History of SKS/SKK rifles in NZ?

I'm curious about SKS/SKK rifles in NZ, when did they first come in? How many are there? I was reading about 300,000 of these rifles going into Australia from the 1980's on (and about 20,000 being handed in during the 1996 semi-ban buy back!). Did NZ import in anywhere near these quantities?

Also, are SKS still being manufactured, or are the 'new' SKS rifles being sold now ex-military or stored rifles?

Is there any reason why the SKS rifles with AK magazines are called 'SKK' in NZ and Australia, but not anywhere else?

Are non-Chinese SKS rifles common in NZ?

None of this is important, just idle curiosity. I don't know where to look to find this information.

trademe will answer one question..eg whats about now.....I remember them popping up for sale in late 80s early 90s as a cheap tool type offering for on the farm. prices seem to stay about the same...they were all the rage for a time then guys seemed to realise they were no better off than with the old bolt action sitting in the cupboard and if deer was 200 yards away.....well the bolt wins hands down.

I was told that they stopped making the SKS and the NHM90s as there are so many of them in circulation all ready.

I've never seen or heard of a non Chinese SKS in NZ. Not to say they don't exist.

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Originally Posted by Max Headroom

I've never seen or heard of a non Chinese SKS in NZ. Not to say they don't exist.

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There are a few Russian ones here. Not common and most people keep them once they have them.

I suppose the first ones might have come in as War Trophies from Korea and Vietnam.

The first SKS I had on my books was an ex-Vietnam trophy, Russian-made, and I bought it off a US Navy Deep Freeze guy on 15 March 1976. His NZ registration certificate was issued on 26 May 1972.

Chinese ones started coming into the country big time in the mid 1980's. You were able to by them by the crate if you were so inclined. Really it was the golden time if you wanted to get something along those lines, I remember getting offered a couple of UZi's which I foolishly declined. So basically there were thousands imported, lord knows what happened to them all, most would be considered Ecat now.

Molot make new SKS rifles to a commercial standard of quality. We will probably never see them due to the embargoes against Russia. I do remember Norinco SKS's creeping up in asking price in the early 2000's to silly money. Gun City then started importing them again circa 2008, for $500, and I snapped one up then as it was the cheapest I had seen them in almost a decade. It was a great rifle to me, shot a deer and countless rabbits with it. Used to be able to by Barnaul soft points from the local hunting a fisting for $12/20 rounds back then which made it cheap shooting for a centre fire.

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Originally Posted by jim160

There are a few Russian ones here. Not common and most people keep them once they have them.

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I was one on Trademe about six months ago. Went for $700. They are rare.

I had an early Chinese import which had military markings ie not norinco it was a great little rifle. The Russian ones were very nice, some seemed to have laminated stocks. I have seen some rough looking made on the cheap Chinese ones terrible finish, no idea how they shot...

Russia shipped tooling and engineers to china when the started making them, so the early ones to all intents could be considered russian made.
Ive owned several chinese ones (type 56) named after the year they started mnf. All have shot as well as the open sights have allowed me to.

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Originally Posted by Marty Henry

Russia shipped tooling and engineers to china when the started making them, so the early ones to all intents could be considered russian made.
Ive owned several chinese ones (type 56) named after the year they started mnf. All have shot as well as the open sights have allowed me to.

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Yep spot on, I have had an early one as well that was most likely produced while the Russian engineers were in China helping set up.
There are some pretty informative sites out there on date and location of production but it's not all that easy to decipher some of the stampings.

Mine shot well and for what it was it was pretty accurate. I like the engineering, clever, simple, robust and they work.

The only thing collectible thing about the Chinese ones is once you buy one your stuck with it , took me about a year to get rid of it. Shoots ok but the stocks are way short and unless you drill and tap the receiver your not going to get a good scope mount that holds zero. One thing to watch for is if the barrels screwed on (good) or pinned(not so good).
I've still got one in the grease and kept the 2" butt extension but can't see me hauling it out from the back of the safe anytime soon.

Thanks for all the replies. My interest in them is for controlling goats in the bush, and hares out beyond maximum easy 22LR range. Low cost rifle and ammo always helps too.

Are the Russian rifles much different (better) than the Chinese?

