New Layman SKS Book: Worth a Look?

[jmaurer]

At a local militaria show this weekend, a couple of vendors mentioned a (relatively) recently-released SKS book authored by George Layman, and published by Mowbray. I generally rely on this site for info, but does anyone have an opinion on this book? The title is The Collector's Guide to the SKS.

[echo1]

I bought a copy. Nice pictures, interesting reading but a lot of omitted/missed data with a touch of FUDD. Read the entire thread below and the other one critiquing the publication. PAX
PS, Boris has full power out on his forward shields 

Comments:
https://www.gunboards.com/threads/new-book-on-the-sks.1237600/page-17#post-11327779

Overview:
https://www.gunboards.com/threads/your-opinion-on-the-new-book-the-collector%E2%80%99s-guide-to-the-sks-by-layman.1241357/page-4#post-11273208

[Greatguns]

I haven't seen it, but Boris and others have looked through it and Boris especially has stated to not waste your money. Nice pics but a lot of errors. There are a couple of threads over on Gunboards, in the AK/SKS section, about it if you want to wade through all the posts. One may be locked now, but the second one should still be open. There may be a thread here or not, can't remember.

[Boris Badinov]

Layman's SKS book is a good one to pass up.

The Soviet chapter alone raises many red flags (no pun intended) about not only his research methods but also his choice of sources.

Layman falls victim to many of the Soviet dating errors that were common in the 1990s and 2000s. Dating the Soviet rifles by design feature (not by date stamps) has been a regular topic of discussion for over a decade. It boggles the mind that an author of Layman's stature and reputation would have missed this.

The Chinese chapter also has many similar inconsistencies. I didn't read beyond that, only skimmed. The Chinese and Soviet chapters are easily the most significant in any SKS Collector's Guide. Given the numerous error the book isn't worth reading any further imho.

The photography is remarkable. And there are some interesting revelations about removable mag variants captured in Vietnam.  There are also some intriguing historical claims about Russian production at Izhevsk and Sino-Russo cooperation pre-1956-- but these claims are suspect in light of the many errors that run throughout the Soviet and Chinese chapters.

Save your money.

Stick to the SKS-files and the ak/sks subforum at gunboards for the best info and actual research on the sks.

My 2 cents

[jmaurer]

Thanks, everyone. It sounds like it may be worth it from a photo resource point of view, with the remainder to be taken with caution. The Gunboards threads were indeed informative, and entertaining!

[Greatguns]

Definitely entertaining!

[Boris Badinov]

 My pleasure