I need to add my vote for Westrifle.
Actually...you already have ALL of the info I can give from all the great replies in this thread.
An SKS is an SKS.
If you get an unissued one and you DONT EVER FIRE it...I'm sure it will fetch a premium. You might even double your money if you get it on the cheap and find that buyer who MUST HAVE an unissued and unfired SKS.
You will probably make 100% profit if the unfireds continue to get harder to find..eventually.
But...there are investments that are more sound.
Hey 100% margin is great profit but it's only gonna be a couple hundred bucks.
Might not be worth the hassle?
SO...if you decide to just go with a great refurb...I highly recommend Westrifle.
I bought my SKS at Canadian Tire this year before I really knew ANYTHING about SKSs or what to look for.
I got to pick between a few. I picked the one with the nicest stock.
It's a '54 refurb with all matching #s for $178.
Shoots VERY well and functions perfectly. BUT...the TRIGGER SUCKS. Disclaimer: I put a Tapco stock on it and now I need to do a trigger job on it but that means pulling the pistol grip off the Tapco to allow the trigger group to be removed and my ratched extension is out in the shed so I never get around to it.
It has a steel coloured bolt carrier but a blued bolt. It has the white metal rear sight. I like it just fine. I'll REALLY like it once I deal with the trigger grit and break.
OK so FF to a few weeks ago and my Son FINALLY (after weeks of me telling him...YOU SHOULD GO BUY A $178 SKS at CT before it's too LATE!! I wasn't aware that so many online dealers have similar deals) decides to (pun very intended) pull the trigger on an SKS while we were in CT buying AMMO. I had been in about a week earlier and knew that they had no SKSs in their display cabinet.
I'm like...TOO LATE! They don't HAVE any more. Ha ha. I hate to say atolliso but I effin ATOLLISO!!!
Did a bit of research and found that Westrifle hand selects their SKSs and that they are VERY good and their pricing is also good enough (I think like $200 for solid and $220 for lams shipped).
Of course I wanted to find a '49 but the best I could do was a '50.
Westrifle posts pics of each actual SKS for you to select from. You can see the ACTUAL rifle you are interested in.
AFAIK only SOME 1950s had the spring loaded firing pin like the '49s?
My Son's lam 1950 SKS arrives and so I immediately pull it apart to show him the differences between a '50 and a '54 like mine and sure enough he has the spring loaded pin.
A generous CGN member GAVE me a LH Savage MK2 .22 recently...well he sent it to me but gave it to one of my Grandsons. I too shoot lefty (lucky me..my left handed Grandson is only 4 so I'm "looking after" his .22 for a few years) and man...these Savage MK2s are amazing. Partly due to their ACCUTRIGGER. I have James's MK2's trigger as light as it'll go. TACK DRIVER!!
Well my Son's Westrifle 1950 SKS's trigger is almost identical to the Savage's awesome ACCUTRIGGER. It's unbelievable. Yes I know...a military rifle's trigger shouldn't be too light.
Sorry for the long-winded post but yeah...DEFINITELY go with Westrifle.
I have since spoken to a couple of Westrifle guys and apparently, their buyer travels to Europe and hand selects their SKSs. I believe it if this one is their normal SKS.
If Canadian Tire never puts their SKSs back on the shelves of course, $178 is hard to beat and you can hand select from their stock...which might not be all that great BUT...I would guess that they are ALL decent. Some might need a triggerjob like mine. Some I suppose might not shoot straight...but all are cheap and you can often pick one out of 5 or 15 units.
Even if theirs are ALL JUNK...their $178 pricing probably keeps everyone else's pricing "in-check".
I don't think you can go wrong buying from Westrifle.
There MIGHT be the odd better package deal out there that includes a bunch of ammo out there somewhere but...I'd still stick with Westrifle.
In fact...I'm DYING to buy one of their 1950s with a spring loaded fp and a chrome lined bore.
YMMV
