r/canadaguns • u/Western_Wish4280 • Aug 04 '26
Buy recommendations Recommendations on SKS
Hi, hope youre all doing great.
My last post here was asking on advice on whether to buy my buddy's sks or not. Apparently the sale didnt go through and he got an outrageous offer for it and sold it off.
Ever since that, i have been looking to get my hands on an sks.
Dont care if it gets banned anymore. A classic canadian staple and ill be buying it regardless only if i can get my hands on one.
Have been out of luck in New brunswick trying to get one for sub 1200$ . Was looking at firearms outlet and saw multiple still in stock.
Need recommendations/ reviews of the ones you guys and gals already own and the ones to STAY AWAY FROM BUYING.
Even if do get one, itll be very hard to check it in person as ill be trying to get her shipped all around canada. So please guide me on where to buy(already know gunpost and townpost) and which model to buy.
Thanks a ton in advance.
P.S: was willing to get the ATI stock one in the picture as a last resort.
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u/Rippin_Fat_Farts Aug 04 '26
I have this one with the ATI stock. I wish I had just bought one with wood furniture for a bit more. The plastic stock feels like garbage, pistol grip is wiggly af and there's sharp edges. Gonna try to find a decent wood stock and swap it back to original at some point.
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u/Western_Wish4280 Aug 04 '26
Shit that sounds bad. Thanks for the advice
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u/Brandon_awarea Aug 04 '26
ATI is pretty much the worst SKS stock you can buy imo. Archangel isn’t much more and is significantly better, Tapco is about equal if you can find one. If you want quality FAB defence is the best plastic chassis and any of the aluminum ones are typically good too. Hush is also an option but they aren’t my favourite (I just don’t really like the mini 14 look).
I’d buy the absolute cheapest sks you can find. The only difference is cosmetic between the models, none are substantially better than others. Oh also avoid promag magazines. If you want a detachable mag buy the tan tapco ones (black are fine too but hard to find).
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u/cailber17710 Aug 07 '26
It’s not that bad but it varies wildly on each gun me and my buddy got him from the same store in the exact same model and mines shit but his is amazing way better then the wood stock ones we used to have
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u/snootyjungle Aug 04 '26
Choate stocks are great fwiw. I have one and it is cheap and solid. Increased length of pull and doesn’t look bubba-d
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u/Iokua_CDN Aug 04 '26
Why not try gotenda? They have a Chinese with a blade bayonet for 900. Should be free shipping, so just add tax. It will definitely be under 1200 to your door
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u/Western_Wish4280 Aug 04 '26
I went through gotenda and holy shit 10/10. Is a chinese one better than the russian one??
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u/AdeptArt Aug 04 '26
Depends on which chinese. The french tickler is the best you can buy, made the most recently (with all the chinese advances in technique and machining etc). There used to be a lot of them, idk if Tenda has any left though.
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u/Initial-Job9067 Aug 04 '26 edited Aug 04 '26
In my opinion the SKS on ATI stock offers decent value for its price, especially if you can get one on sale. That being said the ATI stock does feel cheap.
I bought the same one. If you’re just looking for something cheap to just have fun at the range with once a month, it’s a great option. Not much out there that’s more powerful than a .22 for under $1000 anymore.
If you appreciate quality, accuracy, and shoot frequently id look at something else.
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u/Western_Wish4280 Aug 04 '26
You spoke my language at your very last sentence and thats what ill be looking at xD. Thanks for the advice 😃
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u/schmeatfactory Aug 04 '26
i bought a black one and hated it, shot it once and the gas tube cover started to move after cooled down, piston grip is cheap, hardware is tiny and probably wouldnt last more than a year. my plan anyways was to switch to a tna aluminum chassis with AR furniture.
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u/DieselWeasle25 Aug 06 '26
Keep an eye out on gunpost and your local-ish gun shops that do consignments. I just found a feller selling some unfired chinese sks's and I joined the hurd of buying one reluctantly, after not getting one a few years ago when they were over 60% less than the current market. Now I just need to find some stuff to feed this thing
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u/Warm-Alternative-433 Aug 04 '26
Get a wood stock one because you can always buy a cheap “tacticool” stock later. And the Russian ones are more sought after but sometimes I’ve noticed they can be in rough shape( finish missing, corrosion in barrel, etc). The Chinese ones are mostly new condition so between a shot out Russian one and a new mint Chinese one, I’d go Chinese all day. But good luck 👍
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u/TheScranHouse Aug 04 '26
I'd avoid the ATI stock, I had one a few years ago & it was super shitty. Felt pretty cheap, the grip was held on by a single screw. Tapco stocks are the classic bubba choice, Fab Defense & Archangel are pretty rigid aswell. Other then that, the OG wood furniture is probably the best choice. If you dont like the length of pull you can order a custom stock from Boyds or Luckyshotwoodstocks, they make all sorts of different styles. I'd also steer towards a Chinese SKS because a majority of them have chrome lined barrels
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u/ExtremeCommercial821 Aug 04 '26
I did a ton of research after the prices hit the $800 mark. Sad they're still going up. Any SKS under $800 with original stock you can find will be the best option.
