What to expect with refurb sks's.

K

KRASHED

CGN Regular
Rating - 100%
26   0   0
Location
Central Ontario
I'm selling my Norinco SKS, I really enjoy the SKS so I'm gonna go out and get a Russian one now. I was looking at the ones from Frontier Firearms, the ones with laminate stocks. What kind of condition should I expect from these refurbs? Are the stocks brand spanking new, could the metal by pitted?

Never bought a refurb so I'm a little wary of diving headfirst into it. Any help would be appreciated.
 
Well, the Russkies are the original SKS, akin to Colt is to the 1911 pistol.

I love all my Russians a little more than my Norinco D. They are all fitted well, accurate and reliable, with the russian metal looking better finished.

I bought my russians from leverarms in vancouver and they are all refurbed.
Laminate stocks almost always mean refurbed metal, and they are beautiful stocks if you choose carefully. Metal is re-blued or painted in some cases, didn't see a single one that was pitted among the hundreds I saw. Some original birch stocks were repaired, some original, most are forced match.

So many SKS from POS to pristine are available, so you have to do your share. Patience is necessary if your want an excellent piece, otherwise, you are taking a chance. You got to go and see/choose your SKS before you buy, unless you trust the dealer.

Three of the seven russkies in my shooting circle are 3-4" 5-round groupers at 100 yards with Czech surplus (1973) ammo and we are a happy bunch. The other four have not been shot yet but we are confident they will be as good.
 
Last edited:
Is there any way to get a dealer such as frontier to give me a picture of the rifle I bought or am I basically gambling? As for the Norinco I already sold it in anticipation of getting the real deal.
 
Pictures are better than a thousand words, but up close and personal is better than a thousand pictures.

If the dealer is only two - three hours drive, it is worth it. Heck, I'd drive 4 hours to get a good Russkie, actually I'd get four if I had to drive 4 hours:)

You'll be shooting and loving these babies for a long long time, it is worth the trouble to see them, live. I almost ordered sight unseen and am so thankful that my buddy discovered Leverarms just got a thousand pieces in. Lever is only an hour away. We are so lucky. Good luck.

BTW, read the SKS FAQ sticky by Curtton...a gold mine of information to help you pick your SKS or SKS's.
 
KRASHED said:
Is there any way to get a dealer such as frontier to give me a picture of the rifle I bought or am I basically gambling? As for the Norinco I already sold it in anticipation of getting the real deal.
Click to expand...

i ordered one from they.its should be here tuesday.i think if you get in on the first ones they should be good.their customer service is great and i dont think they will sell crap.word of mouth is everything in this business.i hear the russians shoot better than the norcs.i will let you know,i have a norc already so i will compare them when mine comes in.
 
KRASHED said:
Is there any way to get a dealer such as frontier to give me a picture of the rifle I bought or am I basically gambling? As for the Norinco I already sold it in anticipation of getting the real deal.
Click to expand...

your not supose to sell guns.you just buy more,and more then a bigger safe then more guns.
 
Wow dude, that's a neat trick! Hundreds eh? And by that determination you concluded the remaining 3000 or so they had were all refurbs? Even the sealed cases too!

I have three Russian SKS's from Lever. All un-issued. All Arctic birch stocks, not laminated. No bluing, no painting, no pitting, no forced numbers. Other than the Frankenpinning they are flawless. One of them even has the holed out receiver latch. Imagine that! I guess I got the only three unissued. All different years too.

Yes people, there are un-issued and GEMS of SKS's at Lever. If you really want nice picks, make them pick them for you. That's exactly what I did. "Random picks please." What luck I got!

easyrider604 said:
Well, the Russkies are the original SKS, akin to Colt is to the 1911 pistol.

I love all my Russians a little more than my Norinco D. They are all fitted well, accurate and reliable, with the russian metal looking better finished.

I bought my russians from leverarms in vancouver and they are all refurbed.
Laminate stocks almost always mean refurbed metal, and they are beautiful stocks if you choose carefully. Metal is re-blued or painted in some cases, didn't see a single one that was pitted among the hundreds I saw. Some original birch stocks were repaired, some original, most are forced match.

So many SKS from POS to pristine are available, so you have to do your share. Patience is necessary if your want an excellent piece, otherwise, you are taking a chance. You got to go and see/choose your SKS before you buy, unless you trust the dealer.

Three of the seven russkies in my shooting circle are 3-4" 5-round groupers at 100 yards with Czech surplus (1973) ammo and we are a happy bunch. The other four have not been shot yet but we are confident they will be as good.
Click to expand...
 
Share time!!!!

ki11ercane said:
Wow dude, ..........I have three Russian SKS's from Lever. All un-issued. All Arctic birch stocks, not laminated. No bluing, no painting, no pitting, no forced numbers. .........What luck I got!
Click to expand...

