My SKS

Picked up an SKS from the local gun shop. Chinese with a threaded barrel, only problem was it was on consignment (put up just a few days prior), so I have to wait till the 18th till I can start the 10 day wait... MAN I love California.

My girlfriend thought it would be ok since I'd probably forget and be pleasantly surprised that I get a gun!

The wood was pretty beat up (nothing a little TLC won't fix), but everything looked very clean. Almost too clean. The gun had those little fuzzies all over it (including in the barrel) that you see when you stand a gun up in the closet. The bore was immaculate. I'm hoping I got a gun someone picked up cheap years ago, stuck in a closet, and forgot about.

The first rifle I ever fired was an SKS and I liked it. I started researching them and in doing my research I came to all the unsettling realizations about the police, 911, and generally the reasons for gun ownership. I decided a handgun would make a better first gun purchase and went from there. After seeing the prices I should expect to pay for SKSs I found it hard to pay a bit of a premium on what most consider to be a junky rifle, so I waited until I found one of those great deals.

For a long time I wanted to just to to Turners and pick up an unissued Yugo with a pipe welded to the end for $200, but I held out and it seems to have paid off. $150* for a Chinese SKS with little metal wear and a great bore. I can't wait to shoot it.

* don't forget to factor in California tax, in which you add 15% to retail just because.