I was passing through a small Arizona town yesterday and caught a glimpse of a mom and pop gun store so, of course, I stopped. Although I couldn't find anything that really appealled to me they did have a Russian SKS I have never seen before yesterday. The gal working was not the owner and really couldn't tell me much about it. It had a rosewood colored laminated stock of unknown wood. I could find no matching numbers but the receiver and BOLT were black (paint?) and the finish on them looked new...no doubt about that. The bore was dark but you could tell it was chromed and just needed a good cleaning....perhaps in long term storage? The remaining metal had an exceptional finish but that, too, looked like black paint. It had the Russian symbol on the top rear receiver. They were asking $250. I got to thinking that perhaps it was one of those Russian refurbed or remanufactured ones I read about on Simonev.com but couldn't find the usual refurb or remanufacture mark. Any thoughts?
Sounds like a fair price. Under 300 is decent for a Russian and the black bolt carrier is kind of special, though it doesn't mean anything functionally. Sounds like a high quality shooter to me. I paid 300 for my Norinco D model with AK mags.
All that I can say is the price for Russian and Norinco are up a bit. Unless you modify AK mags they won't work. Russians are well built--all milled.
Today at the range my friend had several three round bursts from his russian sks, What do you think would cause this? He was using Barnaul steel cased soft points. Thanks...
His trigger group could also be bad, Alan. They have had many trigger groups where the sear/disconnector were ground too much and slam-fires and uncontrolled bursts were common. Have him replace the trigger group if the firing pin is not the culprit. There was speculation that the black bolt carriers and bolts on Russian SKS's were originally made for the Spetsnaz.
Dale, The Soviet SKS you refer to is identical to the one I just purchased. Mine had a hairline corrosion crack in the rear of the gas tube. I replaced it with an American made gas tube and stainless gas piston from Tapco. I also found the rear of the reciever cover had some serious pinging on the inside, (this is a good way to determine how much an SKS has been fired). I placed an old shock buff I had from a Brownells order from years ago inside the reciever cover's rear. This cut the future metal to metal impact out completely. The safety lacked a spring, so I replaced it with a new trigger group. A neon front sight and a Chinese SKS sling rounds out what I hope to be a fine shooter. The black paint you refer to is a definite refurb trait... mine was covered with re-arsenal stamps on the laminated stock and the reciever cover, (square with diagonal line). I suggest you pick it up! Jesse
Dale-- Get it, they are well built and great shooters. I have one I paid $280 for. It shoots 1" groups. I think that you will be happy with it.
