r/canadaguns • u/mike-rowe-paynus • Mar 14 '26
Buy recommendations Does anyone know if these SKS’s from FOC will be packed with cosmoline?
I’ve been considering getting one of these from Firearms Outlet Canada for a while. The more I read into the SKS, I keep hearing that they will need a complete disassembly and cleaning to remove all the cosmoline.
Now my question is; is cosmoline only on the SKS when it’s fresh out of the crate? Or will these Frankenstein surplus rifles with mismatching serial numbers be free of cosmoline?
Thanks all
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u/Mammoth-Branch8068 Mar 14 '26
Avoid these, spend the extra 50 and get a French tickler and just clean the cosmoline. You’ll thank yourself for it later
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u/Coinoperated1 Mar 14 '26
That’s what I picked up a few years ago, basically brand new 50+ year old rifle.
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u/mwmwmwmwmmdw Mar 15 '26
when i was in quebec and asked for a french tickler i got something competently different
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Mar 14 '26 edited Mar 14 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Evilstib Mar 15 '26
Why the low accuracy? How the barrels sit on the stock? Barrel length?
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u/prosper_0 Mar 15 '26
The whole thing. It was never designed with accuracy in mind. 3MOA is optimistic, too, unless you only count the best 3 shots out of 10, hah
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u/s2kd Mar 15 '26
I got one of these it's still in a gun sock full of cosmoline. I'll clean it when the weather turns :)
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u/AngryPinGuy Mar 14 '26
They will be free-ish.
Bear in mind most of these sks that have the chassis thrown on are the ones that were rough in shape and had to be replaced.
They have surface corrosion, or just are unsightly.
Buy a normal one, and then find a stock you like. The ATI stocks suck due to the pistol grip being attached only by one screw and it'll wobble a lot, it is fixable by driving a dowel into it though. Not worth the effort.
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u/MourningWood1942 Mar 14 '26 edited Mar 15 '26
This is accurate, listen to this guy
The ones in ATI stocks are beat to shit. They can’t sell them in its original stock due to damage so they put them into these crappy ATI stocks.
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u/boozefiend3000 Mar 14 '26
No clue. But it’s not that hard cleaning cosmoline. Kinda fun actually. Have a beer while doing it
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u/ProtoJazz Mar 14 '26
You really should be stripping down and cleaning any thing you buy, especially something older like an SKS.
The only thing you might be able to skip if you get one that's already been cleaned is taking apart the bolt to remove the firing pin. But it's probably worth cleaning it good anyway otherwise you get some unexpected rapid fire
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u/Response-Cheap Mar 14 '26
Mine was clean and dry. I fixed the grip on it, and I'm happy with it, but I wish I had bought a standard issue SKS. Mine doesn't have any pitting, or corrosion, or ugliness in general. But after seeing all the other options for better chassis out there, I wish I had bought a French tickler or something, then bought a nicer modern chassis. That way I would at least have the option of going back to wood.
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u/Armedfist Mar 14 '26
I would stay away from that vendor if I were you. My credit card was compromised after buying stuff from there.
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u/Longjumping_Rain_483 Mar 15 '26
I just purchased from them using a low limit credit card, since they had the new ruger 10/22 for 150 cheaper than other stores close to me (like G4C). Thankfully if something bad happens I don't have to worry.
I didn't want to buy from them either, but that's alot of money saved as long as everything comes properly. Plus I used sezzle to pay for it, which I believe doesn't give them your card information
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u/BrightOrdinary4348 Mar 15 '26
Anecdotally, I’ve purchased twice in store and once online from them with no problems.
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u/AndyTheWoman Mar 14 '26
To be honest the cleaning process wasn’t that bad except some tight parts when reassembling. It was even a bit relaxing taking the time to clean it. This was for a normal SKS.
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u/Top_Importance6216 Mar 15 '26
ur buying a most likely worn sks in the worst possible chassis. dont do it.
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u/Automatic-Height4246 Mar 15 '26
Old woodstock sks with an aftermarket stock seems better than this ati sks, cz the bayonet worth the collection, plus this is most likely some brand new gun they made a year ago ish
800 $ worth original sks + a 300$ ati doesnt equal to a 650 ish piece of gun that somehow lost the bayo
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u/Itsivanthebearable Mar 15 '26
From what I’m reading, spend the extra $$$ to get a newly made one and just throw an ATI stock on it. It’s more expensive that way, but you then have a rifle that will last your lifetime
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u/Evilvonscary Mar 15 '26
Nephew bought one of these and brought it over for me to check out. Was mostly clean till I got it apart. Still cosmo but nothing a few hours cleaning couldnt take care of
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u/Dangerous_Bad_6072 Mar 16 '26
Got one from them , the bulk of it is cleaned out , but you'll have to properly dismantle it and clean it . They really do fill every nook with that stuff lol
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u/90sStevenseagal Mar 19 '26
The deffinitley are.... if you think the fine folks at foc are gonna de cosmo your surplus sks before disassembling and reassembling them in the horrendous ati garbo stocks your crazy. They always got cosmoline. Thats the fun part for me on surplus sks cleaning the cosmoline. All you need is spray nine it actually dissolves cosmoline oor spirit paint remover.
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u/PaleBug3285 Mar 14 '26
From my experience they’re caked in grease and possibly cosmoline or another form of animal grease or fat.
I bought one of these from G4C and it was absolutely disgusting. I spent 3 days and probably 4 cans of brake clean to get it clean after dismantling. I found a lot of fur, a human nail end, etc all kinds of shit.
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u/Rewindonemoretime Mar 14 '26
Brutal. The one I got from G4C back in 2023 was mint. It was absolutely caked in cosmo, same deal it took a couple cans of brake clean to clean it up. But all numbers matching, appeared to be unissued/unfited. I bought another one from SFRC and same thing.
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u/WhackDanielz I <3 shitposts Mar 14 '26
Degunking cosmo is part of the right of passage for SKS ownership.