1969 Albanian

[bbush44]

Many of you have seen my ugly Albanian before, but I am sharing her for the new guys who may have never seen the different features of an Albanian SKS.
The obvious differences between the Albanian SKS and those from other countries are:
1) The extended length stock and the extended 3 vent upper hand guard that extend all the way to the gas block.
2) The butt plate has 2 trapdoors rather than one seen on other countries.
3) The charging handle is similar to an AK style rather than the round style used by all other countries.
4) The magazine  has a slightly different bottom profile than those on other SKS's.

She isn't the nicest example, but I found her locally at a decent price, so she came  home with me.
The receiver, receiver cover, trigger guard, magazine, bolt, bolt carrier and stock match.
The gas tube and gas rod do not match.
Nice shiny bore, and the metal is in decent shape with some wear here and there and a couple spots of surface rust starting. The stock has had a couple of repairs done to it, and the wood on the mismatching gas tube is a bit rough. It did come with a replacement stock, but I will probably never fit it to the gun.
Here it is when I got it home.












After she was cleaned up.









Brian
 

[Dannyboy53]

That is a real beauty! Why are the magazines shaped different, is there some advantage over the Chinese/Russian style magazine?

[running-man]

Alby mags have that hard sweep in them compared to all the other mags.  I can't think of a functional reason they should be different, it just seems that the Albys wanted to be different so they made them differently.  My favorite (well perhaps second favorite now) SKS is an old beater Alby that I use for my truck gun.  Form and  fit are way behind even a newer Chinese, but functionally, she will run with any SKS out there. 

[Dannyboy53]

Thanks running-man, I was just curious to know if it made it more efficient or something.

[running-man]

Naw, it does make for a mean looking carbine though. The extended wood and the mag usually let you ID an Alby from a mike away!

[Dannyboy53]

The more I look at the Albanians the more I like them (the carbines) and I plan to snag an Alby and a Russian one of these days. Just got too many irons in the fire right now.

[Dannyboy53]

From what I've been reading from you guys I figured that would happen! I really like the looks of the Russian, their wood is a thing to behold.

[Dannyboy53]

No doubt about that 06! The diversity among the SKS is one of the things that make them so fascinating. There was a time when I knew nothing about these little beasts, I thought they were all the same. Now, the more I learn, the more I see how much more there is to learn.

[running-man]

Hey Danny, I'll admit a little secret (06 will ridicule me...a little) I got my first SKS in 2002.  It was an ugly Yugo 59/66 that I've since pawned off on an unsuspecting, but deserving guy.  Anyhow, over the years I've gotten, a Yugo M59, several Alby 561s, a couple Romy M56s, and finally a whole bunch of Chinese type 56s by 2013. 

All throughout that whole 11 years, I didn't own a single Russian!  I got my first one in mid 2013, a beauty of an (ex)ExDDR, never fired it, and traded it away several months later.  I finally got a nice little '50 Tula (again an (ex)Ex-DDR) that I've shot the hell out of.  They are beautiful guns, but the prices these days astound me.  I hope to get an Izhevsk and maybe a couple others, but I'm late to the party and will just have to live without unless I find a screaming deal I'm thinking. 

The recent $1000+ auctions have made my head spin!

[Dannyboy53]

Hey Danny, I'll admit a little secret (06 will ridicule me...a little) I got my first SKS in 2002.  It was an ugly Yugo 59/66 that I've since pawned off on an unsuspecting, but deserving guy.  Anyhow, over the years I've gotten, a Yugo M59, several Alby 561s, a couple Romy M56s, and finally a whole bunch of Chinese type 56s by 2013. 

All throughout that whole 11 years, I didn't own a single Russian!  I got my first one in mid 2013, a beauty of an (ex)ExDDR, never fired it, and traded it away several months later.  I finally got a nice little '50 Tula (again an (ex)Ex-DDR) that I've shot the hell out of.  They are beautiful guns, but the prices these days astound me.  I hope to get an Izhevsk and maybe a couple others, but I'm late to the party and will just have to live without unless I find a screaming deal I'm thinking. 

