Update: Renovatin’ … home on the range!

     Howdy, y’all … a couple of weekends back, I’d taken my renovated Tula SKS to the range.  One Saturday afternoon, my buddy Sahil met me and my son T.C. at the Galveston Rifle & Pistol Club, where he is a member.  Sahil kinda had the "I-wants" for a .357 revolver, so I took my stainless Smith & Wesson Model 66 along for him to practice with, includin' a couple of boxes of .38 and .357 rounds.  Sahil's a good guy, so I figured that as long as we didn’t crack any Aggie jokes that we'd be in some pretty safe company!  While Sahil's objective was to shoot my Smith … my objective was to re-introduce myself to my vintage SKS, which I had recently finished Renovatin’ ...

 

     We had brought a few other arms with us, includin' our vintage M-1 carbine, a Winchester Defender tactical shotgun and my Springfield XDm, in which I was tryin' to zero-in with my Veridian Green laser/tactical light.  Sahil brought his Glock as well as his Zastava Yugo AK-47 into the fray, and we all had a blast!  Me & T.C. hadn't ever had the opportunity to shoot an AK, and as usual ... T.C. fared better than I did.  He had a much better stance and grouping, while I ended-up with a rosie-right cheek; Sahil's AK definitely had quite a bit more kick than our SKS!  And speakin' of kick, even though our Winchester Defender has a pistol-grip as opposed to a butt-stock ... it's not somethin' I'd recommend shootin' with one hand.  There's a dang-good reason that I chose to install the additional pistol-grip on the pump as well.  We took turns blastin' some older rounds of 00 buckshot as well as launchin' some 3" slugs down range, and it kicks like a mule!

     Gettin' back to the SKS, as previously posted, I had replaced the fixed “dump” magazine system in order for it to accommodate removable 20-round polymer mags.  The new TAPCO IntraFuse 6-position stock with SAW pistol grip was much-more comfortable to hold.  I had also replaced the original gas piston and added an improved gas tube.  Another mod that I had made was the addition of a thread-adapter onto the end of the barrel and a muzzle brake.  So, my first line of business was to insert a loaded mag, charge the system, take-it off of safety and fire it.  C’mon … what’s the worst that could happen?  Well, at this point, I had a few serious concerns, such as: Will the gun fire without catastrophic failure?  Will the mod on the end of my barrel stay intact?  Would it eject the spent shell and cycle correctly, feeding the next shell properly?  And, would the sear function correctly so I wasn’t launchin’ 19 additional rounds down-range in quick-friggin’ succession?  This last concern was not a likely problem; but as far as my hapless-ass was concerned, if sh¡t can happen …

Easier changin' mags than reloadin' with stripper-clips!

     ... well, it didn’t, ‘cause you’re readin’ this-here blog; the SKS fired (almost*) perfectly  and accurately!  Shootin’ open sights in a standin’ position, my first few rounds at 30 yards all grouped somewhat satisfactorily.  The kick wasn’t anywhere near what it used to be, probably due to the additional butt-pad and the muzzle-brake.  I felt very comfortable holdin’ the new TAPCO Intrafuse 6-position stock, and decided to shoot my next mag prone, usin’ the bipod.  This allowed me to adjust my sights, and get a much better grouping.  Even though I am a stalker and not a still-hunter, you just never know what scenario one might face runnin’ ‘round out there in them woods!  I needed to practice gettin’ comfortable changin’ mags both quickly and efficiently.  And every time I changed a mag, I checked to make sure that my barrel-mod had not moved.  The adaptor didn't budge, but the muzzle-brake will need some thread-lock.  All & all, I’d say that I was as happy as a toddler that took his first diaper-less poop!

 

     *Here are the down-sides: Out of the 100+ rounds fired, we had a total of 3 miss-feeds with the SKS.  On three occasions, we ended-up with a vertical live round kinda stickin' ... as in straight-friggin' up with the bolt slammed against it!  Also, the pressure switch for the NEBO would not adhere to the TAPCO synthetic stock.  As a matter of fact, the NEBO pressure switch on the Winchester Defender stuck in the on position, so it looks like I'll hafta be fixin' sh¡t again!  And as far as my shootin' goes, I think I'll need to be hittin' the range a lot more often, 'cause my groupin's definitely ain't nothin' to brag about.  So after some more practice, the next test would be out in them woods. I'm itchin’ to put my new hog eradicator through its paces.  And as bad as the feral hog problem is here in Texas … it’s not much of a question of when to hunt as much as it is the question of where.  In the great state of Texas, as long as you have a valid huntin’ license, you can hunt hogs (almost) anywhere 24-hours a day, 365 days a year.  There are several places in Galveston, Brazoria, Chambers & Jefferson counties for me to choose from, not to mention hittin' the Sam Houston National Forest.  So until then, I'll be sure to share ... and y’all take care!