Yugo SKS with BadAce Scout Mount, Held Zero for 400 Rounds Now. Shot to 1 Inch at 50 Meters

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easycity

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My Yugoslavian M59/66 SKS, produced in 1970. Purchased from Classic Firearms. Added a scout scope mount, mounted a red dot scope. It held zero for more than 400 rounds by now. The spread is about 1 inch at 50 meters.
In a gun-restrictive state like Massachusetts, AK and AR are not allowed. Pre-ban AK and AR are more than $2,000. Battlefield-tested IWI Tavor is $1,400 now. Ruger Mini 14 at $800 is not to my taste. Kel-Tec RDB at $800 is not reliable. SKS is the only below-$500, rifle-caliber, super-reliable semi-automatic rifle available in Massachusetts. I assume that many people want to add a red dot scope to their SKS in a robust way.
I tried many many kinds of scope mounts on SKS, mostly based on receiver cover. None of them worked. I tried very carefully to file the part, and assembled the receiver cover in a very tight way. After shooting the rifle, I realized that the impact from 7.62x39 on the receiver cover is so violent, that the cover is wiggling on the receiver. Those kind of receiver-cover based scope mount has no chance of providing high accuracy.

Now I use BadAce scout scope mount.
SKS low-profile NDT red dot mount Gen 2 with back-up sight




It is relatively easy to remove the rear sight from Yugo SKS. The spring underneath the rear sight also need to be removed. Sometimes it takes a L-shaped Allen wrench to insert into the op rod channel, and pry upward on the spring, to open a gap and then used a vice to grip on one end of the spring.
It is not so easy to removed rear sight from Russian or Chinese SKS. Somehow there is a tiny pin in the trunnion of the rear sights. Someone used special tool to know out this pin. I could not remove this pin from my Chinese SKS. I ended up leaving my Chinese SKS as is, to enjoy the shooting fun of iron sight.

I installed BadAce mount according to the video. I applied Blue Loctite on every screw of the mount and scope.
I installed my Vortex Crossfire Red Dot Scope in the position as in the picture below. At the back there is enough room to use clip to load ammo. In the front, the switch for gas piston can be raised partially, to remove the gas piston, and clean this dirtiest part. The switch cannot be fully raised. So the op rod cannot be taken out for cleaning. But I assume it is not easy for the op rod to get dirty. I plan to shoot several thousand rounds before taking off the scope and clean the op rod.






After I installed red dot scope, I went to ranges several times, shooting more than 400 rounds through this SKS. It seems to hold zero fine. In the most recent shooting, the spread is about 1 inch from 50 meters.
Below is the picture of first clip of ten rounds, 7 rounds within 1 inch of the point of aim. The other three rounds are within 3 inches. That may be my shooting skills, or the heated barrel, which I will try to explain later.



 
As indicated in the first post, my Yugoslavian M59/66 got BadAce mount and Vortex red dot scope, had spread of a little over 1 inch for the 7 rounds out of first 10 rounds clip.

050229oxyh0kntd0xhtxrh.jpg


However, the second clip of 10 rounds, had spread of 3 inches, and POI seems drifted 1.5 inch upward.

050254g5bu1ftb1u39491r.jpg


The third clip of 10 rounds, 9 rounds has spread of 3 inches. One rounds flew far way.

050329hie6zj17izi7ijnw.jpg


The ninth clip of 10 rounds, ten rounds have spread of 2.5 inch.

050354qig7bkf278zuibng.jpg


The tenth clip of 10 rounds, ten rounds have spread of 3 inch.

050421fck1ckaxsk8mafkk.jpg


I saw a lot of comment online about SKS POI will drift upward, after the barrel heats up.

how many rounds in a row can the sks handle?
"the POI walks up about and inch at 50 yards after about ten rounds"

SKS Accuracy? [Archive] - The Firing Line Forums
"I have a Norinco SKS and I believe most of these rifles tend to spread groups after the barrel heats up."

Now I also have a Thompson Center Compass 5.56. I can easily achieve 1 inch at 50 meters on that rifle. So I can use SKS as it is designed for, a robust and reliable battle rifle. I will not go too far to get unrealistic accuracy out of this battle rifle.
 
After I found that my Yugo SKS suffered from POI drift and decrease of accuracy after barrel was heated up, I tried to extend out the bayonet on the SKS.

The fourth clip of 10 rounds with bayonet extended out. Spread is 2.5 inch. POI is moved 2.5 inches down right.

052937xpj1kf4js0jm07jh.jpg


I am not sure extending out bayonet actually improves accuracy. The benefit seems too small to justify the hassle of extending bayonet, and the danger of that sharp tip.
 
easycity said:
After I found that my Yugo SKS suffered from POI drift and decrease of accuracy after barrel was heated up, I tried to extend out the bayonet on the SKS.

The fourth clip of 10 rounds with bayonet extended out. Spread is 2.5 inch. POI is moved 2.5 inches down right.

