I am the new owner of a Yugo SKS, unissued rifle. I am looking for advice on stocks and scopes. My hope is to use it as a sniper rifle, but still use iron sights for shorter ranges.

Being a left handed shooter, I have found that it adds a lot of issues to some of the rifles that I have shot, so with the SKS I am concened about the shell deflector keeping my scope safe, but allowing every hot shell to bounce off my forhead.

Also, the wooden stock seems cumbersome, is there anyone out there with the Dragonov style stock on an SKS? How does it work for them? Or what stock would you recommend (from experiance).

I am not looking for a sales pitch, or I'd just go to a gun shop. I am looking for some good real-world advice.

Your help as fellow ATSers is, as always, invaluable! Thanks.

I have read that changine magazines from fixed to removable causes feeding issues, is this still true? Or has the aftermarket community overcome this problem?

IMO, you should pick up a bolt action rifle for sniper use. Use the SKS for what it was designed for, throwing lead in the general direction of the target. A sniper rifle is for putting the bullet through a specific part of the target, at long range.

The SKS is a post WWII self-loading carbine. Carbine and sniper rifle are not a match.

With add-ons you can make it look like an assault rifle, but it is still a semi-auto carbine.

Personally i found with my sks the long range accuracy is not real great . I have kept mine as for short range usage. The long range weapon I put a 4x32 scope on is a 30 06 a re chambered German Mauser with a bull barrel . The bolt action for a sniper weapon is a better choice than a semi auto at longer ranges . Sniping 1 shot 1 kill lessens the need for a semi auto .

I don't think the 7.62x39 is really that great for sniping, but a good after market stock to get would be a tapco six position stock. and for sights the max I would go to would be 4x zoom.

It's tough to go wrong with an SKS. However, if you have problems with the lefty issues, companies like DPMS make rifles (AR-15's) to order and have dedicated left handed setups that they call their Southpaw line.

The only drawback to going that route is $$$. But they do sell the Southpaw uppers and parts separately if you want to get into building your own black gun from parts or want to convert an existing layout.

Anyway, have fun tricking out the SKS. I saw some great configurations at my local gun show a couple of weeks ago.

A SKS is not designed or intended for snipes the receiver is not designed for a scope but you can pic up after market dove tail attachments that bolt on. I have 1 SKS its a stock yugo. and is a good all around rifle for close range. My buddy has a SKS china with a dragunov stock that you have to sight in every other clip.
If I was going to mod my sks I would go with a bullpup by sgworks AWB laws still applies

Seeing that the rifle has a max effective range of like 440 yards, indeed, short range to say the least (remember popping off 800 meter targets with the M-16 in Basic.

What type of optics would work well for this type of platform?

All of these options I list could be state illegal so check with your particular state before making such addons.
As for the stock question, the best idea I can think of is go to a gun store and hold a standard stock weapon as well as a thumbhole stock and a pistol grip style.
Whichever feels best you will probably shoot better with.
As for scope, there are not many options out there available to the sks without interfering with the stripper clips.
So you will probably have to give up one for the other.
As for detachable magazines, as someone stated above the good ones will cost you more than a good ak-47.
I had bought some knock offs and seating was a pain and a half, then I bought a 20 round fixed magazine that fed only on days that did not end in Y.
10 round fixed factory magazine for me from then on.
As for the left hand issue and owning a communist based, you will only be right handed type gun, …. …well you know by now a deflector is your only option.
Sometimes they deflect back to the breach and that sucks.
As for a sniping weapon I have shot mine from around 200 yards pretty darn accurate but the weapon was not designed to snipe.
Get a Remington 700 for that as they are pretty cheap nowadays and I would arguably say they are the best overall bolt action out there.
Inexpensive, lightweight, multiple calibers, ambidextrous, many aftermarket parts, Etc. Etc. Etc.
Not THE best but high on the overall scale.
There are better options out there other than what you have in a sks but I have a soft spot for mine as it is simply just a great gun, it is the Chinese answer to the Garand, of which I also have a soft spot for.

Bad choice for a sniper rifle. the sks and the ak both have too much barrel flex to be accurate past 50 yards, the are a close quarters combat weapon. you want a .223 or a .303 or a .308 or a .50. also if you are a big guy, you dont want to put a scope on that sks until you extend that stock out a few inchs...unless you like black eyes. but at 50 yards or less you dont need a scope any way, use open sights, thats how the rifle was meant to be used.

You all have been MOST helpful (as I knew the resident weapon-heads here at ATS would be)! I know there is more advice out there and I look forward to hearing it! Just thank you for this so far!

I have found Chinese SKS to be reliable to 300 yards. My activities are in brushy areas where there is rarely a longer line-of-fire than 200 yards. I've tried several scope mounts, but the only one that really works is an upper receiver specially made to take a scope. The actual mount sits up on stilts above the receiver, which means the iron sights can still be used. The reason it has to be raised is to clear the discharge of spent shells.

One thing about ammo: there is a tiny difference between 7.62 for military versus police specs in the soviet union. Military rifle ammo is not supposed to be hollow point, even minutely, or it violates the "Law of Land Warfare / Geneva Convention." But police ammo is for killing your own people and you are welcome to blast away with dum-dums. Some 30 round clips are made for the "hollow point" version, and are thus a mm or so to short axially to take military rounds. I been told this was because NATO claimed the SU was planning to use hollow points if combat ever actually occurred in Europe. So a "police" SKS clip may not accept "army" rounds. (Which is stupid, since it is the police rd that are not Geneva-compliant, and not vice versa).

Who knows, maybe that story is BS as far as attribution goes, but it IS true that some clips bought at gun shows, etc. will not receive a non "hollow point" round. And of course it isn't really a hollow point at all, just a dimple at the end where the copper jacket doesn't cover the point of the bullet. It might be the difference between Yugo and Chinese magazines. Oh well, I still discovered that not all my rd fit in every clip. ...

If you buy SKS clips, you might want to check them with non "flat tip" 7.62 rounds to see if that clip will fire them.