Recent SKS Prices

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Daekar

New member
What kind of prices has everybody been seeing on the run-of-the-mill m59/66 Yugos lately? The gun shows here have been ridiculous, the prices usually run from $375 for a mediocre one to $575 (!!!) for an "unissued" Yugo. Russians are not to be had for less than $500 when they're available at all, and Chinese are$375+ too.

I got lucky this past Saturday and picked up a paperworkless Yugo for $300, but that's the best price I've seen in a long time.

I bought my first Yugo a few years ago for $160 and I thought that was high. If I had only known....
 
Geez, I recently posted one of my Yugos on the classifieds here for a buck and a half and only had a couple of tirekickers...
 
Maybe it's your region, the prices here aren't nearly so steep. My Norinco Type 56 SKS was $180, and even nice Russian ones here tend to be more like $350.
 
I'm somewhat startled at the prices of SKS rifles these days. Not awfully long ago I bought three Yugo SKSes for a flat $100.00 each. Sheesh, as Inspector Clouseau would say, "not anymeure."
 
Bought an "unissued" or at least arsenal refurbed Yugo for $120.00 four years ago, just sold it for $350.00. Actually, I bought two, but I sold one to a friend for the same price I paid for it... shoulda kept it...

Guess one reason is it's the last military semi-auto we're going to see imported, at least in any quantity anyway.
 
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People are wanting alot more than they are worth in my opinion. Back in the day when you could buy one for $100 that was about what they are worth. The prices they are wanting today is a joke.
 
Yugos are the least reliable of all the SKS varieties. I'd rather have any other SKS than a yugo, and wouldn't consider buying one that I couldn't inspect the bore and gas system on first.
 
59/66 Yugos at the local Big5 have been going for like 370-399. I wouldn't pay that for a yugo, though.

I think that any individual seller asking for 350+ is trying to make up for their losses during the panic buy a few years ago.

They're fine rifles; keep looking.
 
Keep edging up where I live. Some of the pristine Russians are pushing 500. Most run of the mill SKS rifles however are in the neighborhood of 300-400 depending on the accessories with some good buys to be had in the 200 dollar range if you look hard enough.
 
SKS prices

I bought my yugo earlier this year in what appeared to be unfired condition for $160. from a pawn shop in Lansing. Once I figured out where to clean all the cosmoline out from, it's been 100% reliable, a bit heavy, but still fun to shoot.
 
People are wanting alot more than they are worth in my opinion. Back in the day when you could buy one for $100 that was about what they are worth. The prices they are wanting today is a joke.
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In a free-market economy, things are "worth" what buyers are willing to give and/or sellers are willing to take. Intrinsic, perceived or "ought to be" value doesn't matter.

Yugos are the least reliable of all the SKS varieties.
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First time I've ever heard that.
 
I think a lot of people got caught up in "the sky-is-falling, the-sky-is falling" Obama panic of a couple of years ago and somewhere VALUE stopped being a consideration in the mob panic and people started paying WAY too much for SKS's, because.... you know, the sky was falling... It's just another classic "bubble" that's now burst. Now the people who got caught up in the panic buying have got what was basically a pretty good gun (at least those SKS's with chrome lined barrels were pretty good guns) that was once worth way more than it sold for (back when SKS's sold for $125), that are now worth way less than what was paid for them in the panic buying that went on. But those who paid $350 for a gun that was probably always worth about $225, now expect to make a profit of $100 when they sell it. Not many takers though now that the panics over when a gun is priced about double its value. But people who paid $350 for a gun aren't going to sell it for $250 unless some terrible calamity befalls them. They'll continue to ask $450 but most will never sell at that price and will still be in a closet somewhere when the owner croaks. But a few will always sell. There'll always be somebody who just has to have an SKS and nothing else will do, but my guess is they are few and far between. I guess we can always hope for another panic. But savvy buyers will always be looking for and probably finding, the next great gun deal like the SKS rifle was at $125, East German Makarovs were at $115, and Brazillian Contract 45's were at about $115.
 
jsmaye said:
First time I've ever heard that.
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That's surprising since yugo gas problems are well known and frequently seen. No other country redesigned the SKS to have a gas valve, then deleted the chrome bore, then exclusively issued corrosive ammo, then useds their stockpile of SKSs in a civil war fought primarily with militia who had little or no training.

Yugo SKSs can be great rifles if they are properly maintained, but there is no way to know that was done before you got it unless it is unissued or you can personally inspect it before you buy it and know what to look for.
 
That's surprising since yugo gas problems are well known and frequently seen. No other country redesigned the SKS to have a gas valve, then deleted the chrome bore...
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I figured being an over-all better-built machined rifle would more than offset that.

...then exclusively issued corrosive ammo, then useds their stockpile of SKSs in a civil war fought primarily with militia who had little or no training.
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They're far from the only ones who did that.
 
DG45 beat me to the post-election panic. It's encouraging to see that some scalpers got burned.
Nobody forced them to selfishly create an artificial shortage of some ammo or primers.
Nobody forced them to buy ARs or an SKS, maybe AK clone which they did not plan to use.

Why don't gun show sellers comprehend that almost every buyer realizes that the panic was over by July '09?
With so many trying to sell guns with dirty bores at Memphis area shows, maybe them types of sellers just aint so klever anyways.
They aint never heard of no cheap patches you can just stick on them rods...and use a bit of erl to swab 'em out.

One single seller on 'Gunporker' in summer of '09 offered at least 50,000 rds. of Russian 7.62x39 ammo, all at the same time.
I scanned the pages and this was my estimate. Somebody else guestimated about 70,000 rds of it.
 
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