New to Me SKS....what to look for?

H

hawk-i

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
9   0   0
Happy New Year to all,

I ended up buying a SKS between Xmas and New Years. I don't really know much about them or what to look for in terms of wear and maintenance...the dealer wasn't really up on what to look for and didn't offer much info. I figured what the heck and the dealer was fun to deal with so I bought it.

From searching google this SKS in a Russian Tula 1950 production rifle with laminate stock...dial-up is way to slow for me posting pics.

Thanks to the sticky at the top of this forum I was able to learn how to properly strip and clean the gun....what I found is that the gun looks to have very little wear on all moving parts...to my eyes I would almost say the parts are new. All serial numbers are the same, the blueing looks great, no pitting on any parts, bore is shiny, bolt and carrier looks like its stainless(not blued)and appear to have zero wear. Is this a good reburbish or a not used much original gun....how does one tell between a reburb and orignal?

Thanks

P.S.....These things are a blast, might have to get a second one! :)
 
If you look on the stock refurbs usually have a series of Xs stamped on them. There are also arsenal refurb marks you might find on some that look like a rectangle with a diagonal line through it.
 
Last edited:
51_tula_0041.JPG


Look for marks like this. that will tell you if its a refurb

make sure you clean after shooting

Enjoy!
 
Im not positive, but I think theres only a certain amount of years the laminate stocks came factory (55/6?). Anything else with a laminate stock, even with matching numbers, meant it did go back through refurbishing.
 
Armed_N_Friendly said:
51_tula_0041.JPG


Look for marks like this. that will tell you if its a refurb

make sure you clean after shooting

Enjoy!
Click to expand...

No markings like that on my stock and no X's either....there is one mark on the stock just to the left of the stock x-bolt you pictured that looks like an upside down U with square corners but not sure if its a stamp or just a handling mark.

+1 for cleaning it after use...that to me seems like half the fun in owning it!
 
koesdibyo said:
Im not positive, but I think theres only a certain amount of years the laminate stocks came factory (55/6?). Anything else with a laminate stock, even with matching numbers, meant it did go back through refurbishing.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply....is something to check on for sure. I'm sure someone will know for sure if this is true or not.
 
hawk-i said:
Thanks for the reply....is something to check on for sure. I'm sure someone will know for sure if this is true or not.
Click to expand...

It's true, it wasn't untill later years that they started using laminate stocks, so for sure if it is a 1950 it has had the stock replaced. The rest of the rifle may have been completely untouched though.

The nice thing about the 50's is that they have a spring in the firing pin rather than being free floated, but they don't have chrome lined barrels, but for the amount that the average person shoots it, and as long as you clean it as well as you should, then you shouldn't have any problems with it.

I find the most important place to keep an eye on is the gas piston, gas tube and the gas port. These are where the worst of the corrosive primer caused rust happens as it's harder to clean those areas
 
dand883 said:
It's true, it wasn't untill later years that they started using laminate stocks, so for sure if it is a 1950 it has had the stock replaced. The rest of the rifle may have been completely untouched though.

The nice thing about the 50's is that they have a spring in the firing pin rather than being free floated, but they don't have chrome lined barrels, but for the amount that the average person shoots it, and as long as you clean it as well as you should, then you shouldn't have any problems with it.

I find the most important place to keep an eye on is the gas piston, gas tube and the gas port. These are where the worst of the corrosive primer caused rust happens as it's harder to clean those areas
Click to expand...

Some will some won't. Depends on the amount of refurb. It could have a later firing pin if the bolt was replaced on refurb. Same with the barrel. The barrel may have been replaced on refurb.The fact that this gun is a refurb you would have to check to confirm both. And if in fact the barrel has been replaced more than likely the gas piston and tube needed replacing as well as these were the most replaced items of metalwork on the SKS because of the corrosion factor...
 
Armed_N_Friendly said:
51_tula_0041.JPG


Look for marks like this. that will tell you if its a refurb

make sure you clean after shooting

Enjoy!
Click to expand...

WRONG!

these are factory inspection marks

refurb and warehouse insp marks are <> or [/] or X out numbers on the stock due too replacement

Laminate stock on pre 1956 gun are all replacements and only dark red laminate stocks on late 1956 SKS are factory
 
Armed_N_Friendly said:
51_tula_0041.JPG


Look for marks like this. that will tell you if its a refurb

make sure you clean after shooting

Enjoy!
Click to expand...

These don't always mean an unrefurb. Sometimes the stocks were reused but the date and serial were sanded off and restamped to the new gun, but the front cartouches are still there. The rifle as a whole has to be taken into account to determine refurb - unrefurb status not just one item...
 
Dsiwy said:
WRONG!

these are factory inspection marks

refurb and warehouse insp marks are <> or [/] or X out numbers on the stock due too replacement

Laminate stock on pre 1956 gun are all replacements and only dark red laminate stocks on late 1956 SKS are factory
Click to expand...

This is true to a point as there are a lot of SKS's that were refurbed without being metal stamped with the <> [/] or the stock stamped with ###'s. Again the gun as a whole must be taken into account to determine refurb-unrefurb.
 
dand883 said:
It's true, it wasn't untill later years that they started using laminate stocks, so for sure if it is a 1950 it has had the stock replaced. The rest of the rifle may have been completely untouched though.

The nice thing about the 50's is that they have a spring in the firing pin rather than being free floated, but they don't have chrome lined barrels, but for the amount that the average person shoots it, and as long as you clean it as well as you should, then you shouldn't have any problems with it.

I find the most important place to keep an eye on is the gas piston, gas tube and the gas port. These are where the worst of the corrosive primer caused rust happens as it's harder to clean those areas
Click to expand...

I have a 1950 tula with a laminate and it appears they just inspected it and swapped the stock. I don't see any refurbish stamps and the finish is beautiful. no evidence of fireing at all before me!
 
wbaad said:
I have a 1950 tula with a laminate and it appears they just inspected it and swapped the stock. I don't see any refurbish stamps and the finish is beautiful. no evidence of fireing at all before me!
Click to expand...

Areas to check are the bolt face, piston face and gas hole area. If these areas are shinny metal with no carbon or frosting, then you got a unissued gun :) It still was refurb due to the new stock but its still a great gun :)

Refurb can be everything from an simple stock change to a full over haul
 
New to Me SKS....what to look for?


Sounds like you got yourself a decent shooter and it will last tens of thousands of rounds for sh*ts n giggles. Anything of collector value would have come with a premium price. So forget about all the collector crap and just have a good time shooting it. Clean it well, buy lots of ammo, and keep shooting it, and clean it some more.
 
Thanks for all the replies, my guess is the rifle itself has very little usage but as others have pointed out the laminate stock is not original...nothing including the gas tube, port, piston and bolt face show any signs of wear or corrosion...to me it just looks like the parts are in as new condition.

After taking it apart a few times its really quick and easy to keep clean and lubricated....heck, its even fun to take apart and put back together. So far I've only shot non corrosive ammo through it (norinco steelcore, silver box) and some 125gr softpoints but now that I see how easy and fun it is to strip and clean I will buy a case of the cheaper corrosive stuff to blast off and kill cans and rocks.

Its only 4 and 1/2 months to bear season....the 125 gr softpoints and a rabbit in distress call should work great me thinks.... Happy, Happy, Happy :) :) :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom