Several years ago, I was fortunate enough to obtain a 1950s Sino-Soviet SKS that was apparently a bring-back from Vietnam. It is in a decent condition, and is an excellent rifle. But I recall back in the early 90s, when SKSs were flooding the mil-surp market, mostly heavily used Chinese rifles still thickly coated in cosmoline that were selling for between $49 to $69 each. I paid $600 for this one. I've run a lot of rounds through it, and it functions flawlessly, at least so far, and its not finicky about what ammo is used, it eats it all, from decades old surplus ammo from various Eastern European countries to US match-grade and everything in between. I've known guys with Chinese Norinco SKSs made for civilian sales outside the country that have problems, but so far I seem to be fortunate. Very comfortable to shoot, and very accurate.
Several years ago, I was fortunate enough to obtain a 1950s Sino-Soviet SKS that was apparently a bring-back from Vietnam. It is in a decent condition, and is an excellent rifle. But I recall back in the early 90s, when SKSs were flooding the mil-surp market, mostly heavily used Chinese rifles still thickly coated in cosmoline that were selling for between $49 to $69 each. I paid $600 for this one. I've run a lot of rounds through it, and it functions flawlessly, at least so far, and its not finicky about what ammo is used, it eats it all, from decades old surplus ammo from various Eastern European countries to US match-grade and everything in between. I've known guys with Chinese Norinco SKSs made for civilian sales outside the country that have problems, but so far I seem to be fortunate. Very comfortable to shoot, and very accurate.
I really love the SKS platform. I know they are antiquated but I love this gun