Updated 1/9/02 -DS

OVERVIEW:  This page is dedicated to creativity and the every day man who makes a good thing even better.  If you have built a unique custom SKS you'd like to show off, please email a photo and the story.

STOCK EXTENSION

By: UNKNOWN

I found this extension on eBay one day.  Usually, when a person buys a curiosity such as this, they not only buy the object but the story as well.  The story behind this one is so unlikely that I can't help but think the originator was drunk out of his mind or just plain full of bull when he made it up.  Here's the story, you be the judge:  

A 6'5" Russian man walked into the seller's shop with the following stock.  This man said he served in Afghanistan and the SKS they issued him was just too small for his burly frame.  One day he gathered some miscellaneous parts and fashioned this makeshift stock extension.  Well his tour of duty finished when his enlistment ran out, so instead of going back to the economic wasteland of Russia, he and his SKS jumped a ship to America.

When the seller retold me this story in an email, I almost wrote him back suggesting he check himself into a rehab.  The SKS is a fine firearm, but completely obsolete in modern warfare.  The concept of the modern Russian army equipping their soldiers with SKS's is absolutely ridiculous. 

PHOTO:  Click to enlarge

FUTURISTIC THUMBHOLE STOCK

By:  Jared Shipman

This wild looking SKS is an original creation by Jared Shipman.  I was torn whether to put this SKS in the professional or home made section.  The quality of Jared's work is certainly deserving of professional status, but since Jared is not officially in the firearms industry, he's relegated to the status of home made.  Jared's unique SKS comes with a bipod, Norinco scope mount with rubberized Norinco scope, AK style compensator, and one heck of a custom thumbhole stock.

This one of a kind stock was hand carved from Redwood by Jared himself.  Jared is an avid model builder and artist, and his skill is apparent in this piece.  The grip and hand guard has custom finger grooves and raises to fit the shooter's hand like a glove.  The quality of this stock is top shelf and is obviously worth three times that of the rifle it cradles.

TOP LEFT:  Notice the grip shape and the polished metal contrasting against the scope mount.

TOP RIGHT:  The magazine is even polished metal.  True raised pistol grip styling.

BOTTOM LEFT:  Better view of the butt and scope mount.

BOTTOM RIGHT:  The gas tube cover with finger grooves.

 The second most striking feature of this rifle is it's finish.  The bluing has been removed and the metal polished and clear-coated for an almost chrome-like or stainless steel effect.  The black sights and scope mount contrast attractively against the polished steel.  

Here's the story of this rifle as was written to me from Jared:

This SKS has had 3 owners all total since out of the gun store about 5 years ago.  The first owner was an Army sniper from Ft. Riley Kansas who owned it unused for about a year and a half.  After getting his stainless M-14, he decided to sell the SKS.  My cousin, a 7 year soldier who was just weeks from getting out of the Army, bought it along with a Ruger Red Hawk.  He came to meet me for the first time in years, and for the most part trained me how to shoot.  This began a fascination with overly powerful air guns and by early 1999, I began buying, customizing, and selling air guns.  After being in a starving, unemployed situation, it became a good sideline and within a short period of time I was back on my feet.

By mid 1999, I invested in my first rifle ( A Plainfield M-1A2 ) and quickly learned it's mechanics.  I tuned it's action and polished it so well that it became the local king of all M-1's as it seamed.  Everyone I knew who saw it were shocked and amazed at it's superior performance and someone actually referred to me as a semi-auto Dan Wesson.  Encouraged, I decided to try buying and selling custom M-1 parts and customizing parts for other guns.  I only got a few customers and it was becoming apparent that my gun parts would only sell to people who actually saw them in person.  Being that I was in a one horse town, this wasn't going to happen.

As this was all going on, I began building strong media for my poster board models which have shown historic superiority to any other 3-D form of paper craft ever. The problem was that I was unable to get in the media, never mind a single sale.  In the meantime, my cousin decided that he didn't want the SKS anymore and gave it to me.  My original idea was to convert it to a Class III gun and send it to a Class III dealer I know, but after I realized that it was one of the newer Norinco Sporter models, the action wasn't easily capable of being switched to FA.  It sat untouched or even thought of for a while.  By around May 2000, I concluded to begin getting the SKS in good working order.  I had spent around 10 hours or more tuning the action when my mother gave me a big sheet of redwood to begin building a new stock.  

Originally, I had planned to do something similar to what it is now, but with only one thumbhole.  By day two, I realized that not only would I have more fun with a two hole, it would become a better rifle.  Because of a lot of surrounding commotion, it was two months before I completed the stock.  It has some of the most intricate handling features, which I am also known for, in that I could get a single grip or stock to fit a whole size range of people as good as a stock made specifically for one person.  It usually costs hundreds and sometimes thousands just for a simple pistol grip and is almost impossible to obtain today. These handling features cover the entire SKS front to back as even the butt works as a handle that will fit both small and large hands.  The back of the butt is shaped not only to fit in shooter's hand, but also against the shooter's shoulder.  This more effectively reduces felt recoil then a pad and break combined,  being that it would actually conform to the shooter's shoulder.  It best fits with an average sized person's bone structure. It's like a pressure point butt piece that redistributes impact to reduce the felt kick.  I also made it more buff then any other SKS I have ever seen.  It's actually made to seem lighter then it actually is due to the balance and will more comfortably ride on a shooters person.  

I also gave it a thick hand guard with 3 thumb positions for maximum handling options for as many shooters as possible and a big gap above the rear hole in the stock for a shooter's cheek to fit in.   This aligns the eye with the scope, sniper style, and is angled enough so that it will not bash his face during recoil.  

Around this time, the barrel and many other parts were scraped up and ugly.  Since I really didn't want to mess with cleaning up the color, I decided to just attractively strip the finish off and polish it smooth and shiny.  Although it is not visible in the pictures, the sights and a few other parts and components have shiny spots on them.  I then sprayed a wood finish over the entire gun, which I earlier discovered to work as good as, and in some cases better then, nickel plating.

I am in the middle of moving and money is tight right now.  And in that, I am seriously considering selling the SKS. All in all, it is a good rifle.  You would have to actually handle it to fully appreciate it's value and potential, but on the other hand, it is more or less when what you should expect from me when I say CUSTOM.

PHOTO:  Click to enlarge