Scoping the SKS carbine can be a gunsmithing project just waiting to happen.

by Norman E. Johnson

Not every old military rifle is readily adaptable to scope mounting but a little ingenuity will get the job done on quite a few of them. So it is with the SKS carbine. The iiSamozaryadnyj Karabin sistemy Simonova (Self-loading Carbine, Simonov system) is a Soviet semi-automatic carbine designed in 1944 and chambered for the 7.62 x 39mm cartridge. It was quickly surpassed by the AK-47 but continues to see service and became a popular surplus export in the civilian market.

An avid hunter presented me with his SKS carbine, typically used with open sights, with thoughts of having a scope mounted for deer hunting. He really didn’t want to put a lot of money into the gun so some serious improvising would be in order. With the removal of a small strip of stock wood to expose additional receiver surface and the addition of a spacer between mount and receiver, a very attractive and sturdy mounting job was possible. I used a side mount I had on hand, which had a one-piece integral Weaver base attached. This mount base was for a Model 1100 Remington shotgun. Standard Weaver quick-detachable rings fit this base.

Read more in the February 2016 issue.

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