SKS inconsistent blueing on receiver cover

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Longshot84

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Hey all,

So I've been doing a lot of reading as I expand my collection of SKS' but haven't seen anything touching on the inconsistent blueing on the receiver cover. Some Rifles only have a very faint line above and below the factory stamp and year, others are really obvious. Is this an indication of refurbishment or reblueing? A couple of mine have zero signs of refurb, but have this stripe going across the dust cover, and I've seen many others advertised as non-refurb with this as well.

Thanks in advance!
 
Good question. My un-refurbed have this same thing on the receiver cover to a greater or lesser degree, with one refurb not having this problem at all.

What is up?:confused:
 
It's wear on the bluing from how the rifle sat on the rack in the crate. Whether it's from chemicals / preservatives on the rack or inside the crate itself I'm not sure. God only knows what kind of poisons are in those things being from Russia in the 1950s/1960s.

You're almost always going to see it on non-refurbished rifles from the Ukraine.
 
bp2626 said:
It's wear on the bluing from how the rifle sat on the rack in the crate. Whether it's from chemicals / preservatives on the rack or inside the crate itself I'm not sure. God only knows what kind of poisons are in those things being from Russia in the 1950s/1960s.

You're almost always going to see it on non-refurbished rifles from the Ukraine.
Click to expand...

^^^This.^^^

If you've ever seen them stacked inside the crate, you'll notice that those marks of uneven blueing line up with where the padded brackets rested across the receivers.

The wooden brackets have semicircular grooves with some type of padding inside that sandwiches between the upper and lower rows of five rifles.
 
Well, I would like to open up the discussion and add my two cents.

Generally the two tone top cover is a sign of a 'non refurb' rifle, or at least a cover that has not been refinished.

I heard that this 'two tone' shading was resultant from crate storage as well, but if you actually look at a crate of SKS rifles, the pads do not touch this portion of the receiver. Trust me, I have seen over 20+ crates of rifles and the dividers actually go behind the receiver on the wood and on the fore stock/upper hand guard.

So in my mind, unless these rifles were once stored in a different style of crate or stored on a storage rack that rested against the top of the receiver, I think that this theory is BUSTED. I had seen 10x 15x and 50x rifle crates and the placement of the dividers is the same. The dividers do NOT rest on top of the receiver cover.

Maybe the discolouration happened when they were roll stamped? Or after blueing post roll stamping? Thoughts?
 
agentcq said:
Well, I would like to open up the discussion and add my two cents.

Generally the two tone top cover is a sign of a 'non refurb' rifle, or at least a cover that has not been refinished.

I heard that this 'two tone' shading was resultant from crate storage as well, but if you actually look at a crate of SKS rifles, the pads do not touch this portion of the receiver. Trust me, I have seen over 20+ crates of rifles and the dividers actually go behind the receiver on the wood and on the fore stock/upper hand guard.

So in my mind, unless these rifles were once stored in a different style of crate or stored on a storage rack that rested against the top of the receiver, I think that this theory is BUSTED. I had seen 10x 15x and 50x rifle crates and the placement of the dividers is the same. The dividers do NOT rest on top of the receiver cover.

Maybe the discolouration happened when they were roll stamped? Or after blueing post roll stamping? Thoughts?
Click to expand...

I think you're right.

After I made my comment last night, I looked up some pictures of SKS's in crates and they are held at the wrist of the stock.

Like these ones are: http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/978150-Russian-SKS-and-Accessories

Here's the location of the discolouration and it's nowhere near where the padded bracket would be in the crate: https://www.flickr.com/photos/25437334@N02/5208073758/
 
Did some looking and depending on the factory the metal had a different hardness/consistency tat took blueing differently than the rest. Oddly some sks's lack this mark.
 
Robert Nicholson said:
Only problem is, in a year or two I will forget this and have to ask again. No use searching "bluing loss in strange pattern". Protect your brain cells while you still have them!
Click to expand...

When I started here I began by reading nearly every thread in the Red Rifle forum. Starting with the last page and ending with the most current thread. I recommend others do the same.
 
Awesome info guys!! Thanks for sharing �� To those offended by the repost, my apologies! I did a search but could not find this particular topic.

So I guess the consensus is roll stamp markings on a milder steel?

Now...does anyone know where to find an SKS crate like in MapleSugar's post?? :D
 
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