Midwest Tactical "D" and Beta "30". Oh, and Paratrooper...

[Bacarnal]

Since I posted the Midwest Tactical "D" on the Auctions thread, his price has steadily been going down.  I finally looked where he was selling from and found out that he was relatively close by.  I think we can all see where THIS is going .  Met up with him and not only did he have the "D", he offered me a Paratrooper, a converted Sporter on a Soviet stock with a short blade bayonet,  a DGSI '30 and an early BETA '30.  The price on the Midwest had gone down to where he offered 825.00, the Paratrooper for 425.00, and a package of the rest for 2100.00.  I didn't want the Sporter since I'd done that conversion myself in my style and the DGSI was tempting, but they had mounted a scope and in so doing, drilled through the cover for the Picatinny mount.  It was a good job, but not what I wanted.  That left the '88 BETA, and I offered 700.00. Which he said no to.  As I was loading the Midwest and the Paratrooper,  he said ok to my price on the BETA.  So, I walked away having spent my Ordnance money (I also collect old artillery, having been a retired EOD Tech) on three new to me all matching (except for gas tubes and the Midwest having a TAPCO piston) rifles.

Two questions: 1. Was the Midwest worth it at that price?  I've never seen them around other than on this site.  2.  Did the early Paratroopers come in with a "chopped" full size bayonet like pictured, or were they what purpose made shorties throughout the run?

[Larry D.]

I was gonna ask you about the EOD badge.
A good friend of mine was in the same field and just retired as well.

[Bacarnal]

Larry D, I retired almost 20 years ago, so I'm out of the loop and have been for a while .  I did construction and quarry blasting from 2000-2007, then was a UXO Tech from 2007 till 2019 .

[Larry D.]

My friend has his eye on some property in Idaho.
His boys are pretty young, and he wants them raised out of the city. (he lives in Peoria, AZ)

His plan is to hire out as a UXO Tech up there.
He has a badge like yours, and 2 stars on his jump wings, so he can pretty much do whatever he sets his mind to.

You EOD types have my undying respect. You guys have saved countless lives, but never really get to recognition you deserve.
If a guy saves his squad with a couple of grenades and a rifle, he gets a silver star, and rightfully so.
You guys take off 6 105mm shells wired in series, you get to move on to the next UXO.

My opinion anyway.

[Phosphorus32]

You EOD types have my undying respect. You guys have saved countless lives, but never really get to recognition you deserve.
If a guy saves his squad with a couple of grenades and a rifle, he gets a silver star, and rightfully so.
You guys take off 6 105mm shells wired in series, you get to move on to the next UXO.

My opinion anyway.

Hear, hear! Testicles composed of AR500 steel encased in a ceramic scrotum.

[Bacarnal]

As with most all things Hollywood, reality can be much different, but thank you.  Most of the Techs I know can't make it through "that" movie.

It's pretty much education teamed with ability and instinct.  Had a couple of times in my career where my thoughts were, "you ought not do that...", and with further research, find out your thoughts were right.  Other times the thoughts say, "boy, what you just did was plain stupid", and research proves that out too, and that Luck was on your side that time and not Murphy. Oh, and to never, ever do that again, you idiot (to self) .

[firstchoice]

Hey Bruce. Nice trio you picked up, for sure!

The bayo on the Para could be a home-spun model. Most "factory" Para bayo's I've seen have a chisel point. My SKS-S came with a pointed bayo somewhat like yours. I thought at first it had been done by a previous owner, but have later seen two other identical cut bayo's on SKS-S models. Not absolutely sure all SKS-S models have that though. Your Para bayo is upside down, if that matters to you.

Your MO looks really nice. I don't remember, did it have the matching SN'd magazine? Seems like most of those went bye-bye through the years but you do see one every once in a while. I try to check magazine piles for SN'd mags in case I'd run across one by luck. I'm trying to remember, which model was it that had the bolt hold open push pin in the bolt carrier? Was that the MO? Too many years on the brain cells, I'm afraid.

*Edit:  After thinking about it, I was confusing the Navy Arms Type 84 with the Midwest Ordnance "SKS-D" in my old brain. The Type 84 has the bolt hold open and the matching SN mags. Sorry for the confusion.

It was actually Midwest Ordinance that seems to have coined the term, "SKS-D", in the only known usage of that term in print. A copy of their business card has the term, "Creators of SKS-D", and the April 10, 1991 Shotgun News ad that states, "The Original SKS-D Series", and then goes on in the ad to state: "This is the closest duplication available of the original SKS-30." The ad also advertises SKS-D t-shirts and sweatshirts.

This seems to contradict the old guesses about Midwest Ordinance being shut down by BATFE and then going to China to show the Chinese how to build the AK magazine conversion SKS. The 1988 imports of the Beta Arms, China Sports, and DIG imported AK magazine conversion rifles, all predate the 1991 Shotgun News ad by Midwest Ordnance ad referencing the "original Chinese SKS-30".

Really drooling over your latest acquisition man! 

firstchoice

[Bacarnal]

FC, Ya caught while typing this...
Also, yeah, I saw the bayonet was upside down but haven't fixed it yet. Thanks!

Now, back to the questions since I kinda derailed my own thread (sorry):
1.  Was the Midwest a good price for 825.00 since that was the first time I'd ever seen one other than here.
2.  Did the early Paratroopers have a cut off standard bayonet as shown above, or did they used the factory shorty through the production run?

Thanks for any enlightenment.  Cheers, Bruce.

[Boris Badinov]

$825 for the MO  "D" is at the low end of the decent price range. They don't pop very often.


The bayo on the paratrooper looks like a DIY job.  But $425 is a great price for a paratrooper. Who imported the para?

[Bacarnal]

Hey, Boris.  JPE POMONA CA. was the importer of the Paratrooper.  I'm kinda leaning towards a hack job myself, but wanted to get some opinions before I replaced it.  Don't want to trash it if it's possibly original to the weapon .  Thanks for the price check, also.

[echo1]

Hey, Boris.  JPE POMONA CA. was the importer of the Paratrooper.  I'm kinda leaning towards a hack job myself, but wanted to get some opinions before I replaced it. Don't want to trash it if it's possibly original to the weapon .  Thanks for the price check, also.

Nice trio. You can touch up that bayo and no one would be the wiser. Paras came with many variations on the bayo cut. PAX

[Boris Badinov]

Bacarnal-

Can you post close up photos of the bayonet groove and stock fore end on the para?

[Bacarnal]

Sure, Boris.  Here ya go...
I even put the bayonet back in correctly .

[Larry D.]

Hey, Boris.  JPE POMONA CA. was the importer of the Paratrooper.  I'm kinda leaning towards a hack job myself, but wanted to get some opinions before I replaced it.  Don't want to trash it if it's possibly original to the weapon .  Thanks for the price check, also.

When you replace that bayo, I'd be interested in getting it for a project, if you're inclined to get rid of it.

[Bacarnal]

Larry's, right now I'm gonna keep it on.  If I ever get rid of it, youll be the first I contact.  I've got a chisel point from another project to replace it, but for some reason, it seems right as is.

[Larry D.]

Roger that, brother.

[Bacarnal]

Went to the Ohio Valley Military Society Show of Shows today looking for my usual thing, which is Ordnance, but stumbled across two flat back Chinese and a Soviet Bakelite AK Mags.  Tried the bakelite out in the Beta and my Sporter, but the body was too wide to seat.  It did work in the MO, though.

[Larry D.]

Nice early bakelite.