What to do with this handful of Bubbas

[Dante]

out of curiosity...are the mags on the 906s kind of dented on the floorplate? Kind of a triangular indentation towards the narrow hinge end.  Those are something we noticed about 906s a few years back...I am wondering if yours maintain the trend.

That is a fascinating question, Justin.  I was going to say no, but now I think it's . . . maybe?

As it turns out, there are only 2 906s in the batch.  The para is a 26 and the other is a 416.  I must have checked one 906 twice instead of the 416.  One 906 is without a magazine, so no luck there. 

On the other, on closer examination, there IS just a slight indentation that isn't present on the 26 and 416 magazines.  Dent is the right word to describe it.  I can feel the difference with a finger, and I had to get a pen light to catch the light just right in order to get a picture. 

The photo shows the three mags I do have side by side.   The 906 is on the right.  I can't get the same shadow on either of the other mags.  They look and feel ruler-straight across the "waist" where the dent is on the 906. 

Is this where you were seeing dents on the other 906s?  If so, you deserve a medal for observation.  I never would have noticed this if you hadn't said something. 



Bruce, I do need a magazine for the other 906.  Have you got one with a dent? 
I'll send you a PM.

[Justin Hell]

Had I not removed my 906 mag and had it sitting by another couple to see the difference, it probably would have gone unnoticed. It took a bit of poking around various folks collections to notice that all 906s have that trait.

It makes you wonder what the heck it is all about...I wonder if it was something in the tooling that was either wrong, or accidental. It does lend some insight into manufacturing processes....that chances are, the mags were indeed made at the same factory as the receiver at a minimum....rather than various parts made elsewhere and assembled at the stamping factory.

I just wish I hadn't determined it to be the candidate for my uneducated minstrations...the poor thing has a drop free bolt mod, and a Capco muzzle brake, no front sight...and is wearing an ATI StrikeForce stock...it has a Scout Scopes mount with a Norinco long eye relief scope....a bipod, a fore grip....and even a friggin laser. I bought it NIB slathered in cosmo....I kinda hate myself over it.  Granted, I have all the original parts...but that bolt isn't gonna grow back metal. My dented mag sits in a drawer awaiting me to come to my senses.  I just kind of disliked it due to a stock repair I found to be tacky...at the time.  Fortunately, my eyes kind of need a LER scope anymore...so I haven't reverted back. Having a Norinco scope on it is kinda neat anyway...

We (I) did start to refer to the dented mag as a /906\ism.... 
It's neat to see another for further confirmation of that oddity.

[Dante]

This keeps getting funnier.  I'm looking at the 4 plastic stocks to see which is the best, since someone expressed an interest, and it turns out that they have a sliding compartment in the grip just big enough for. . . the cleaning kits without the top.  So now I know why I got four lids without kits in the bag of extra parts.  The topless cleaning kits were shoved into the plastic grip compartment of each collapsible stock.
 

[firstchoice]

This keeps getting funnier.  I'm looking at the 4 plastic stocks to see which is the best, since someone expressed an interest, and it turns out that they have a sliding compartment in the grip just big enough for. . . the cleaning kits without the top.  So now I know why I got four lids without kits in the bag of extra parts.  The topless cleaning kits were shoved into the plastic grip compartment of each collapsible stock.

The purchase that keeps on giving, eh? You lucked into quite the find with those rifles! Congrats on the find, Dante! That's pretty cool.

firstchoice

[Dante]

Yes indeed.  The original owner looks to have squeezed these a but with a bench vise to make them just skinny enough to fit without the tops.  I say that because they're all a little out of round and have a faint impression of vise teeth.  Fortunately, a soft cloth and my own vise squeezed them back into shape pretty easily.  Now all of the tops fit, and since there's a slight color difference on one, I can guess that it goes with the para. 

Thanks to a vid I found elsewhere in the SKS files forums, I know how kits go into the stock with the cap facing out.  You guys really have created an excellent source of information here.  Once more, you have my sincere thanks for putting all of this information together in one place where I could find it and put it to use.

Unless 3 more original slings turn up, I'm going to say these are as restored as they're going to get.  I'm pretty pleased with how it all came out.  Here's the final "After" picture.

D

[running-man]

Excellent results Dante!  You not only maximized the $$ of those four should you decide to flip them, but you also saved them from forever being bubba’s mistake. Once the parts are separated from the guns, they usually scatter to the four winds. That you were able to get most everything back to  ‘original’ is either quite the stroke of good luck or perhaps it speaks more to your determination to set things right. Either way, well done! 

[sksmcrossvilletn]

Check your pm I am interested in the para.