GB listings for June, 2016 - Romanian

[running-man]

Only 3 Romys this month.  I still consider the Romy to be the best value in SKSs today.  They are built like tanks, even if they trend a bit uglier then their brethren.

Lowest Sale Price: $285.00
Avg. Sale Price: $406.33
Highest Sale Price: $559.00
As-Issued Avg. Price: $285.00

Please let me know any feedback (good or bad) to these.

If you have an objection or observation to add to anything I've listed, by all means call it out.  Let's look at it long and hard (I only look at each listing for a minute or two at most) and maybe everyone can learn a thing or two! 

-RM



Item Link   Description   # Bids   Final Price   Year   Arsenal Condition   Current Condition   RM's Notes

562939832   sks with bayonet   1   $285.00    1957   As-Issued   Good   Now this auction was one hell of a deal.  Hidden gem right here, and one hell of a buy all because it got lost in the mix with such a poor listing title and dwarfed by all the tacticools and bubba specials floating around this month.  I wonder if the buyer truly knows what they just bought?
563152729   Romanian SKS arsenal refinished C&R 1958   1   $375.00    1958   Refurbished   Fair   Not the prettiest Romy in the world, but I'm sure it's a solid shooter.
563825034   Romanian SKS Rifle Matching   1   $559.00    1959   Refurbished   Good   That's a pricey refurb.  I almost dinged it to bubba status for the look of the stock, but it could easily just be the refinish making it look like that.

[Phosphorus32]

"sks with bayonet"    Wow, that was a stellar description.

The buyer noticed it 2 days into an 11 day auction and hit the incredibly low BIN.  That was the deal of the month!

[running-man]

Doh, I hadn't seen that the price was the BIN!     I'd have loved to have seen that one before it sold as it would certainly be an upgrade to both my Romys!

That seller had several other auctions this month too.  All pretty nice guns too.  Whoever the collector that passed was, he had a pretty good eye.

[Greasemonkey]

563152729   Romanian SKS arsenal refinished C&R 1958   1   $375.00    1958   Refurbished   Fair   Not the prettiest Romy in the world, but I'm sure it's a solid shooter.

Somebody sure sanded the snot out of it judging by the almost flattened crossbolt nut and ground crossbolt. 

Interesting, after looking some more....Romania didn't seem to give a flip about matching numbers before, or pretty stocks refurb or not, I mean how many unmatching ugly stock, even reblued one are there, then these

563152729   Romanian SKS arsenal refinished C&R 1958   1   $375.00    1958   Refurbished   Fair   Not the prettiest Romy in the world, but I'm sure it's a solid shooter.
563825034   Romanian SKS Rifle Matching   1   $559.00    1959   Refurbished   Good   That's a pricey refurb.  I almost dinged it to bubba status for the look of the stock, but it could easily just be the refinish making it look like that.

show up with forced matched pencil etched parts, heavy sanded shiny stocks, funky mismatched serial stamp fonts on the stock.. Usually the only electropenciled marks on a Romanian were on the gas tube and piston and sometimes the butt plate, everything else is/was stamped, yet these have at least top covers, box mags, at least a bolt carrier and trigger assembly electropenciled forced to match.

Romanians were like a box of chocolates, you never know what you were gonna get.... So, are these a different batch, did Romania all the sudden feel guilty about selling rifles with odd unmatchey numbers and super sexy beat to death stocks after so many years of doing it or did somebody take it upon their self to help them out here?

Something is rotten in Denmark....or at least Romania 

[running-man]

Romanians were like a box of chocolates, you never know what you were gonna get.... So, are these a different batch, did Romania all the sudden feel guilty about selling rifles with odd unmatchey numbers and super sexy beat to death stocks after so many years of doing it or did somebody take it upon their self to help them out here?

I don't know about the '58 because the auction is so terrible, but the '59 at least is an early (pre Nov. 2000) St. Alb CAI import stamp.  The CAI portion is located where I show the red ellipse.  They may very well be a specific batch that were all like this.  I've never noticed the general lack of EP'd matching numbers on a Romy, but then again I never thought to look.   

[Greasemonkey]

And something else I just noticed, both the '58 and '59 are sporting stock repairs, the '57 I didn't see any repairs(crappy pics), just a couple of dents and dings.

I wonder if there wasn't a worst of the worst for a refurb, the worst slam worn out, half destroyed ones gotta uber heavy refurb, maybe like those zanny Russians, maybe there is an as issued   along with a light and then a heavy refurb.

but then again I never thought to look.

      

[Phosphorus32]

That seller had several other auctions this month too.  All pretty nice guns too.

The first thing I did when I saw this one was look at "seller's other listings" 

Nothing exciting at the moment, just a well used older generation "Sig Saur" (sic) P250 in 9mm but I do like a seller who lists his items poorly 

[firstchoice]

Still shaking my head on the "sks with bayonet" description and, somebody-got-a-smokin'-deal! The stock and receiver SN's match, but no pics for the rest of the SN's. The bottom of the stock is a bit munched, but I still would have thrown myself across that BIN button, in a heartbeat. $285.00 for a possibly-matching Romy with a little stock damage? Yeah, I would have!

I'm not going to look at GB. I'm not going to look at GB. I'm not going to look at GB. You're killing me, RM....

firstchoice

[running-man]

Sorry FC!  You're right about the other S/N's not being shown in the auction, I may have jumped the gun calling it 'as-issued' in the tracking chart.  Could easily be a mixmaster but with the matching stock I'd be surprised if it wasn't matching throughout.  It's still in the cosmo as well.  Too many things going for it to not take a flyer on it. 

[Greasemonkey]

Could easily be a mixmaster but with the matching stock I'd be surprised if it wasn't matching throughout.  It's still in the cosmo as well.

I'd be surprised if it were matching.    I thought I hit paydirt on my '59 with a matching stock, typical Romy tease, only 3 other bits were matching.

[Phosphorus32]

Too bad we can't get away with "Romanian-matched"  akin to the collectors of Finnish Mosins (yup, I'm in the club, though I only have a few...well, seven) who accept "Finn-matched" where the original Russian bolt SN is scrubbed and matched to the barrel shank SN.  The early 20th century Finnish arsenals and armorers clearly didn't have any respect for the 21st century American gun collecting community 

[Greasemonkey]

Finnish Romanian    Matching numbers    I ain't picky.. I have the ability to love a lowly, undesirable, useless, P.O.S., un-collectable, mis-matched anything as much as a matched anything.. I can't see all them numbers from behind the rear sight 

Mis-matched guns lives matter too   

[running-man]

Had a Romy hiding in the Chinese section:

Item Link   Description   # Bids   Final Price   Year   Arsenal Condition   Current Condition   RM's Notes
562186818   SKS 56 1960 C&R Eligible   2   $300.00    1960   Uncertain   Uncertain   Horestrash Listing.

Here are the new averages:
# sold: 4   
Lowest Sale Price: $285.00   
Avg. Sale Price: $379.75
Highest Sale Price: $559.00
As-Issued Avg. Price: $285.00

[Garand1957]

Highest priced Romanian I have seen yet !   http://forums.gunboards.com/showthread.php?552497-WTS-Matching-Romanian-SKS

[running-man]

It's a nice one, but I don't think that price can be justified.  $600-$700 yes, but 10 Benjamins for a Romy means that one is going to sit for a long while I think.  (and then again maybe not, I've been wrong so many times before it's not even funny! )

[Greasemonkey]

Thats a whole "if" he gets his grand, good on him, "if" somebody pays the grand, shame on them, all it takes is a little patience.