This post will keep track with a grand running total for Albanian Model 561 SKSs sold on Gunbroker since the beginning of the year. While you can't pull individual gun sales info out of the chart you will be able to quickly and easily identify what the going rate is for a specific gun such as a fair condition, refurbished 1971 gun. I will update this table after every monthly report.
-RM
Key:
Arsenal Condition:As-Issued: All matching guns with original stocks and no hint of refurbishment. Current condition may be varying, but gun must be all matching. Note there are few Albanians that will grade this way. This is basically the configuration the gun would have been in when it was issued to the military the first time. Perhaps it was never given out to troops to use in the field and simply sat unused until it was decommissioned. Perhaps it was only lightly used and was still in great shape, escaping the need for major refurbishment when the time came. There is considerable debate in the collecting community as to what constitutes an "As-Issued" gun. Some will say that an import stamp that is required by US law invalidates the 'As-Issued' designator and this category should instead be 'unrefurbished' or 'non-refurbished'. This is nit picking in my opinion. No the import stamp was not there during issue, but the addition of a stamp that is required by law does not fundamentally change the arsenal condition of the gun. I will say however, that non/unrefurbished is a 100% misnomer as it is impossible to prove. To think that we as a collecting community are good enough to
know the provenance of any particular gun is ridiculous hubris when there is so much we don't know about the Albanian refurbishment process. We simply don't know the refurbishment status of many of these firearms and to pretend that we do is not something I want this site to promote.
Refurbished: Guns with any kind of factory or field refurbishment. It could be a swapped out receiver cover, a simple replacement stock, or a swap out of any minuscule unserialized component such as a non blued rear sight leaf or non matching electro-pencilled gas piston. Current condition may be varying but note that although refurbished guns often match but do not have to be all matching.
Bubba: Plastic anything, Tech sights, swapped out handguards, anything drilled and tapped, duracoated/non arsenal painted anything, banana mag w/o the original shown, anything Chinese on the gun, chopped "Paratrooper" modifications, FSB modifications, etc. It doesn't matter if the gun can be put back close to 'original' condition easily, if it's a bubba gun when it sells, it's a bubba gun.
Uncertain: This is the designator I give when the auction is horsetrashy (not a word) enough for me to not want to guess at arsenal condition. Photos were blurry, taken from 1000 miles away, or were of parts of the gun that nobody cares about (like 10 shots of the bayonet...hint hint). Could be a gem or a lump of coal. Anyone who bought it w/o seeing better photos took a gamble.
Current Condition:Very Good: In perfect working condition, no appreciable wear on working surfaces, no corrosion or pitting, only minor surface dents or scratches even though the gun has certainly been fired. May or may not have the box and all accessories.
Good: In safe working condition, minor wear on working surfaces, no broken parts, no corrosion or pitting that will interfere with proper functioning. Fired often, likely doesn't have the box, manual or any accessories.
Fair: In safe working condition but well worn, perhaps requiring replacement of minor parts or adjustments which should be indicated in advertisement, no active rust, but may have corrosion pits which do not render article unsafe or inoperable. Heavily fired to the point where wear may begin to be an issue. No box or original accessories. This is the category that the majority of Albanian SKSs will list under.
Poor: Extensive repair needed; metal deeply pitted with active rust; may have principal lettering, numerals and design obliterated, wood badly scratched, bruised, cracked, or even broken; could be mechanically inoperative; generally undesirable. Fired to the point of needing barrel replacement. These type of guns should be checked by a competent gunsmith before usage.
Uncertain: This is the designator I give when the auction is horsetrashy (not a word) enough for me to not want to guess at condition. Photos were blurry, taken from 1000 miles away, or were of parts of the gun that nobody cares about (like 10 shots of the bayonet...hint hint). Could be a gem or a lump of coal. Anyone who bought it w/o seeing better photos took a gamble.
Click on the images below for high res (3300 x 2250):