lots of sources i got mine from amazon
Thinking about getting an SKS...
- Thread starter princepolo999
- Start date
lots of sources i got mine from amazon
Are there particular factories of production where the models were high quality?
For Russians not really, but any made by the Ishrevik plant are more highly sought after, the first SKS I bought was an "Izzy" an was an Un-issued like most you see. Regardless if it's a Tula or Izzy, if the numbers on the receiver & barrel match, has a shiny bolt an no scuffs on the bolt assembly then it was probably never used or issued. They stamped the "refurbished mark" even on rifles that never left the "crate" before packing them in cosmoline before storage. If it has a black bolt, then it was issued during war time cause they blued the bolt at the soldiers request. I also have a "Tula" an notice nothing different between it an my izzy which I bubba'd.
In China however quality control was non-existent, they had literally hundreds of little factories making over 15 million of them, so poorly made components were everywhere. This is why Sino-Soviet aka Norinco SKS's are typically un-wanted or used as "shoot the #### out of them then throw them away" plinkers.
For Yugos, all the same from what I heard.
Are there particular years of production to look for?
For Russian any 1950's production are brand new an made to higher quality standards because they were not under war time pressure or material shortages. When you are no longer living in a bombed out city, an well fed, chances are you'll do better at your job right?
For Chinese it's essentially luck of the draw regardless of year. Standard model Chinese Type 56 were peasant standard issue rifles, better to try to find something like the other models like SKS-D, SKS-M, an so forth, these were made specifically for elite units like paratroopers so the quality standards were much higher. Good luck finding them or even accessories/parts for them. All bought up in the 1990's. Try Gun Shows, saw a guy in Edmonton's October gun show selling a stack of SKS-D magazines.
For Yugo, quality standards stayed the same through-out but avoid any that were issued because without the chrome lined barrels that corrosive ammo combined with peasants not taking care of them resulted in barrels in horrible condition. Only buy "Un-issued". However they did make a few production lines with Chrome Lined barrels near the end of the cold war, these are VERY HARD to find, if you find one, do not shoot it, very valuable.
And finally, any advice on how to treat the wooden stock to give it a different stain?
Experiment, it's all personal taste really. It's just wood so your options are limited only by your imagination. Stick with the basics, like avoiding very flammable finishes.
For Russians not really, but any made by the Ishrevik plant are more highly sought after, the first SKS I bought was an "Izzy" an was an Un-issued like most you see. Regardless if it's a Tula or Izzy, if the numbers on the receiver & barrel match, has a shiny bolt an no scuffs on the bolt assembly then it was probably never used or issued. They stamped the "refurbished mark" even on rifles that never left the "crate" before packing them in cosmoline before storage. If it has a black bolt, then it was issued during war time cause they blued the bolt at the soldiers request. I also have a "Tula" an notice nothing different between it an my izzy which I bubba'd.
In China however quality control was non-existent, they had literally hundreds of little factories making over 15 million of them, so poorly made components were everywhere. This is why Sino-Soviet aka Norinco SKS's are typically un-wanted or used as "shoot the #### out of them then throw them away" plinkers.
For Yugos, all the same from what I heard.
Are there particular years of production to look for?
For Russian any 1950's production are brand new an made to higher quality standards because they were not under war time pressure or material shortages. When you are no longer living in a bombed out city, an well fed, chances are you'll do better at your job right?
For Chinese it's essentially luck of the draw regardless of year. Standard model Chinese Type 56 were peasant standard issue rifles, better to try to find something like the other models like SKS-D, SKS-M, an so forth, these were made specifically for elite units like paratroopers so the quality standards were much higher. Good luck finding them or even accessories/parts for them. All bought up in the 1990's. Try Gun Shows, saw a guy in Edmonton's October gun show selling a stack of SKS-D magazines.
For Yugo, quality standards stayed the same through-out but avoid any that were issued because without the chrome lined barrels that corrosive ammo combined with peasants not taking care of them resulted in barrels in horrible condition. Only buy "Un-issued". However they did make a few production lines with Chrome Lined barrels near the end of the cold war, these are VERY HARD to find, if you find one, do not shoot it, very valuable.
And finally, any advice on how to treat the wooden stock to give it a different stain?
Experiment, it's all personal taste really. It's just wood so your options are limited only by your imagination. Stick with the basics, like avoiding very flammable finishes.
walleyed99
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- I'm not telling, Sask
So Prince, what did you decide? Did you pull the proverbial trigger and start the SKS family??
Yup have to go along with all the other guys in here buy one Russian Tula factory Silver bolt chrome lined barrel
A tapco intrafuse stock and a crate of ammo
There's a close quarter deep timber deer or bear protection .
Great plinker fail safe hopped up 30-30 for 200 bucks
A tapco intrafuse stock and a crate of ammo
There's a close quarter deep timber deer or bear protection .
Great plinker fail safe hopped up 30-30 for 200 bucks
Picked up 3 russian mil. surplus for 150 ea/ ( christmas special 1 day sale ) Yes they are arsenal refurbs but from my investigating, have had little work done. And for $150 I couldn't care less if they were un refurbished or not.. Heck thats an evenings worth of ammo for my other guns lol. Also tested the ammo and after 3 days on the polished steel nail, still no corrosion. Although it's likely the dirtiest ammo I have ever shot. Might as well treat it as corrosive.
From the tests I have run, Non cor. but DIRTY !!Must be refurb russian with ###### stock. For a shooter, nothing wrong with a refurb but for nutz like manys of us, non-refurb is the way to go,even if we keep them in the gun cabinet foreveras for ammo, $300/1400rds non corrosive seems too good
Joce
Iv done a few tests since I saw how dirty the ammo was.. but all 4 bench tests came back NC. Hopefully be doing so more scientific test's in the near future
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Having followed this and other SKS threads I decided to 'bite the bullet' and so today I picked up a '51 Tula.
In all honesty I have to say that I have never seen such an oily greased-up rifle in my life !
Thank goodness for all the cleaning threads and advice because I can well imagine this thing is going to take days to clean.
I'm sure that by the time its clean inside and out, I will be too tired to shoot it.
Having said that, it looks like a fun machine...
In all honesty I have to say that I have never seen such an oily greased-up rifle in my life !
Thank goodness for all the cleaning threads and advice because I can well imagine this thing is going to take days to clean.
I'm sure that by the time its clean inside and out, I will be too tired to shoot it.
Having said that, it looks like a fun machine...
Upon closer inspection of the sks's I recently purchased, I am seeing no signs of refurbishment.
None painted Bayonets, all stamped s/n's match ( inlcuding, trigger guard & internals ) No re arsenal markings, No ### stock ( only the star, the year, the s/n ), no markings on receiver cover aside form the star with the arrow and s/n - no painted bolts.
Forgive my ignorance, but I've spent the last two hours searching on info in regards to identifying non rearsenaled units... ( first for me )
Can anyone give me helpful hints as to what else I can look for ?
Thanks !
None painted Bayonets, all stamped s/n's match ( inlcuding, trigger guard & internals ) No re arsenal markings, No ### stock ( only the star, the year, the s/n ), no markings on receiver cover aside form the star with the arrow and s/n - no painted bolts.
Forgive my ignorance, but I've spent the last two hours searching on info in regards to identifying non rearsenaled units... ( first for me )
Can anyone give me helpful hints as to what else I can look for ?
Thanks !
51, 52, 54 - Have r's at the end if that means anything .. I think my sister's is a 53 but its at her house not mine, so I can't check.
The "r" mean in the year so 1954r mean built in 1954.
Joce