Don't ever buy one with an aftermarket stock, especially the ATI; they're garbage. Shops (and bubbas) are finding raw unmatched receivers and slapping temu scopes and ATI stocks and hoping newbies don't know any better.
You can always buy stocks for under $300 and swap when you want; but in terms of historic value, any matching numbers rifle will do.
Just buy a Chinese of any year; they're slightly less expensive than a Russian, have chrome lined barrels and are usually unfired. Other than that, all SKS are pretty much identical.
Buy a plastic stock later. When you assemble it, you'll realize all these tiny screws and fail points that make a 50 year old stock look like a piece of art.
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u/Norwest_Shooter on Aug 04 '26
Definitely buy one but stay away from FOC
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u/Western_Wish4280 Aug 04 '26
Please elaborate. They seem to have nice discounts and alot on stock tho
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u/Norwest_Shooter on Aug 04 '26
They are just a very unethical company. This is beaten to death on pretty much every thread mentioning them, but basically, they had a data breach, was informed by visa about it, and chose to hide it and cover it up and launch a sale to take advantage of the panic buying when the handgun freeze was happening. Did nothing to help their customers after all their personal information was compromised. Have never taken any accountability for it. I always say, data breaches happen, but how you deal with them is what matters and they chose to willingly screw over their customers for profit. They also refused to give people transfer numbers when people were trying to buy handguns before the freeze and some transfers were never initiated, saying that giving transfer numbers out was illegal, screwing people over for essentially the rest of their lives. Combine that with very inconsistent and poor customer service, and outright lies, it’s not a gun store people should be doing business with.
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u/CLIMAXJONES Aug 04 '26
Sorry to hear about your experience with them . I haven’t bought from them since 2023 so I was speaking from my own experience. The beauty of the free market is you can choose to support them or not . I do understand why that would sour ur opinion on them ! I have beef with my local gunship for scummy moves like that
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u/Norwest_Shooter on Aug 04 '26
To add to that I’d say before all that I never had a good experience. Neutral at best. Probably the best order I had from them I bought a handgun, and they never sent a tracking number. It just showed up one day. Sure who doesn’t like surprise guns showing up. But that’s like such a basic thing to screw up and every other transaction was much worse than that.
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u/WeightedDips95 Aug 04 '26
They had a CC breach allegedly some years ago and didn’t handle it the best apparently.
Maybe easy for me to say as I wasn’t involved but they’re still very easy to deal with, quick, have sales often, and support the CCFR a lot, so they’re still my go to.
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u/Lumindan Aug 04 '26
It wasn't allegedly. It happened. They stayed super hush hush about it and kept taking cc orders despite the breach.
Its not the breach the pissed people off, it's the way they handled it.
There's topics about it in this sub if you search it. Supposedly they fired the guy but imo it's a permanent stain on their reputation.
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u/itsnotthatseriousbud Aug 04 '26
They had a credit card security breach in 2022, meaning anyone who used the CC to purchase something from FOC had their credit card details taken.
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u/Lumindan Aug 04 '26
I don't know why this is being down voted.
The breach happened. FOC did a horrendous job addressing it.
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u/Clover_Lawn_4440 Aug 04 '26
Keyword here is 2022. CC breaches happen daily at many retailers, restaurants, gas stations and convenience stores etc
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u/Norwest_Shooter on Aug 04 '26
Like I’ve always said. They happen. They should be dealt with in a way that is transparent and shows accountability and 4 years on FOC still shows zero accountability for what they did.
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u/itsnotthatseriousbud Aug 04 '26
If one does a distasteful act and refuse to take accountability for it, it’s as they did it today.
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u/Clover_Lawn_4440 Aug 04 '26
Does every retailer publicly annouce when a credit card number has been misused after a purchase at their store. Short answer is no. Cards are used fraudulently every single day and I've never read about it. There are card swimmers at gast station pumps, convenience store ATMS and a host of other places. I've never read about Shell or Petro Can addressing it or Circle K or 7-11
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u/itsnotthatseriousbud Aug 04 '26
Yes, every mass credit card breach is announced. And many take accountability for their lack of security. FOC never has.
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u/Norwest_Shooter on Aug 04 '26
If a card skimmer was found at those places they would remove it. Not keep it on and say, hey, give us more money!
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u/PicklleFucker69 Aug 04 '26
If only there was some sort of protection from the bank for fraudulent charges
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u/AdeptArt Aug 04 '26
Gee I have to waste my own time cancelling my cards and going through my statements and filing chargebacks (and providing evidence). All for $0. Who doesn’t love doing that?
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u/CLIMAXJONES Aug 04 '26
FOC is great to deal with have been buying stuff from them for years . My advice is sign up for Sezzle and use it when you buy from them . You have an option to pay for everything at once so you’re not splitting up your payments if you don’t have to . That way FOC isn’t getting your cc info but you can still shop there
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