The recent $1000+ auctions have made my head spin!

So, you still have the '50 Tula? You have probably posted photos at some point in the past but what are the chances of us seeing here?! And what is an Ex-DDR?

Yeah running-man quadruple digit Russians are out of my reach.

[Adam7]

Alby mags have that hard sweep in them compared to all the other mags.  I can't think of a functional reason they should be different, it just seems that the Albys wanted to be different so they made them differently.  My favorite (well perhaps second favorite now) SKS is an old beater Alby that I use for my truck gun.  Form and  fit are way behind even a newer Chinese, but functionally, she will run with any SKS out there.

This makes me sad!! "Alby truck gun".  Seriously?!!?!  Ugly or not, I would cherish an alby over my army of Chinese. I've always wanted one.  It's on my list.

[Blicero]

Great post & great rifle, Brian.
That's exactly how an Albanian should look. I've seen my share of "nice" Albanians, but they just look wrong, dead wrong. These guns, just like the t53, must show some hard traveling if I'm going to be interested in them.

And what is an Ex-DDR?

RM is referring to what we used to call the Russian rifles that were supposedly supplied to East Germany in the Cold War era- the exDDRs. They were an interesting subset of Russian SKS. 
Thanks to some new research, it's pretty apparent that the guns we call exDDRs have really nothing to do with German possession...hence his ex-exDDRs. Great phrase btw, I like it.
I plan on posting my take on the current state of affairs in the exDDR world shortly, in the Russian section. Those thoughts will also be going in this month's sales report, in case you've read those.

[Dannyboy53]

Thank you Blicero. What you are proposing should prove interesting.

[running-man]

This makes me sad!! "Alby truck gun".  Seriously?!!?!  Ugly or not, I would cherish an alby over my army of Chinese. I've always wanted one.  It's on my list.

Ya gotta know that being the 'truck gun' in the RM household is a position of honor!!  It doesn't mean that I'll toss it in the back of my truck and let it get dinged and beat to hell.  It just means that this gun and 40 rounds of Yugo M67 (all packed away nicely in a soft case w/ pouches) is readily accessible 24/7 at a moments notice.  Whenever I head out and a rifle is called for, that is the one I take.  Most recently, I've been taking my favorite Sino-banian out and the Alby has been left behind. 

So, you still have the '50 Tula? You have probably posted photos at some point in the past but what are the chances of us seeing here?! And what is an Ex-DDR?

Yeah running-man quadruple digit Russians are out of my reach.

You bet I do.  I got it from Bllicero here, it was one of his trashy guns that he let me have for the 'friends price' of only $899.93  It's actually a nice little carbine.  Not a transitional 50, but is likely a very late '50s build based on the features.  It's got a /1\ refurb mark and a blonde laminated (non original) stock.  Shoots straight and is nice and solid.  I don't think I've ever posted it up, I'll have to take some photos & do that.

[Worm]

Now I need a truck gun... hmmm.. which one... 

[jusridin]

I have never came across an alby, I really like the variances, I'm going to have to find one now.... Bugger
How heavy is it?

[bbush44]

I have never came across an alby, I really like the variances, I'm going to have to find one now.... Bugger
How heavy is it?

This is the first one I had seen in person, so when I got the seller to $350 it came home with me. Weeks after I picked it up GB was flooded with $600 Albanians, and many of them are still for sale. Once in a while you will see an Alby on GB that starts out at a more reasonable price, no reserve, and actually sells.
As far as how heavy it is, I don't think it is any heavier than my other SKS's, but  I have never weighed it. Another member here, might know more specifics on the weight difference of all the variants.
Brian

[Worm]

Albanians tend to always be available, whether beat to hell, priced rediculously high and/or sometimes priced right for a decent example. But they always tend to be around.

What I believe to be more rare than an Albanian is a Romanian SKS that is 100% matching. Even matching metal is difficult to find, but I finally found one and paid $500+ for it. I've been surfing GB for a couple years now, looking for a 100% matching Romy and haven't found one that hasn't had the stock force-matched.