I've been reading about the SKS in various posts over the last few months. Sounds like a great rifle to have around for some cheap plinking. Anything in particular to look for when shopping the various makes (Norinco, Yugo, etc.)?

I'm not intested in a 'target' rifle, just something that will feed a wide brand of ammo (Wolf and surplus ammo come to mind) and will be fun to shoot and not a pain in the butt to maintain.

If I can pick one up for $150-$200, I might have to pick one up at the next gun show in town.

Model 49 by Russia is best overall but other commie versions from Europe are pretty good I heard. I've never owned one but have had a ball shooting these carbines. Good shooting to you.
TR

I've been reading about the SKS in various posts over the last few months. Sounds like a great rifle to have around for some cheap plinking. Anything in particular to look for when shopping the various makes (Norinco, Yugo, etc.)?

I'm not intested in a 'target' rifle, just something that will feed a wide brand of ammo (Wolf and surplus ammo come to mind) and will be fun to shoot and not a pain in the butt to maintain.

If I can pick one up for $150-$200, I might have to pick one up at the next gun show in town.

Right now the Yugo M59/66 is one of the nicest you will find at a reasonable price. It has the folding bayonet and grenade launcher, milled receiver and screw in barrel. Most can be found in very good condition for $150 and like new for around $200. Accuracy in my two are not bad either. They are for certain more fun to shoot than a barrel of monkeys and you will not regret getting one. The triggers are the only downfall, being fair to downright lousy. For more SKS info, check out this link. (http://www.simonov.net/)

My Yugos are every bit the quality of my Tula Russian, and you can buy two Yugos for the price of one Russian. For a shooter, I would go with the Yugo. Norincos can be good, or bad, depending on what you find, and since they can no longer be imported, they usually bring a higher price. There are tons of the Yugos coming over now so that would be my choice. The Albanian ones that I have seen are rather rough and best purchased solely for rounding out collections. IMO the ones I have seen haven't been worth a hoot as shooters, being extremely rough, but then again, maybe I just saw some bad ones.