Chinese surprised me

[Hodgie]

hell....the type 54...m44 copy....the workings of the rifle are quite possibly more quality than the real thing, regardless of country of manufacture. (wood sucks...Yay. wood is replaceable)

Yes I agree and have a few T53's as well, they typically have excellent triggers for a Mosin Nagant type rifle. The problem with the wood is it's very porous and fibrous which workers great in very humid climates like Vietnam since it prevents jungle rot, however it doesn't always hold up great in long term storage. I have been able to restore quite a few rifles including their CHU wood stocks back into their former glory it's just a bit more work on the wood.

Here’s one I did a few years back, hopefully you can see the pictures without having to log in.

http://www.sksboards.com/smf/index.p...118125.0;nowap

My brother has a Norinco M14/M1A clone and it’s nicer then the Springfield national match I have when it comes to machine work and fit and finish.

[spandexlurch]

I had an old Yugo SKS years ago, looked real nice and wasn't totally packed with cosmoline. I only had one problem with it, it would light strike 75% of the time and fail to fire. I just this past weekend bought a new to me SKS from McSull and it has a few blemishes but otherwise is solidly built. Hopefully I'll get to shoot it soon and see how a good SKS works.