052937xpj1kf4js0jm07jh.jpg


I am not sure extending out bayonet actually improves accuracy. The benefit seems too small to justify the hassle of extending bayonet, and the danger of that sharp tip.
Click to expand...
Fyi.....Soviet block rifles (sks and mosin varients) were never "more accurate" with the bayonet extended or attached. The bayonet just changes point of impact.....the shot groups were the same. Mosins were zeroed with the bayonet attached as the bayonet was expected to be on or extended during combat.

I also have an Sks that would serve as a shtf rifle. I don't have any optics on it and have no plans to do so. I accept that the sks is a 100 yard minute of bad guy torso.....and I can see my sights just fine. I can slam an 8 inch steel plate 100% of the time shot after shot standing off hand at 100 yards. Good enough. Personally....I'd never spend a dime "improving accuracy" of my sks.......you kinda get what you get with these rifles.

Glad your having a good time with yours. They are a fun rifle actually.
 
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I expected the responses emphasizing the use of iron sight on SKS.
I actually keep a Chinese SKS so I can enjoy shooting SKS with iron sight.
My problem is that I have severe astigmatism. The ghost on the rear sight is too strong for me. At 50 meters, I can only get 4 inch spread from my Chinese SKS with iron sight, after slow and careful aiming.
The accuracy I can get from my Yugo Mauser and Mosin Nagant with iron sight at 50 meters is also about 5 inches and more.
As comparison, my Thompson Center Compass 5.56 with Twod 3-9 40mm scope can easily deliver 1 inch group at 50 meters.
Well, with this mount and red dot scope on my SKS, I did get 1 inch accuracy at 50 meters. Now I know the 4 to 5 inch group I got from SKS, Yugo M48, Mosin Nagant with iron sight is more to do with my aiming rather than the rifles themselves.
 
easycity said:
I expected the responses emphasizing the use of iron sight on SKS.
I actually keep a Chinese SKS so I can enjoy shooting SKS with iron sight.
My problem is that I have severe astigmatism. The ghost on the rear sight is too strong for me. At 50 meters, I can only get 4 inch spread from my Chinese SKS with iron sight, after slow and careful aiming.
The accuracy I can get from my Yugo Mauser and Mosin Nagant with iron sight at 50 meters is also about 5 inches and more.
As comparison, my Thompson Center Compass 5.56 with Twod 3-9 40mm scope can easily deliver 1 inch group at 50 meters.
Well, with this mount and red dot scope on my SKS, I did get 1 inch accuracy at 50 meters. Now I know the 4 to 5 inch group I got from SKS, Yugo M48, Mosin Nagant with iron sight is more to do with my aiming rather than the rifles themselves.
Click to expand...
Please note that in my post I specified "i can see my sights". Perfectly reasonable to add a dot if you have the need due to eye sight issues.
 
easycity said:
I expected the responses emphasizing the use of iron sight on SKS.
I actually keep a Chinese SKS so I can enjoy shooting SKS with iron sight.
My problem is that I have severe astigmatism. The ghost on the rear sight is too strong for me. At 50 meters, I can only get 4 inch spread from my Chinese SKS with iron sight, after slow and careful aiming.
The accuracy I can get from my Yugo Mauser and Mosin Nagant with iron sight at 50 meters is also about 5 inches and more.
As comparison, my Thompson Center Compass 5.56 with Twod 3-9 40mm scope can easily deliver 1 inch group at 50 meters.
Well, with this mount and red dot scope on my SKS, I did get 1 inch accuracy at 50 meters. Now I know the 4 to 5 inch group I got from SKS, Yugo M48, Mosin Nagant with iron sight is more to do with my aiming rather than the rifles themselves.
Click to expand...
At least your changes (apart from filing, which is not a big deal) are reversible, which makes them much better in my opinion. Tweaking it to suit your limitations/tastes such that a future owner/user can restore it is fine in my book.

This, however, is no bueno:
upload_2019-4-30_18-7-14.png
 
In my opinion the sks/mosin/AK are labeled as minute of man guns and that is true at face value. This usually has to do with the barrel condition, or stiff triggers.
easycity said:
I expected the responses emphasizing the use of iron sight on SKS.
I actually keep a Chinese SKS so I can enjoy shooting SKS with iron sight.
My problem is that I have severe astigmatism. The ghost on the rear sight is too strong for me. At 50 meters, I can only get 4 inch spread from my Chinese SKS with iron sight, after slow and careful aiming.
The accuracy I can get from my Yugo Mauser and Mosin Nagant with iron sight at 50 meters is also about 5 inches and more.
As comparison, my Thompson Center Compass 5.56 with Twod 3-9 40mm scope can easily deliver 1 inch group at 50 meters.
Well, with this mount and red dot scope on my SKS, I did get 1 inch accuracy at 50 meters. Now I know the 4 to 5 inch group I got from SKS, Yugo M48, Mosin Nagant with iron sight is more to do with my aiming rather than the rifles themselves.
Click to expand...

