Manual

Collecting and Shooting the Surplus Rifle
a semi-automatic rifle, but the added
length of the rubber pad will take care
of the length of pull problem.
John
Masen Co, Inc. of Grand Prairie,
Texas carries a nice Pad that extends
the length of the SKS stock over 1
inch. On the small card that comes
with the recoil pad, it states that it is manufactured for a Chinese
SKS. As a test, I tried it on three different manufacture SKS rifles
and actually found I preferred it best on my Romanian SKS
(although it fit all three). I tried installing the pad on the rifle minus
the original butt plate and decided I did not like the look, so I
reinstalled the butt pad on the rifle over the original butt plate and
it looked better. The rubber pad does not fill in the inlet section of
the rifle stock, at the rear-top of the rifle, and leaves bare wood
exposed if installed alone. Leaving the original plate on the rifle
covers this exposed wood. Figure 3 shows the completed
installation. Either way installing, you can access the cleaning kit
hole.
Next came the installation of the 10
round magazine. I tried installing it on
my Chinese SKS and found it did not
fit right correctly just off the bat. The
instructions state - "The SKS rifles
were made by different companies
in China. They are not all exactly the same. As with the 10 rd
Box, each clip must be fitted to the rifle."
I did not feel up to filing the magazine,
so I decided to test the stated theory
and tried to install the magazine in
other SKS rifles. Low and behold it
was a perfect fit in my Romanian SKS
without any modifications at all.
Following the instructions, I did have to
disassemble the receiver and remove the trigger assembly to
install the Magazine.
The Chinese SKS with the Masen Recoil Pad was a much more
comfortable overall length for my size and frame. Also, I
especially like how when I set the rifle up against the wall, I don't
have to worry about it slipping and falling over. I am looking
forward to seeing how it goes at the range the next time I visit.
The Romanian SKS with the Masen 10 rd Magazine installed
looks really mean! The rifle looks like a typical assault style rifle
(as shown in figure 7). It feeds positively and does leave the bolt
http://www.surplusrifle.com/reviews/johnmasen/index.asp (2 of 3) [11/9/2002 9:35:52 PM]