the aftermarket 30rd'ers arent usually very well made, and not always reliable.. they make a 20rd non-detachable with the chinese star on the side that looks like a larger version of the factory 10 rd, great concept-but the ones I tried werent reliable. I learned that the hard way-I keep the stock 10rd mag in mine.. low profile, rugged, easy to load and unload. an SKS with a full size scope mounted as shown in the picture above will usually dent the hell out of the scope with brass- as they eject straight up. if you mount a scope you really need a very short optic that doesnt protrude over the ejection port.. as to mounts- most are the 'replacement top cover" type, and most dont fit snug- so when you get it on the weapon it fits loose and wobbles.. some top cover mounts have screws that tighten to the reciever on either side- but then you must take the screws loose everytime you field strip the weapon, and your zero probably wont be the same when you tighten them back down. I tried the BSA mount, but to put it on you have to permanently alter the takedown pin on the weapon-and the screw must be loosened every time you field stripped the weapon-and that usually induced about a 1.5MOA shift in point of impact. Choate machine and tool makes a mount that is actually solid and rugged-but it mounts to the side of the reciever, and the reciever must be drilled and tapped to put it on. I've seen a couple upfront/scout type mounts, but neither actually mounted solid and didnt wiggle.. so you get a weapon that shoots 3 MOA with iron (most of them will)-and shoots about 4.5 MOA with the optic..
In summary- scoping the SKS is a bit like trying to put an optic on an old M94 winchester- it's not that it cant be done, but it becomes clear pretty quickly that the weapon wasnt really designed for that, and the attempt may be more hassle than it is worth. most of the aftermarket accesories for the SKS are made in china, and most arent that impressive. Most of the SKS's will group in 3" at 100yd with iron, if you have one that groups worse-look and see if the bayonet is attached, often just removing the bayonet will improve groups by a couple MOA . It makes a decent deer rifle with good loads. my nephew has killed at least 7 deer with his, and 2 were bucks that field dressed over 150lbs- all with rem corlokt 125, from 15yds to 150yds... hope this helps..
