My Tradex Russian Toy

P

platnumbob

CGN frequent flyer
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Location
Calgary
So I got my Russian SKS from Tradex last week (w/ ammo) and I want to share my experience so far, first off Tradex were great to work with and they underwent the shipping process quickly. As usual UPS pissed me off (got the box with a hole punched through it - luckily my contents were not damaged).

Out of the box I was impressed with the package....nice wood,
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The rifle came with some cosmoline on it, although not as much as I thought by reading some peoples comments on here - I took her apart. Did not take me too long as I had an SKS-D a few years ago. I quickly noticed how much better this rifle feels then my old chinese commercial; the stock looks and feels 100% better- the metal looks better, everything seems tight.
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I chose the oven bake method for the cosmoline removal on the stock. I used kerosene followed by boiling water then hoppes solvent and gun oil on the metal bits. For the barrel I used brake cleaner then boiling water then the hoppes. The metal looked whiteish after the kerosene/ brake cleaner...but the metal comes back to life when it gets the hoppes applied. It was a bit of a scary moment in between.

Overall she looks pretty good, my camera apparently sucks, sorry about that (the stock is actually much more shiney...this pic makes it look dull).
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Size comparison with other "battle rifles". I think I may have started a cold war in my gun safe. I swear I had the sks next to my AR....the next day the AR had moved to the other side of the safe. I think it is pissed.
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Overall I am really happy so far, pending a future range report. It is a 1950, with a spring loaded (not free-floating) firing pin. The numbers all match and it does not have any refurb marks that I can see. However, I assume it is still a refurb as advertized due to the bayo which is matte - I believe the bayo on the 1950 is supposed to be polished from the factory from the info I have read on here.

I have one quick question - how wet are people running these guns? All I did when I put it back together was greace the rails a bit (the metal bits as above just got a quick wipe with a gun oil rag). Anything else before I hit the range?
 
SWEET STOCK! I love the look of that one.

Nice addition to the safe, though it sounds like you need a separate safe for your Commies and Capitalists, separated by a "demilitarized zone". Or else you risk all out war. ;) :D
 
platnumbob said:
The numbers all match and it does not have any refurb marks that I can see. However, I assume it is still a refurb as advertized due to the bayo which is matte - I believe the bayo on the 1950 is supposed to be polished from the factory from the info I have read on here.
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I spy a bunch of ###### on the old serial numbers on the stock, looks like a refurb to me.....but a very nice looking one...
 
That Rifle looks fantastic.........i think that it the secret behind the SKS's attraction they are just a great looking Rifle.
 
Do the X's mean refurb? Good to know; they dont seem to be "covering" #'s but I was wondering why there was x's on there. It was sold advertised as a refurb so I am in no way disapointed. It means I can have more fun shooting it without worry.

Any comments on how much lube you guys are running before shooting? I assume most people at least keep the bolt face dry because many models are free floating pins. I have always kept my AR pretty wet.
 
Quoted from the SKS ID FAQ............."Recycling existing solid birch. The factory tech would forced matched the serial numbers, on the wood he would either ###### out the old serial numbers or sand it off."

I have a '50 Tula refurb aswell.....I don't run it 'wet' as your say...just a bit of lube. I clean and lube it everytime I get back from the range...
 
Nice looking rig there. That deal from trade ex is looking better all the time.
As to how wet. I run mine dry and she likes it that way. No problems with mine.
 
platnumbob said:
Do the X's mean refurb? Good to know; they dont seem to be "covering" #'s but I was wondering why there was x's on there. It was sold advertised as a refurb so I am in no way disapointed. It means I can have more fun shooting it without worry.

Any comments on how much lube you guys are running before shooting? I assume most people at least keep the bolt face dry because many models are free floating pins. I have always kept my AR pretty wet.
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Congrats on the 1950 SKS, it has a beautiful stock regardless of the x's.
You will find it pretty accurate.
My 1950 shot very tight at 25 yds (bullet holes touching) at 100 if you dont count the two flyers out of ten shots I was getting an honest 4 inch group. Not bad for a rifle of that vintage.:D

It worries me some,.. to fire it too rapidly and the barrel getting too hot without the chrome lined barrel to keep it from pemature wear.... so I try to take it easy on the old girl, but its hard to do, when you have so much ammo.....:D

As far as keeping it wet, I never bothered.. but might be a good idea during hard use I guess.
 
It's a refurb for sure, but so what - its gorgeous! No wonder the stock has 2 sets of ###s on it, the stock is too nice not to use.

As for lube, I just put a couple drops of CLP on the rails and wipe the metal down with CLP. The guns get cleaned after shooting, so why put a bunch of messy grease on it?
 
Thanks for all of the comments and info guys. I plan on taking her out on the weekend to see how she shoots, should be a fun little gun. Suprising how cheap these things are going for now
 
I just ordered from them last week! One of those midnight credit card purchases... delivered to UPS the following day when they opened, and at my door less than 24 hours later... FREE SHIPPING! that's incredible!!!!

I had the gun before my bank records even showed I had been charged for it! Now that's fast service!

Mine was a refurb too, I'm no expert as this is my first milsurp, but I feel that mine wasn't coated in cosmoline but rather some other sort of oil... is this possible? I watched a million videos on cosmoline removal so I could see the gunky brown crap that its supposed to look like, and i found the TINIEST smudge of cosmoline under the top cover
 
Mine did not have alot on it, but there were traces of it throughout (a fair bit on/ in the bolt). And the stock stunk like cosmo when I was baking it -But I did not get alot of cosmo out of it, but definitly enough to make the baking necessary.
 
Thats a nice looking rifle, you did good. Trade-Ex is a good bunch to deal with, they treat you good and they're replies are quick. I have 2 SKS's and I just coat everything with a light coat of gunoil, except the bolt. Enjoy the rifle, they're fun to shoot.
 
I got mine pretty much the same day as you did....Same issue with UPS, mine had a hole in the box from the action. Not a ton of cosmoline, but mine is a '52, shiny bayonet, force matched stock, free floating firing pin.....Cleaned mine up with some simple green, some remington gun cleaner, and a little rem oil....Also can't wait to get mine out but I gotta figure out if the reg was submitted by trade ex? There was no paper with the SKS (we always get the "temp" reg's when buying locally), and I don't wanna wait!
 
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