Russian SKS45 long thread.

[Trotter]

aside the major difference of the wood , could you describe how you hand picked ? what you look for ? it would be helpful to others who happen to buy in person. BTW: to those who dont know these are BELL shipment, hand picking a IZH shipment would be different.

i recall when i was buying chinese SKS several years ago , two guys ahead of me picked the best looking wood on a pin barrel norinco , luckily leaving a all matching early chinese for me (yup, wood was ugly).

This is the BELL shipment. Lots of great info in curtton's sticky post. well done as i am a newbie to the SKS family.
When i went in to hand pick, i found a laminate with matching laminate handpiece (the only one there), and it caught my eye. There were no 1949 "honor guard" styles, and all were refurb's of the sixty they had, so i went with a 1954 refurb. Here is the refurb icon above the year (triangle) or can sometimes be a square.

All the serial numbers matched, and i suspect they did that at the factory after refurbing, the trigger guard has one scratched out. They used a black coating after refurbing. The Star with arrow inside it has good definition, so basically those things, plus it looked pretty made my decide on that one.

To each is their own, what i like, someone else may not, and we are talking refurbs here. I haven't even had time to get this apart to give it a good cleaning, but took some pics tonight:

Thank you curtton, EOS and RCMontreal and others for your research on this subject.

 

[Trotter]

Does anyone know if the BELL shipment will come with a cleaning kit, and sling?

In the picture of the SKS's in the crate there is a mag pouch and sling in the bottom.

Yes it does.

 

[smartbomb]

The stock on that is beautiful. That's in really good condition.

 

[heavyBullet]

There were no 1949 "honor guard" styles, and all were refurb's of the sixty they had

Finding a 1949 will be like finding a needle in a haystack. The 1949 was the first year of production. If you did find one, I would bet the value would triple or more of what you paid.

 

[next_of_kin]

Nice pick Trotter! I'm hopin the one I ordered from Fronteir has that same dark color wood.
Dumb question to everyone- I'm sure it was brought up earlier in this forum, but after 215 pages I'm lacking the motivation to start reading back through all the posts. Question is: Which importer did Frontier get the original shipment from?

 

[BWEST]

Nice pick Trotter! I'm hopin the one I ordered from Fronteir has that same dark color wood.
Dumb question to everyone- I'm sure it was brought up earlier in this forum, but after 215 pages I'm lacking the motivation to start reading back through all the posts. Question is: Which importer did Frontier get the original shipment from?

-------- Yes, I would like an answer to the same guestion, Which importer did Frontier, get the original shipment from ???? --- does anyone out there know ???? !!!!!! -- Thanks.

 

[Curtton]

where is Curtton when I need advice?? lol

well, first you been given alot of good advice from other members.

let me make sure i heard you right , chill dart SKS45 are refurb and that means black carrier? is that right ? and you ordered unissued from frontier. right?

1. buy all 3 : i know you cant afford it so thats out.
2. buy the 1950 refurb from chill dart : it comes with non-chrome bore so if cleaning is not your bag then skip it.
3. buy the 1954 from chill dart : depends on the price , if less than $200 then buy it .
4. non-refurb from frontier for $269: if its an unissued , you can never lose money on it (unless you empty a crate quickly, lol) and you can trade it for a refurb plus cash at anytime.

so #4 is what i recommend . keep your order with frontier and dont forget there will be more refurbs coming but one never know if any more unissued will ever show up .

Thank you curtton, EOS and RCMontreal and others for your research on this subject.

you are welcome and thanks for posting pics.

 

[Curtton]

next of kin and bwest : original SKS45 frontier odered was from BELL then in the fall they ordered more from IZH , so that means they have both .

 

[eos]

This is the BELL shipment. Lots of great info in curtton's sticky post. well done as i am a newbie to the SKS family.
When i went in to hand pick, i found a laminate with matching laminate handpiece (the only one there), and it caught my eye. There were no 1949 "honor guard" styles, and all were refurb's of the sixty they had, so i went with a 1954 refurb. Here is the refurb icon above the year (triangle) or can sometimes be a square.

All the serial numbers matched, and i suspect they did that at the factory after refurbing, the trigger guard has one scratched out. They used a black coating after refurbing. The Star with arrow inside it has good definition, so basically those things, plus it looked pretty made my decide on that one.

To each is their own, what i like, someone else may not, and we are talking refurbs here. I haven't even had time to get this apart to give it a good cleaning, but took some pics tonight:

Thank you curtton, EOS and RCMontreal and others for your research on this subject.

Clean looking refurb. Most will have surmised now that there are several different "degrees" of refurbs out there from various sources. There are.

For $229.00, there's not too much to complain about here.

 

[BWEST]

next of kin and bwest : original SKS45 frontier odered was from BELL then in the fall they ordered more from IZH , so that means they have both .

---- Thank,s very much for the information, curtton , that,s kind of the way I had it figured, but wasn,t sure --- the way things have gone down, for the last year or so !!! -- a little hard to keep up, Thanks again.

 

[next_of_kin]

Thanks Curtton. I got wondering which importer Marlin was using after I read a post concerning the 2 different methods used to block the magazine to 5rds. If what I read is correct the Bell method kinda distorts the finish on the mag and the serial #. I orderd a "select grade" rifle so I will keep my fingers crossed that the extra $$'s I put up will keep me exempt from that problem

 

[Curtton]

Thanks Curtton. I got wondering which importer Marlin was using after I read a post concerning the 2 different methods used to block the magazine to 5rds. If what I read is correct the Bell method kinda distorts the finish on the mag and the serial #. I orderd a "select grade" rifle so I will keep my fingers crossed that the extra $$'s I put up will keep me exempt from that problem

so far , from what we gathered that the best way to distinguish the two importers are to look at the pinning of the mag . for collectors grade preferred method is the IZH way.

 

[Valashnikov]

Well, my son is going to buy the other one, it's a 1952 he says, has lovely dark stock with the star on the side. Matching numbers. I would have picked that one but he called it first. Grrr kids. Damn, I am going to end up buying all of them. Stupid compulsive me. The price is $249 so I should probly wait for the Frontier order. But there is no guarantee of them being perfect. It's a hard decision. I am going to go take pics tomorrow I think. He said he'd hold the gun for me for a few days. So I will post pics and get your opinions.

 

[Curtton]

how old is your son BTW?

the 1952 , did it have a black carrier ? did you asked them which importer?

 

[Valashnikov]

He said he got it from some place in alberta. North something or other. My son is 17. He doesn't have his pal yet, so it will technically be my gun but he is buying it.

 

[Curtton]

He said he got it from some place in alberta. North something or other. My son is 17. He doesn't have his pal yet, so it will technically be my gun but he is buying it.

dunno a dealer name north something or other.

thats nice of you to support your local dealer even when you know his price is high and that there will be a flood coming .

 

[Valashnikov]

lol, I am probably going to wait for my Frontier order I think. But my son kind of fell in love with this gun so maybe it's meant to be his. Decisions, decisions, decisions.

 

[Valashnikov]

I am getting so excited. I just want mine now. It's hard not to jump at them. Aaaaaaah! I really think that the hand select will be better though, I am just soooooo impatient!

 

[#1bcshooter]

dunno a dealer name north something or other.

thats nice of you to support your local dealer even when you know his price is high and that there will be a flood coming .

North Sylva ?

 

[Valashnikov]

I really can't remember. I was sitting on the floor behind the counter with 15 sks around me. It was weird, they just put them out half an hour before I got there. I get unnaturally happy around a lot of guns. So weird. lol.I will be going back tomorrow. I will ask again. I just hate waiting, I feel like I am never going to get mine! waaaaah!