Yeah, an SKS is different but uses the same short-ranged 7.62 X39MM round as an AK. It's good for about a hundred yards, with a typical 4-inch group, with sharp velocity and vertical drop beyond that. Putting a scope on one is pointless, as it is purely a close-quarters combat weapon, usually fitted with a bayonet (before Feinstein's ban in 1994, and then after that expired).
Very poor selection for a sniper rifle. This guy clearly had no idea about what he was doing, which is a good thing. The question is, was Routh a patsy set-up to take the fall for another, more professional hitman with the right rifle, ammunition, and optics, firing hidden from a much greater distance?
That's my thought. The patsy got chased off before he could take a shot and the op was scrubbed (no one to blame for the shot but the pro). The 7.62X39 round is about like a .30-30. 100 to 150 yards, even 200 (more iffy), but that's it. It can be accurate (Mrs. Joe was a crack shot with hers, picking off tomato paste cans at 60-75 yards, standing, with iron sights. One shot, one can.)
But to trust the SKS to an operation like this (especially goobered up like that?) reeks of someone more capable with a more accurate platform in the wings.
My bet is the plan was to let Trump play to the closer hole, have Routh take the shot(s) he could while the 'pro' made sure of the hit. Of course, Routh would take the heat (if he lived), while the pro walked away, but Routh living through the operation would be highly unlikely, and if someone on the security team was in on it, it could be guaranteed he would not. Nice, tidy package.
The non-gun public, being fundamentally ignorant of the SKS, (hearing AK, over and over), seeing a rifle with a scope and a big magazine, would lap up whatever bull the MSM spewed.