Double wow! Share the pics of your gems so we can oogle with envy. My three are all lamin and definitely issued. The only bragging rights I have are these three weapons were issued to the blond female members of the Zvezda - Russian Special Forces.
Congrats!!! :needPics:
 
killercane, I'm glad your mail order SKS's turned out to be pristine unissued.
Apparently you are not from Vancouver or its environs, and that you mail ordered yours.

May I ask how much you paid for them? Did they charge you the same $199.50 per piece, plus 25 bucks shipping and taxes? Even if they charged some premium for their effort, I don't mind as long as I am sure of getting unissued. Perhaps it is better for me to mail order because I really want to have unissued pieces. Maybe Lever has cherry picked all the good ones for their mail order customers, and the leftovers are put on display for us poor Vancouverites.

Store procedure for us who come to the Lever store is to look at no more than 3 choices for every one piece we buy. And to make these choices, we have to peer through glass doors, glare and all. Needless to say, it is next to impossible to positively identify non-refurbs if the rifle was the second one in or farther, even with the strong flashlight I have.

I've tried to find rifles with no refurb marks but the two I got have faint marks just the same. As well, we have to wait in line since they are very very busy at times, and I do not have the time to wait for hours.

I love these SKS's but time is at a premium because I have to make a living and babysit my grandson as well.

Like I said, I'm happy you got outstanding examples of the SKS. I wish I will have the same good fortune as yourself finding unissueds. Have fun with them.
 
Last edited:
They aren't cherry picking at Lever. The rifle comes out of the crate, gets registered, and then goes up on the shelf to fill whatever vacancy there is. New ones are being put up and shipped every day.
 
I specifically asked for no cherrypicking. All random. It seemed to be a refreshing change for them. Maybe that helped.

easyrider604 said:
killercane, I'm glad your mail order SKS's turned out to be pristine unissued.
Apparently you are not from Vancouver or its environs, and that you mail ordered yours.

May I ask how much you paid for them? Did they charge you the same $199.50 per piece, plus 25 bucks shipping and taxes? Even if they charged some premium for their effort, I don't mind as long as I am sure of getting unissued. Perhaps it is better for me to mail order because I really want to have unissued pieces. Maybe Lever has cherry picked all the good ones for their mail order customers, and the leftovers are put on display for us poor Vancouverites.

Store procedure for us who come to the Lever store is to look at no more than 3 choices for every one piece we buy. And to make these choices, we have to peer through glass doors, glare and all. Needless to say, it is next to impossible to positively identify non-refurbs if the rifle was the second one in or farther, even with the strong flashlight I had.

I've tried to find rifles with no refurb marks but the two I got faint marks just the same. As well, we have to wait in line since they are very very busy at times, and I do not have the time to wait for hours.

I love these SKS's but time is at a premium because I have to make a living and babysit my grandson as well.

Like I said, I'm happy you got outstanding examples of the SKS. I wish I will have the same good fortune as yourself finding unissueds. Have fun with them.
Click to expand...
 
Now is the time to get a Russian model! There is no comparison to the Norinco. Like mentioned, the Russians are the originals and up til only recently have we even seen them here. On a budget? I'd say you did the right thing. If I had a milsurp chinese (Chinese characters,factory codes) I might think about holding on to it, but other than that I'd flog it too. The refurb that I shoot is excellent in both fit and accuracy with a great laminate pattern stock which is strong and hard. It's a joy to shoot and own. I'm sure you'll be happy as all the SKS's I've seen are in good shape
 
Repost Range Results

Originally posted on Curtton's (the SKS guru) thread.

Was first to arrive at the range this am to anxiously sight my second SKS. A '53 lamin refurb (definitely an issued).
Shooting conditions:
- open sights
- Bench rested
- Czech surplus ammo
Shot at 25 yds. without any adjustments. Shooting high so raised the front sight around 1/2 turn and after getting confidence (20 rounds) moved to 50 yds. Looking good and moved to 100 yds.
My objective was to sight the four corner targets then move to the center.
#1 Upper right - 5 rounds high then 5 round bit left
#2 Lower right - 5 shots (top) - got excited and as expected - 4 shots low and 1 out of the paper
#3 Lower left - 5 shots (with one barely nicking the paper edge)
#4 Upper left - 5 shots high then 5 shots in the ballpark
#5 Center - 5 shots almost there then last two rounds (as expected) to the left
Unlike the '52 I sighted the week before, was more comfortable with this piece, given my getting used to the rifle in general. Spent 4 hours at the range and it was a satisfying task. For $200 how can anyone resist not getting one of these Russians? Wanted to shoot more but had to spend time toying with my Norinco M213. Results were decent too (but that's another post). Next, sight the refurb '50. :sniper:
SKSMariaSightPocoMay1620092.jpg


BTW Emmab, I cleaned the corrosive residue after, but left the blonde hair remnants on. lol:runaway:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom