First SKS. Chinese or Russian

chicu1981 said:
Heck I will get the Russian one and a Chinese. Btw what is cosmo?
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Cosmoline is a gasoline-based preservative grease that has the same colour and about the same consistency of ear wax. Your Chinese SKS if you buy it new will be absolutely coated with the stuff and you may be a bit overwhelmed at first when attempting to remove it, but don't worry, a Chinese SKS covered in this stuff was my first rifle and if I can remove it, you can too!

I used kerosene, a rag, an old Pepsi bottle, and one of those things you put plants in to put on your windowsill to remove the cosmoline. Strip down your rifle and put the bolt, bolt carrier, recoil spring, dust cover, trigger group, and gas parts (except for the tube) in the Pepsi bottle. You'll have to cut the top off of the bottle for this. Then, pour kerosene in it and let it soak for about 45 minutes to an hour. The kerosene will be the colour of iced tea when you return to it, as most of the cosmoline will have been stripped off of the parts. Take the parts out, wipe away any excess cosmoline with a rag, and put the parts somewhere safe. Remember to take your bolt apart before putting it in the kerosene as there will be cosmoline in it which may affect your free floating firing pin.

Then, you're going to want to pour a finger of kerosene into the plant holder and start to use the rag to wash the receiver/barrel in it. This will take some time, but you'll get it really cleaned up. The hardest parts to get clean will be your barrel and gas tube. Use a cleaning rod and a patch to get the cosmoline out of your barrel, and some paper towel and patience should get it out of your gas tube. Once you're satisfied with your work, take the receiver out and wipe it dry.

Oil all your parts lightly, and reassemble. I did this in an afternoon with my Chinese SKS. A fair amount of work, but you'll learn everything you need to know about the rifle and it'll get the job done.

I have never seen a Russian SKS that needs this done to it. My three Russian SKS's came lightly oiled which was easily removed using some solvent and some paper towel. The Chinese ones, which have been in cosmoline for at least 20 years, probably more, will require a lot of work, though. Same with the Yugoslavian ones.
 
My Russian's were like Andurp's Chinese.

The Yugo M59 from Marstar's last shipment was by far the most coated in cosmoline SKS I have ever seen. It was like they used a shove, heaped cosmoline on it and then wrapped it in clear cling wrap. Yup, wrapped in cling wrap. Just getting the cosmo coated cling wrap off the gun was an adventure.
 
fenceline said:
My Russian's were like Andurp's Chinese.

The Yugo M59 from Marstar's last shipment was by far the most coated in cosmoline SKS I have ever seen. It was like they used a shove, heaped cosmoline on it and then wrapped it in clear cling wrap. Yup, wrapped in cling wrap. Just getting the cosmo coated cling wrap off the gun was an adventure.
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My Yugo from Marstar was the exact same. That was gross.
 
sergey96 said:
Once you go russian you never go back !!!!!once you go russian you never go back !!!!!once you go russian you never go back !!!!!once you go russian you never go back !!!!!once you go russian you never go back !!!!!once you go russian you never go back !!!!!once you go russian you never go back !!!!!once you go russian you never go back !!!!!once you go russian you never go back !!!!!once you go russian you never go back !!!!!once you go russian you never go back !!!!!once you go russian you never go back !!!!!once you go russian you never go back !!!!!once you go russian you never go back !!!!!once you go russian you never go back !!!!!once you go russian you never go back !!!!!once you go russian you never go back !!!!!once you go russian you never go back !!!!!once you go russian you never go back !!!!!once you go russian you never go back !!!!!once you go russian you never go back !!!!!once you go russian you never go back !!!!!once you go russian you never go back !!!!!once you go russian you never go back !!!!!once you go russian you never go back !!!!!once you go russian you never go back !!!!!once you go russian you never go back !!!!!once you go russian you never go back !!!!!once you go russian you never go back !!!!!once you go russian you never go back !!!!!once you go russian you never go back !!!!!once you go russian you never go back !!!!!once you go russian you never go back !!!!!once you go russian you never go back !!!!!once you go russian you never go back !!!!!once you go russian you never go back !!!!!once you go russian you never go back !!!!!once you go russian you never go back !!!!!
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I own a '54 and a '50 Tula as well as a ChiCom. To me the ChiCom is the more fascinating because 1) it is all matching 2) was taken straight from the factory and put directly into storage with no refurbishing and 3) if the Vietnam war had gone on longer, it is very likely that my carbine would have been issued to a soldier. Plus the fact that it shoots as good, if not better than my Russkies.
 
collector67 said:
I own a '54 and a '50 Tula as well as a ChiCom. To me the ChiCom is the more fascinating because 1) it is all matching 2) was taken straight from the factory and put directly into storage with no refurbishing and 3) if the Vietnam war had gone on longer, it is very likely that my carbine would have been issued to a soldier. Plus the fact that it shoots as good, if not better than my Russkies.
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But if you are selling Russian rifle's. I think you to would be partial bais towards them. But if I had my choice between a Chinese sporter and a Russian Mil-Surp I would take a Mil-Surp. But if it was a Russian Mil-Surp and a Chiniese Mil-Surp then it would be a toss up. Now if it was a East German honor guard SkS well then it would be a no brainer :p
 
Crack Feather said:
But if you are selling Russian rifle's. I think you to would be partial bais towards them. But if I had my choice between a Chinese sporter and a Russian Mil-Surp I would take a Mil-Surp. But if it was a Russian Mil-Surp and a Chiniese Mil-Surp then it would be a toss up. Now if it was a East German honor guard SkS well then it would be a no brainer :p
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True, or an Albanian one would be pretty cool to find as well. I have you to see one of those, anybody have one?
 
Crack Feather said:
But if you are selling Russian rifle's. I think you to would be partial bais towards them. But if I had my choice between a Chinese sporter and a Russian Mil-Surp I would take a Mil-Surp. But if it was a Russian Mil-Surp and a Chiniese Mil-Surp then it would be a toss up. Now if it was a East German honor guard SkS well then it would be a no brainer :p
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I would love a Chinese honour guard model! They seem impossible to track down though. I currently have a Russian model and love it but I think it's time to add a Chinese military model to the collection. It's hard to beat the marstar deal.
 
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