1976 Albanian...Original? Need honest assessment....

[Bob_The_Student]

  Good morning all. Some Sunday morning eye candy that hopefully is all original but I'm no expert like most of you. Boris Badinov asked me to post a Russian SKS I had on Gunboards over here awhile back but Running Man visited it over there so I didn't post over here. This one, however, was bought because of information I read on this forum. So please give me a brutally honest assessment. Thanks

*Also let me know about sling is that original? Is it worth anything? Are there any markings that may be on it?











































I hope I posted photos correctly....... Ha checked preview some nice big pictures hope you see them.

Thanks

[Boris Badinov]

The pair of serif sevens on the bolt identify it as an early Chinese bolt that has been overstruck with a new serial. The cover serial also looks odd because of the dent, and might possibly be a replacement. My guess is that they were possibly restruck by a unit armorer -- and not in a fully equipped arsenal facility.   

The curve in the carrier charging handle looks rough, uneven.  And it also looks like it may have been scrubbed and restamped. Which has me wondering if it might have been fashioned from a Russian or Chinese bolt and then scrubbed and reserialized.  With the Chinese replacement bolt, this would also make sense.

Did you get a good deal?

[Bob_The_Student]

IDK what's a good deal on a 76 Albanian with re-struck cover and bolt carrier? 

As you see it what's it worth?

Ofcourse when I saw the bolt and dust cover I knew I had some issues. Internet buy so..... (live and learn).

In my opinion the "0"s on top of bolt carrier are different fonts. I thought perhaps maybe this was a way they built guns with used parts since '76 was restart year. The dent I thought was from the re-strike of the serial number.

[echo1]

Other than the sling backwards and the bayo upside down, looks good to me. I would think anywhere around $600 would be fair. Not many around. PAX

[Bob_The_Student]

Freakin' hysterical... I didn't even catch the bayonet. I know nothing about slings. Is it an original Albanian sling at least?


Thanks

[Greasemonkey]

All things considered...

#1.. it's Albanian #2.. it seems to match #3.. ain't a whole lot of them in existence.... all this, equals don't sweat the small things like fonts.  If you snagged it for 600, thats even better, its a good deal considering what I've seen some on auction sites sell for..    I have one with a Yugo bolt and another with a Russian top cover, so they can be found in many different configurations....

As for the sling, typically Albania had their own native design, which can be very difficult to find and usually expensive like the Romanian leather sling, yours looks Chinese, which works too given their relationship at the time. One of mine came wrapped with a old Chinese sling that looked and smelled like it was drug through a sewer and then someone died on it.

Flip the bayonet to it's correct position, sniff the wonderful grease and enjoy it

[Bob_The_Student]

I'm all in at $565. So I from the responses I'm not doing all that bad.

I bought because it was a '76.  Because I saw there are approx. less than 300 of them.

I was excited cause I thought I had an all original but not disappointed still glad to have it. Especially since you guys just told me I didn't get kicked in my nads, too hard, regardless of the differences from original.


Thanks for all the input.

I will post, in my opinion, a really nice '70. I don't have any concerns with that one, yet! Hopefully you guys agree. I'll post in a little while.
 

[martin08]

The bulk of these were worked up, down, around and over.... and then again.  It is not unusual to see scrubbed, restamped or mismatched parts - or even other manufacturer parts.

The price is fair.

The stinky old Chinese sling is perfect for an Albanian.

[running-man]

All things considered...

#1.. it's Albanian #2.. it seems to match #3.. ain't a whole lot of them in existence.... all this, equals don't sweat the small things like fonts.  If you snagged it for 600, thats even better, its a good deal considering what I've seen some on auction sites sell for..    I have one with a Yugo bolt and another with a Russian top cover, so they can be found in many different configurations....

I've got an old AIM $79 special with a БО prefixed Russian trigger group on it that I've used for 15 years as my 'truck gun' whenever I'm heading out.  Used to piss me off to no end way back when, but when the Sino-Banians started flooding in and we connected the dots between points A and B, I mellowed out quite a bit and just accepted that that's the way it is.

I don't think you did poorly Bob, that's quite a reasonable price in today's market for any Albanian.  The days of 5 pristine model 561's trading hands per month are long gone.  Many of the new collectors nowadays look longingly at Albanians and are convinced they might never have the opportunity to own one as they are pretty hard to come by and when one does find them, are in horrid shape, or if halfway decent, often have exorbitant price tags. 

[Bob_The_Student]

All in all I'm still happy with both this one and the '70. Was hoping to have a little better results but I rolled the dice. I now have examples to use for myself and because of all your help I'm wiser. Thanks

[Bob_The_Student]

Echo1, I have corrected my bayonet. It still makes me laugh that you caught that. Something like that continuously tells me how much I have to learn. That quick assessment if it's on right or wrong tells you a lot if looking at a photo only. I appreciate it and now I try to observe the simple things a little more that tell an obvious story of a removed or replaced bayonet.

I wasn't going to post this but I saw you caught another upside down bayonet on GunBoards on that flea market find.

Thanks, I find these little things important even if others don't.

[Justin Hell]

The upside down bayonet thing is a running joke amongst SKS posters. It happens ALL the time with newbies...you get a nice photo spread of a nice gun (usually) and that sore thumb sticking out just waiting for a more experienced poster to bring the hammer.

I think I figured it out after a (probably) long time owning one, before the internet really existed with regards to the SKS...this was back when you could still buy guns on eBay.  In fact, it might have been my second SKS that had it installed correctly that opened my eyes. The first one had the bayonet removed and was set aside with it's (not) original stock. It was actually several years before I found out why the pinned barrel stock that it was would not work on my long lugged gun. 

It's a bit of a learning curve to contend with...there are many facets to the SKS world...sites like this one explore and shed light upon them. Since becoming active in the SKS community the amount of information learned over the last eight or nine years has been staggering. It sure seems as if you are having a good time being a student.

[Boris Badinov]

I still have to stop for a few seconds to  remember which way it's supposed to go when I'm looking at rifles for sale.

To be completely honest, I doubt anyone who's ever been stuck with a spike sks bayonet really cared if it was upside down or not. Just sayin'.

[echo1]

Bob_The_Student ,

You're learning quickly and running up on some decent iron. In your escapades, keep your eye out for a non numbered mag and forward the lead to me, or scarf it up if the price seems fair, and I'll get it from you. Thanks, PAX

[Bob_The_Student]

Pax, the post above this one...#13. What I send you about in PM last week.  Found it....

[echo1]

Good catch. We weren't even talking about mags...PAX

[echo1]

Bob,

The scrubbed mag I got from you, matches my all scrubbed Jungle stock build perfectly. Looks made that way, which it is  PAX

[Bob_The_Student]

Great, I'm glad it worked out!