Non refurb Sks?

I have seen quite a few for $400, not even selling fast. The prices for SKS are cyclical. You can buy a brand new Chinese military one for $450 to 500 from dealers, the wood looks very solid. I would buy one of those over the one pictured above, especially with the ugly weld. I have one like this, paid $400 with 250 rounds on stripper clips, not matching but that's very similar to the ugly weld one. You can always file it flat and reblu, so it looks nice, that's what I did. Last year I sold 2 for $750 when the market was hot but I would not get that today for sure.

how did i missed the 2 for $750? lol.

he got it listed on ee for $700.
 
how did i missed the 2 for $750? lol.

he got it listed on ee for $700.

Local deal. the guy came from out of town to go to the mall with his wife, cough cough. Needless to say, he had to sell. But he was ready to throw in a lot of free stuff, good deal for both of us. Many people don't want to ship. I have 2 more deals in town which are itching me, but not spending anything this month, lol. Let's see. Still suffering from the SR I want to slam against the wall, considering I must have bought 20 or more type 81 from TI (and resold with a very small handling fee), this one sucks so far.

Yes I saw the $700. I passed on one a while ago, was even lower at 450. I would never pay even 500 for one with that magazine weld. Maybe he will be the lucky winner. Don't care. Those "how much is my rifle worth" topics always end up picking the highest price.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the reply! This one is welded, the bead shows on the exterior of the floor plate, smooth and offset from the serial, but a weld nonetheless.

That means the mag was altered of course. Back then, because the rifles were so modestly priced, they did the alterations as cheap and dirty as possible, usually destroying most of the numbers on the mags.

Some people turn their noses up at this, because there are still a lot of unconverted and different forms of conversions out there, if you want to go through the trouble of looking for them. For some, that's part of the fun of seeking out collector pieces.

The welded pin does detract from the ''originality'' but it is part of the history of the rifles.

Just look at the Russian Capture K98s that came onto the surplus markets a few decades back. Even the best of them were a hard sell and many of them were broken down for builds. Usually the best that could be sourced.

Now, those rifles fetch anywhere from $850-$1200+ depending on location and condition or rarity of the manufacturer stamp/date on the receiver ring.
 
You can take a non number matching, sand or file off and restamp them with the proper available letters and reblu. I heard people doing it, most won't notice. On a SKS magazine, you put a wooden block on the back for example. I have never done it nor would I do it, just a warning to people being vigilant.
 
You can take a non number matching, sand or file off and restamp them with the proper available letters and reblu. I heard people doing it, most won't notice. On a SKS magazine, you put a wooden block on the back for example. I have never done it nor would I do it, just a warning to people being vigilant.

The chances of running across such a piece are slim. Especially on a rifle that isn't worth as much as the tooling required to do the job back in the day.

Being vigilant on valuable firearms is only good common sense, in this case ????????????????????
 
Is there an inspection stamp on the right side of the stock ? a Cartouche so it's called ? looks like a 1951 as someone said lightly used and it still has the stamps around the cross bolt . non chrome lined barrel who cares . with the going prices I'd say at least $650 plus . and there isn't any square stamp on top of the recoil spring cover. there is a small mark in the wood just behind the recoil spring cover ? stamp . number ? and there was a company years ago that imported sks rifles and Nagants and all that is Russian on here and they had someone weld something in the bottom of the mag to limit it to 5 shots .

I remember people calling it franken welded . buddy and his brother went to Russia from what I heard to buy them all . or the Ukraine. that Dealer isn't on here anymore .
 
Gotta be a record for the number of SKS' on EE and Gpost presently. I suspect the unfired Chinese for 450 and the "incident" a few weeks ago are the likely causes.
 
Local deal. the guy came from out of town to go to the mall with his wife, cough cough. Needless to say, he had to sell. But he was ready to throw in a lot of free stuff, good deal for both of us. Many people don't want to ship. I have 2 more deals in town which are itching me, but not spending anything this month, lol. Let's see. Still suffering from the SR I want to slam against the wall, considering I must have bought 20 or more type 81 from TI (and resold with a very small handling fee), this one sucks so far.

Yes I saw the $700. I passed on one a while ago, was even lower at 450. I would never pay even 500 for one with that magazine weld. Maybe he will be the lucky winner. Don't care. Those "how much is my rifle worth" topics always end up picking the highest price.

So you are a scalper? 20+ t81's to flip lol...
 
was a company years ago that imported sks rifles and Nagants and all that is Russian on here and they had someone weld something in the bottom of the mag to limit it to 5 shots .

I remember people calling it franken welded .

yup, franken pinned, fugly as hell.
 
Here are some definite signs of refurb for Tulas...

1. left side of stock - what does it look like? If it has the Tula star, year and matching number without ######, that is a good sign. Some Russian rifles have JUST the serial number etched on...those are refurbs

Not entirely true: Original 1956-1958 Soviet letter carbines have serial number only on the stock.