So anyone know much about the SKK versions? It seems these are the same things the Americans call SKS-D. How many came into NZ, and how popular were they? Was it only a short introduction period? From what I read it seems the Chinese did not manufacture them for very long, makes me wonder why. I've seen one youtube video of an American guy who could not get one to cycle properly, but any youtube video search always shows the Aussie guys culling feral pigs, I haven't watched much of these but Steve Lee seems to have an SKS (SKK) which functions perfectly.

isnt there some thing about a flash hider on the skk and bare barrel on the sks????
for goat control they are fine...loads of cullers have given them a whirl over the years.....it still wont do anything a mini 14 or mini 30 wont do as well if not better...... but if you want to chuck it on carryall tray of tractor etc the open sights will be better option......the rugers have open sights too,I just couldnt bring myself to treat one of them with abuse,a sks yip no worries,think of them as the eastern blocks SMLE .

The SKS was a very popular rifle in outback Aus in the 80s, for close range culling work. As mentioned anove, they were imported and sold by the crate load along with ammo in 20,000 round lots. My old SES mate in QLD has some fantastic old home movie footage and photos of what they got up to with the SKS. Very reliable, worked smoothly with very high rounds counts.

After Port Arthur of course every thing changed but Ben is right there are still a helluva lot of these rifles stashed away. The SKS is still quite widely used in Aus for pig control by professional Cat D licence holders, but there’s also a fair few station folk way out in the middle nowhere using them on the quiet. Its not the rifles that are valuable now, its the ammo, can be quite hard to come by if you want a lot of it.

https://youtu.be/nTpTIVlC7Ho

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Originally Posted by Ben Waimata

Thanks for all the replies. My interest in them is for controlling goats in the bush, and hares out beyond maximum easy 22LR range. Low cost rifle and ammo always helps too.

Are the Russian rifles much different (better) than the Chinese?

So anyone know much about the SKK versions? It seems these are the same things the Americans call SKS-D. How many came into NZ, and how popular were they? Was it only a short introduction period? From what I read it seems the Chinese did not manufacture them for very long, makes me wonder why. I've seen one youtube video of an American guy who could not get one to cycle properly, but any youtube video search always shows the Aussie guys culling feral pigs, I haven't watched much of these but Steve Lee seems to have an SKS (SKK) which functions perfectly.

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The Russian ones I have seen and owned Had laminated wood stocks and the Russian Star on the rear dust cover tooling and Quality was about the same , Oh and I think they had a blade Bayonet rather than the spiked one. The first Chinese SKS rifles that I had anything to do with were Ex Military issue and I ordered one from a guy in Nelson who imported them a few at a time , money up front first. Well made and in quite good condition. Later the Commercial Norinco ones started to turn up along with the SKK & Ak47 copy's. The SKK was made for the U.S.A civilian market though some landed here. Came with spike bayonet and 3 30 round magazines. I remember the local Sport shop having about 10 of them hung in the front window on mono fishing line with no alarm system. Mind you they also had BAR, SLR, M1 Carbines, A Strumweger ( excuse spelling) and a multitude of other E & C cat firearms hanging on the wall`s. This was just before David Grey Stuffed it all up for the rest of us. Simpler times in the 1980`s

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Originally Posted by Micky Duck

isnt there some thing about a flash hider on the skk and bare barrel on the sks????
for goat control they are fine...loads of cullers have given them a whirl over the years.....it still wont do anything a mini 14 or mini 30 wont do as well if not better...... but if you want to chuck it on carryall tray of tractor etc the open sights will be better option......the rugers have open sights too,I just couldnt bring myself to treat one of them with abuse,a sks yip no worries,think of them as the eastern blocks SMLE .

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The SKK I had a Norinco one. The front end was exact to the SKS, Only difference was the stock cut out to accept 30 round mags and the bolt bottom was cut away with no hold open after last shot. Wish I had never sold that thing.

Yeah when I lived in QLD back in the early 90's there was a mate who had access to a lot of WW2 American gear, originally stashed for use after the feared Japanese invasion. The story about how it was accessed was always pretty vague, but the weapons were real. He claimed to have a 50cal machine gun hidden away, he surely had a lot of other WW2 stuff that was highly illegal even before the 1996 ban! I think SKS rifles were the least of the worries for Aussie lawmakers if they had only known! Lucky that big station inland from Townsville was so remote...

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Originally Posted by jim160

There are a few Russian ones here. Not common and most people keep them once they have them.

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I know a fella who has one, with a laminated stock. Pure Russian.

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Originally Posted by Max Headroom

I've never seen or heard of a non Chinese SKS in NZ. Not to say they don't exist.

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A friend of mine had a Russan SKS it was more accurate than the Chinese built stuff, He worked for one of the importers
and shot many Chinese SKS's never found one that shot better than the old Russian, used it to take quite a lot of deer ant goats

One thing I meant to follow up on and never got round to. In South Australia a few years ago we were out shooting goats and foxes with aforementioned mate. He had one of his old SKS on the bike. Not being particularly into old military weapons I didn't pay it much attention. But I remembered him clearly telling me it was .223 not 7.62x39. Didn't think anything of it at the time. Defo an SKS not an AK.

Later I learned from a pig culler in the east of QLD that the .223 SKS was bloody rare and highly sought after. There was a shipment of them into Aus in the early 90s (?). So I did some googling and they are real, I didn't imagine it. And they are worth proper money. So I'll ring Laurie later on, see what's what.

So just wondering, did any of those make it to NZ do you think?

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Originally Posted by Flyblown

the .223 SKS was bloody rare and highly sought after.

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I'm asking myself, how much advantage would .223 have over 7.62x39 in an SKS? Lighter weight perhaps? I think 7.62 would have better close range knock down, and I have never heard anyone talk about super long range accuracy with an SKS. Is it just rarity collector value?

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Originally Posted by Beavis

from the local hunting a fisting.

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@Beavis Is that a misprint? Not judging....

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Originally Posted by csmiffy

@Beavis Is that a misprint? Not judging....

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No. He's just being childish and vulgar.

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Originally Posted by systolic

No. He's just being childish and vulgar.

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This

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Originally Posted by Flyblown

One thing I meant to follow up on and never got round to. In South Australia a few years ago we were out shooting goats and foxes with aforementioned mate. He had one of his old SKS on the bike. Not being particularly into old military weapons I didn't pay it much attention. But I remembered him clearly telling me it was .223 not 7.62x39. Didn't think anything of it at the time. Defo an SKS not an AK.

Later I learned from a pig culler in the east of QLD that the .223 SKS was bloody rare and highly sought after. There was a shipment of them into Aus in the early 90s (?). So I did some googling and they are real, I didn't imagine it. And they are worth proper money. So I'll ring Laurie later on, see what's what.

So just wondering, did any of those make it to NZ do you think?

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Can`t say I have ever heard of a Chinese SKS in .223 though when you consider the Norinco company made the 84s AK in .223 nato for the civilian market and probably from the same barrel blanks as the 7.62x39. Why not if it sells the Capitalist west.

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Originally Posted by Ben Waimata

Is it just rarity collector value?

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From what I’ve read, yes. Quite a lot of rarity value in the US but then some of those collectors have got more money than sense.

maybe it was along same lines as the newer AKs chambered in 5.56x39mm???...... carried my Chinese norinco/bisley bolt 7.62x39mm around today but the wind kept all deer and piggies well and truely safe from the hound and me.......

Had them back in the day, also had a stainless mini-14. The sks was a hell of a lot more reliable, and accurate, always took it out after goats and left the mini in the safe, piece of crap.

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Originally Posted by Ben Waimata

I'm asking myself, how much advantage would .223 have over 7.62x39 in an SKS? Lighter weight perhaps? I think 7.62 would have better close range knock down, and I have never heard anyone talk about super long range accuracy with an SKS. Is it just rarity collector value?

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I'd have one

Nearly bought a Russian one back in the '80's but the guy selling it had hack sawed the bayonet lug off :omg:
It was $150 when the Norinco's were going for about $299.

Agree with the reliabilty and accuracy.

When I was in the states the guy i stayed with had one and while I was there bought a mag conversion that replaced the pin and mag housing with a 29 round one.
I say 29 rounds as when he stuck 30 in it the first time and tried to close it, the top round got all bent out of shape.

The Norinco one I still have I picked up for $65 back around 1992, was like new with 10 shot mag and bayonet. Now 7 shot no bayonet lugs. Did have one I paid $25 for but that one went years ago in some trade or other.
Did have a Russian one I paid the ridicules price of $100 for laminated stock and star on dustcover, probably should have held onto that one.