing the amplitude of the barrel whip. Shorter stiffer barrels usually have a wider range of useable accuracy. Long whippy barrels can be very accurate but require finding the one load that works with it. Often just a little variation to either side of optimum will give poorer results. Last thing to remember is that your SKS was never intended to be a bolt action sniper rifle and never will be. If you want long range accuracy a remington 700 in .308 is a really good choice at a reasonable price. You might look at CZ 527 or Remington 799 bolt action mini-mausers as well. They can be pretty accurate and are factory built in 7.62X39. Nice light little rifles and the 527 has an adjustable single-set trigger which makes a very nice target trigger.

Hope that helps
Frank
 
#5 ·
great thread and demo, Martin08! i had been thinking about new 308 barrel blank, chambered and threaded for 7.62X39. as mentioned, i will check out what the bolt action guys have been doing with different barrel lengths. thanks again for a great demo! merry xmas!!
 
#6 ·
When the very first batch of the yugo "ufix'm" m59's were offered i thought it had a very bad corroded bore. I ordered an excellent norinco sks barrel from e-gun parts and went to install it. As the norc barrel in its final turn locked it place i found the norc barrel to be upside down withe the gas port and pin holes exactly at 180 degrees off. I put the orginal yugo barrel back in and left it for over a year in the safe. I took it out oneday and using some orginal G.I. Rifle bore Cleaner i removed the residue from the bore from the yugo's shooting non lethal plastic or rubber bullets. The g.i. rifle bore cleaner melted that gooey stuff right out of the bore. I ended up with very shootable bores in 4 rifles. Since there all matching numbered and orginal i deceided to leave them alone.

But on one can i remove metal from the barrel lip so it will turn that last 180 degrees and loc in the right spot? Or do i need to mill the receiver an equal amount of material also? To make the chinese norc chrome lined barrel work on the yugo m59 receiver........
 
#8 ·
great info, Frank. thanks! i have read range reports for the CZ rifle and it is not unusual for MOA accuracy. i may try a range of 308 bullet weights/powder loads to see how close i can get. i would be satisfied with 2 MOA or less with the .311 bore. may use cast bullets also. a 3" group at 200yds would be nice. in any case, a great winter poject trying different loads.
 
#10 ·
the HB AES10B would be a bit much for my use. right now the plan is to do a base load work up on a yugo sks. if decent accuracy is attainable, then the project ends there. otherwise, a custom 22 inch barrel will be tried. would love to see if an sks can shoot close to MOA. thanks
 
#11 · (Edited)
Food for thought on barrel lengths.

My 16'' barreled norinco sks will shoot 1 1/2'' groups at 100yds benchrested using norinco 7,62x39 ammo. While my 20'' barreled norinco sks on the last scope adjustment while walking the bullet towards the X ring the flimsy scopemount came loose as i was near a 1/2'' to 5/8'' two shot group. I installed a mosin style scopemount but i need to sight it in next. I'm not sure if i would cut any barrels or not. But i'm really close to calling the sks an accurate semi auto in 7,62x39. Seeing these results makes me wonder on how would an 18'' sks barrel work??

I know that harmonics plays a big role in the sks/ak barrel lengths. If you look on youtube there is a close up slow motion pic of an ak barrel during firing and cycling. The barrel suffers from harmonics/vibration for sure. Would a bull barrel eliminate some of the barrel vibrations? If we cut a 20'' barrel to 18'' it would be thicker at the muzzle end. Or if we go to a 22'' barrel what diameter are we looking for at the muzzle end? We may have to drill holes in the butt end an install steel bar stock in the stock butt end to rebalance the sks again because of it being more nose heavy with the bull barrel.

Before seeing the accuracy i'm shooting i would laugh and snicker at the pics of the sniper sks's. I do not snicker and laugh anymore at the sniper sks's. The only thing our sks's are limited to is the long distance range now. I think were limited between 250yds to 300yds with the sks. If we do a search for the yugo sniper sks's the pics and different variations will come up of them.

Thinking further into this look how good the 16'' barreled saiga's are accuracy wise. I think if your not going with a bull barrel the 16'' or 18'' barrel just maybe the hot ticket. Now one more point is the 223 & 308 saiga's are a tad more accurate over the two russian calibers the russians at izmash admitted it. Then think its the design of our brass is why the 223 & 308 are more accurate. If you want a very accurate sks why not make it in 223 when you change the barrel?

I just took a 1894 FN small ring mauser in 308 and installed a 7,62x39 to 308win chamber adapter, I may cut the barrel to 18'' and we'll see how it works out, thats another post. It was a bubba gun already.
 
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