2. left side of gun - where the crossbolt is - are there cartouches there (little symbols)? If so that is a good sign
There is no solid evidence that the crossbolt stamps are original inspection stamps from manufacture or indications of refurbishment. Given the varying states of wear among crossbolt stamps, it is far more likely that the crossbolt cartouches are indication of multiple scheduled inspection/maintenance of rifles kept in storage.


5. Is the bayonet black? If so it's a refurb

Not true. Blued bayonets are not a definitive indication of refurbishment, and are commonly found on some of the most pristine examples of the Soviet SKS. The bluing is most likely a post-manufacture, anti-corrosion measure for rifles intended for long term storage. Same with the golden bayonets.

There are also other stuff like ... peened screw/pin on the bayonet ...
Misaligned staking marks on the bayonet screw are not a definitive indication of refurbishment. They only indicate the possibility that the bayonet may have been removed and then re-installed.
 
What are your thoughts on this one?
Selling my way through the safe, this one is next on the chopping block.

Is it a non refurb? All matching, no force match, no heavy wood varnish.
Blued.

What sort of price point?

View attachment 632201View attachment 632202View attachment 632252View attachment 632253View attachment 632254

Thanks for having a look!

Wow! She's a beauty.

From the few photos it looks like it went straight in to deep storage, possibly never issued.

Matching serial numbers are not a definitive indication of all original parts. Replacement parts, though serial-matching, will commonly be stamped with a different type font. If all the serials are in the same font, this is most likely an all original, non-issued carbine. In the states, this would be sell well over $1200 USD every day of the week.


Sad to see you let it go.
 
Not entirely true: Original 1956-1958 Soviet letter carbines have serial number only on the stock.


There is no solid evidence that the crossbolt stamps are original inspection stamps from manufacture or indications of refurbishment. Given the varying states of wear among crossbolt stamps, it is far more likely that the crossbolt cartouches are indication of multiple scheduled inspection/maintenance of rifles kept in storage.




Not true. Blued bayonets are not a definitive indication of refurbishment, and are commonly found on some of the most pristine examples of the Soviet SKS. The bluing is most likely a post-manufacture, anti-corrosion measure for rifles intended for long term storage. Same with the golden bayonets.


Misaligned staking marks on the bayonet screw are not a definitive indication of refurbishment. They only indicate the possibility that the bayonet may have been removed and then re-installed.

I think you are both right , hes talking about wood and you are talking about laminated.

question, why would the bayo be removed between storage and issued and how often?

for everybody. heres a post i found in the US forum to be very useful.

https://www.sksboards.com/smf/index.php?topic=77478.0
 
I think you are both right , hes talking about wood and you are talking about laminated.

I agree. I realize he may have been referring specifically to 1954 stocks like the op rifle

question, why would the bayo be removed between storage and issued and how often?

Removal of bayonet would be required for post-production bluing as corrosion protection during long term storage. Keep in mind that the 1990's soviet sks imports were not coated in heavy cosmoline.

Staked bayonet screws are notoriously easy to remove with a flat head screwdriver, a firm grip and a sturdy twist. So it is impossible to tell if misaligned staking marks were incurred at the factory or post import. Oddly, though, misaligned staking marks on bayonet screws can often be realigned indicating that bayonet screws are often original to the rifle they came with.

Golden coated bayonets commonly have staking marks still aligned because it was a simpler application than bluing and the bayonet did not need to be removed to apply the protective finish which was likely a quick drying dip or brush on application.
 
I agree. I realize he may have been referring specifically to 1954 stocks like the op rifle



Removal of bayonet would be required for post-production bluing as corrosion protection during long term storage. Keep in mind that the 1990's soviet sks imports were not coated in heavy cosmoline.

so you are saying alot had to be re-blued? interesting so did they re-blued all of them or just the ones that had some rust?
 
so you are saying alot had to be re-blued? interesting so did they re-blued all of them of just the ones that had some rust?

No. Some bayonets were blued. Some got the golden coating. Some were left in the white.

It likely had to do with where they were stored or how frequently or infrequently they underwent inspection and regular maintenance. The US imports from the 1990's bear zero indication of the heavy cosmoline dip we see with Mosin Nagant imports, Tokarevs, and the Chinese Type56's from Albania for example. If the Soviet sks were not stored in cosmoline, they would have required regular maintenance for corrosion and stock refinish due to wood shrinkage and expansion from freezing cold and heat and humid seasonal fluctuations.
 
i bought about a dozen in the first wave of russian SKS in 2008, imported by Bell. all had no cosmo. 4 were unissued and the bayo was not touched.
 
I had one of those. Early 2008 IZH import. As-issued. Mine is non-refurbished with a small piece of barstock tack welded to the follower arm.
 
Back
Top Bottom