Please Help me identify my SKS

[GT_80]

So I had been looking for a few weeks at sks rifles.

The local rifles I have found were:

Chinese paratrooper $900

Russian SKS $700

Yugo SKS in aftermarket stock no bayonet $400

Bullpup (yuck) Chinese $800

Vast variety of Yugo’s at cabelas with no bayonets, and they had varying degrees of looking like they had been run over, many the bolt hold open doesn’t work cause they’re so sticky $500-over $600 depending on which one...

Then I found a Norinco with refinished wood stock and sling for $500 (sold in 2 days)

And I found a Chinese SKS in jungle stock, unknown year, decent shape, with blade bayonet and sling $500.

Called all my other shops, no one had one, looked all over the country on armslist, half the people never replied to my emails, and I found a couple norincos for about $400 plus $25-50 shipping, plus I have to pay transfer fees at an FFL between $25-35

So I opted to buy the Chinese SKS in Jungle stock because I could physically look at it, and the shop I bought it from is run by a guy whose dad was a decorated military man, and he has over 20 bring back rifles from his dads tours. He’s a super nice guy. Anyway, seeing as how the local listings were several hundred dollars more, and the other shop had sold a wood stock norinco for $500 after only having it for 2 days, I don’t think I did badly.

I know you’ll all rip me for spending $500 on a SKS, but supply and demand/ none around me for less in original shape, and it’s not 1985
So don’t say I bought one for $99 “a few years ago”.

I’d like to know more about my rifle- story I heard about the jungle stocks, they’re either fiberglass or Bakelite and were put on by the Chinese during or after the Vietnam war because the Chinese buried the rifles in the jungle and when they came back to get them months later bugs or termites had eaten the wood stocks.

I’m not sure if the jungle stock models were used in combat, but here are some pics.

The shop owner was pretty sure this was a pre-94 import.

It was imported by century Arms in VT, and the import marks are on the bottom of the barrel under the cleaning rod.

I disassembled it last night, it’s not 100% matching numbers- the recoil spring dust cover and the bottom of the bolt that houses the firing pin have non-matching numbers, yet the receiver, upper bolt (charging handle) magazine, and a couple other parts all have matching numbers.

Looks like it was made in Chinese factory 26, otherwise I do not know how to tell a year

IMG_0222.JPG

IMG_0217.JPG

IMG_0218.JPG

IMG_0219.JPG

IMG_0223.JPG

IMG_0220.JPG

I dis-assembled it 80% last night and cleaned it very well. Bore looks great, some tarnishing (but no putting or corrosion) on the bolt in the front and on the long rod that cycles the action (not sure what it’s called) otherwise it looks great, and seems to cycle fine.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[GT_80]

From the reading I have done, based on the factory 26 and the letter before a 4 digit serial number, this may be a 1956 sino-Soviet model?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Longcolt44]

Could be a 1956 but it is not a Sino Soviet Model. The $500 price is not that bad. We bought out a supplier of these Paratrooper and regular Chinese models and we sell them for $495 to $600 depending on the model. Go to the online SKS forum and you can date it.

[GT_80]

Could be a 1956 but it is not a Sino Soviet Model. The $500 price is not that bad. We bought out a supplier of these Paratrooper and regular Chinese models and we sell them for $495 to $600 depending on the model. Go to the online SKS forum and you can date it.

I’ll check out the sks forum too. Thanks.

I love these rifles- like MN’s I always had a respect for them, then I picked one up, and loved them. This one is cool cause it’s so old, it doesn’t have the stamped steel trigger guard and stuff.

I actually want a wood stock, not the fiberglass one... maybe eventually


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[GT_80]

This is where I got the info about the sino-soviet Chinese models. And again, I’m not sure this is 100% accurate, but they claim that with the serial number starting with a letter and before the /26\
Factory code, it is sino-Soviet. I guess I would have to pull the barrel and clreceiver back out of the stock and look for Soviet markings...

http://www.yooperj.com/SKS-24.htm

I wonder if it was sino-soviet and someone just put a later jungle stock on it...

I’ll join the sks forum and find out.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[GT_80]

Couple more pics... has the Russian symbol on the rear sight leaf, and looks to have what may be an Ishevsk triangle on the receiver below the rear sight?

Also the mismatched bolt serial number, also with a letter in from a numeric serial

IMG_0226.JPG

IMG_0228.JPG

IMG_0231.JPG

IMG_0233.JPG

At any rate, it’s definitely a type 56, not a Norinco as it had been advertised. I’m very happy with it, and being as old as it is, I’m not upset I spent $500 at all


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[GT_80]

Alright, so I got to the bottom of it... with suggestions, I joined an SKS forum, and they pointed me to this article:

http://chinesesks.weebly.com/195960-letter-guns.html

It is a 1959-1960 Chinese made “letter gun” which strictly means it has a letter in the serial number, and was low production.

I am wondering if the letter correlated to a month like my gun would be October 1959 because J is the 10th letter in the alphabet, but I can’t be sure... at any rate, I’m very happy with it as a whole, but I would like to get a proper wood stock even if it’s not number matching.

Here’s a short video of me shooting it today.

https://youtu.be/mju2osVaiTE

My rifle range closed for hunting season till December 1st, so it may be a few weeks before I can shoot it again.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk