Hello, im looking to determine the production year of my SKS. From what I could find it is either a 1957 or 58, as it does not have the year or star with arrow stamped on the receiver cover. The serial number does have the Russian "I" looks like a z in front if it. There is a star on the butt, as well as after the serial number on the receiver. The last picture are markings on top of the butt. Would someone be able to confirm the year of production and any other pertinent info?
SKS year of production
- Thread starter bigguy1
- Start date
Hey bigguy1.
Tula arsenal.
The star on the side of the receiver usually denotes 55/56 from what I remember.
That being said it could have been assembled in 57/58 after production stopped.
May be hard or impossible to narrow that down.
The Ruskies didn't keep the best records and was hard to get outa Russia in the first place.
I haven't been there in a while but have you checked out SKS forum?
Lots of good chit there.
I think they have a list of what the cartouches mean etc.
Good luck!
Always interesting checking out an old firearms geneogy
Tula arsenal.
The star on the side of the receiver usually denotes 55/56 from what I remember.
That being said it could have been assembled in 57/58 after production stopped.
May be hard or impossible to narrow that down.
The Ruskies didn't keep the best records and was hard to get outa Russia in the first place.
I haven't been there in a while but have you checked out SKS forum?
Lots of good chit there.
I think they have a list of what the cartouches mean etc.
Good luck!
Always interesting checking out an old firearms geneogy
Thanks. I found a site (forget the name) from a link on here that had a bunch of info. This is where I’m getting the 57 or 58 from. Other places say the star is Tula and all 56 or older, which is why I was looking to confirm. I’ll do some more digging.
Judging by the black rough paint on the dust cover (sometimes called "barbecue paint"), it seems to me that your SKS is a "Molot" refurb. The Molot mechanical plant in Vyatskiye Polyany, Kirov Oblast, in the Russian Federation, was refurbishing the old SKS's to give them a second life. A lot of those SKS's were imported to Canada somewhere between 2010-2014 until sanctions on the Russian Federation were imposed by Canada on March 17, 2014. You can remove the gas tube on your SKS and see if there are white letterings on the barrel with various symbols. If so, then I'm right and you have a "Molot" refurb
Those refurbs were of rather mediocre quality. I've read in various sources that the barrels were not replaced. So, some Molot SKS's with worn out barrels would not be accurate. IMHO the "Molots" are the worst SKS's on the market and don't bring big bucks. I sold one in 2022 for $350 with shipping.
Thanks, but everything I have read indicate it is not a refurb. Different markings. I purchased this around 2005 or 2006 as a package deal. It came with a wooden crate of ammo. The paint is not rough on the receiver, may just be the pic. I will take off the gas tube and have a look to see if there is any white writing just to be sure.
Russian Tula SKS rifles with serial numbers ending in a Cyrillic letter (post-1955 "Letter Series") indicate
1956–1958 production, where the letter acts as a date code rather than a stamped year on the receiver cover. Specifically:
- Д (D): 1956
- И (I): 1957
- К (K): 1958
Looks like it
Bubba Yugga
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Midwestern Ontario
That "Z" on top of the dust cover is a refurb stamp, and both it and your receiver look like the "BBQ paint" which, by the way, will come off with methyl hydrate and a wire brush, leaving a grey phosphate style finish underneath.
If you pop off the gas tube / upper handguard, you should see CIP, diamond, and "Made in Russia" (which is a lie for a Soviet made item) typical of a Molot refurb.
If you pop off the gas tube / upper handguard, you should see CIP, diamond, and "Made in Russia" (which is a lie for a Soviet made item) typical of a Molot refurb.
That's exactly what I said to the OP in #5. His SKS is not a "letter series" SKS. Its SN is PИ3504KT which in English reads: RI3504KT. The "letter series" SKS's have just one letter after a number as explained in #7. The clue is in the white letters on the barrel underneath of a gas tube.
This SKS is a refurb. The stock has been refinished and a new SN was stamped on it. The old SN is still faintly visible.
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Bubba Yugga
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Midwestern Ontario
I believe the K is genuine (given its equal indentation to the preceding characters), so at some point it was a 1958 Tula build, but the light strike T is something new, that I haven't seen on any other Molot refurbs.
Also, I believe that the refurb stamp atop the dust cover predates Molot's grubby paws...
Also, I believe that the refurb stamp atop the dust cover predates Molot's grubby paws...
That letter on the dust cover looks to me like a Cyrillic "И". Since it is much lighter than the paint around it, I think it was stamped after the black coat (barbecue paint) was implemented. Regarding the KT lettering, IMHO it's hard to say that the T letter was added later. For sure, the stock was heavily sanded and lightly refurbished with some oil or whatever. All in all, I'm 99% positive that it is a Molot refurb. Nothing to write home about. Tons of those Molot refurbs were on the Canadian market between 2010-2015. I guess that a large number of Canadians still have them.
Thanks for all the replies. I took the gas tube off and there was no white lettering on the barrel as some else suggested. The serial number is under the gas tube and looks to be scratched onto the piston. I’ll post a couple pics later as they are on my phone. I know this most likely doesn’t change the fact it is a refurbished model. Given that, what’s a fair asking price if I were sell it? I’ve had it at least 15 years and have actually shot it once. I put 40 or 50 rounds through it. So it maybe time to let it go and put some cash towards a decent shot gun. I also have an original wood crate of ammo with 1000 rounds left in it.
Well, it is possible your SKS may not be a "Molot" refurb after all, although it's a general refurb this way or the other. You did not mention earlier that you've had that SKS for about 15 years, i.e. more or less since 2009-10. Were the Molots imported to Canada at that time? I'm not sure. The one I sold in 2022 was issued for imports by the Molot plant in 2014 and had two last digits of the import year in white color shown on the barrel.
Still, I don't understand that "BBQ paint" on your SKS. Maybe, the Molot factory was not white lettering the early SKS's they refurbished in the 2009-10 period, yet?
It's hard to put a price range on it without a more careful inspection. For example, what is the rifling condition in the bore? To what extent is it worn out? You could estimate the rifling condition by putting a 7.62x39mm cartridge, bullet down, into the muzzle and measure the distance between the crown edge and the edge/mouth of the case. The larger the distance, the better the bore rifling. A picture would be nice. Is there any rust on any part in this SKS, particularly the bolt? If the bore rifling is decent, there is no rust, I would ask $400-450 plus shipping. But it's really a very rough estimate.
If you want to sell it with 1000 rounds of ammo, it could only be sold locally (closer to Hamilton). The price of ammo shipping will kill the deal.
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