On a side note in regards to mosin’s if you are getting that sort of spread at 50 i know the trigger is a big part of it, it at least was for me. You can go on eBay and buy a m39 trigger and sear and will drop right in and improve the trigger pull a tonnn. It did wonders for my m44 that you practically had to take a running start to pull the trigger
 
easycity said:
I expected the responses emphasizing the use of iron sight on SKS.
I actually keep a Chinese SKS so I can enjoy shooting SKS with iron sight.
My problem is that I have severe astigmatism. The ghost on the rear sight is too strong for me. At 50 meters, I can only get 4 inch spread from my Chinese SKS with iron sight, after slow and careful aiming.
The accuracy I can get from my Yugo Mauser and Mosin Nagant with iron sight at 50 meters is also about 5 inches and more.
As comparison, my Thompson Center Compass 5.56 with Twod 3-9 40mm scope can easily deliver 1 inch group at 50 meters.
Well, with this mount and red dot scope on my SKS, I did get 1 inch accuracy at 50 meters. Now I know the 4 to 5 inch group I got from SKS, Yugo M48, Mosin Nagant with iron sight is more to do with my aiming rather than the rifles themselves.
Click to expand...
Just what I prefer. Shoot and enjoy your rifle anyway you want.
 
What ammo? Milsurp or something domestic? Re-evaluate with other brands. Honestly, 4 strippers of 10 rounds each is not enough to throw the baby out with the bath-water.
If the mount and vortex are properly mounted and functionally operating... put more and varied ammo down-range.
 
devo86 said:
In my opinion the sks/mosin/AK are labeled as minute of man guns and that is true at face value. This usually has to do with the barrel condition, or stiff triggers.
Click to expand...
The AK47 and M16 only have circa 4cm mechanical accuracy difference at 100 meters according to Kjellgren's article "The Practical Range of Small Arms."
The M16 is a 2 MOA gun and SKS is 3-4 MOA, AK47 is 4 MOA.
2 inches at 100 yards isn't really a big difference for a service rifle, and with irons not a ton of average shooters would be able to show a difference.
 
enbloc said:
What ammo? Milsurp or something domestic? Re-evaluate with other brands. Honestly, 4 strippers of 10 rounds each is not enough to throw the baby out with the bath-water.
If the mount and vortex are properly mounted and functionally operating... put more and varied ammo down-range.
Click to expand...

I have used Tulammo, the most common and the most affordable.
 
easycity said:
I have used Tulammo, the most common and the most affordable.
Click to expand...

Try something else and see if it tightens up your groups. Always good to be a gun & ammo matchmaker [wink]

iu
 
Tberes a lot going on with sks and accuracy
1. Heat can change zero, groups and such.
It effects , metal, plastic; wood. Different metals ex theres 3 different metals between your receiver , sight base and optic.
2. Ammo only factory ammo I have used that produced what I call excellent groups out of my sks/ak and mini mauser was lapua match. From way back.
3. Eyes- you already have that against you. Something you might not notice is your eyes get tired. Especially if your looking at target then looking at the red dot.
Magnifies if your shifting focus from target to reticle.
4. Optics- dots cover a good portion of you target,
5. Lighting changes how you see the target.
Bright light you tend to shoot lower darker you tend to shoot higher

Although your reached the important goal.
Your happy with your set up. It does not get better than that.
If your having trouble with notch style rear sights try one of the replacement rear sights that had the aperture style sights.

The williams amd mojo sights are pretty good. Down side is you loose that quick yardage change .
 
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Use the iron sights. The way it was meant to be used.

Edit: I just saw you have to use a sight. Maybe try mounting it to the side of the rifle. With one of those rails that screw to the side (I hate those)
 
Last edited:
I'm guilty of using the same mount on my SKS and throwing on a Primary Arms red dot. Though this was probably 6-7 years ago. Shoots well. Haven't shot it in about 4 years. Need to dust it off....
 
I'm fond of the Tech Sights for SKS. They increase the sight radius by quite a bit (10-inches,) are extremely sturdy and improve the hell out of my accuracy.
Also, they aren't very expensive for the return on improvement. The rear is held on by the dust cover take-down pin, but is actually mounted to the upper/rear of the receiver itself.

Check them out...
SKS Adjustable Aperture Sights TS100 | Tech Sights
SKS-TS100-back-view-small.jpg

  • Does not require drilling or tapping to create a solid mount to the receiver.
  • Mounts the sight closer to the shooter’s eye, giving the shooter a sight picture similar to the M1 Garand and M16 military rifles.
  • Increases the sighting radius by 10″ over sights mounted in front of the receiver.
  • Returns to zero after removal.
  • Uses incremental windage adjustment with rugged detent locking.
  • The TS100 utilizes apertures (both .062 dia.) from the time proven M16A1 rifle. This gives the shooter a wide choice of apertures including National Match, Tritium, Combat, etc.
  • The TS200 includes a single elevation adjustable aperture (.062 dia.) with detent locking.
  • The steel sight frame is constructed of high strength steel with black oxide finish and black oxide steel components.
  • Patented design

~Matt
 

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