With the prices of the SKS skyrocketing over the last year or so, I'd say they are worth about the same on the current market. I actually frequently see XDs go for quite a bit less than any SKS variant here in the Chicagoland area. Just because we all paid good prices on our SKS doesn't mean that we'll ever see those deals again (we won't). I hear that the Chinese copies are inferior to other makes, but it really depends on a certain amount of features of that particular rifle and regardless of what it does or doesn't have, they are considered good rifles. If it were me, I'd prefer the rifle over the handgun, but that's considering that I already own something useful in a pistol and need a rifle. I would also ditch the detachable mag and try and hunt down an original fixed. Stripper clips are cheap on Ebay!