Hi SKS fans. I just found this website. Cool..thanks for the member acceptance...!! Been a fan of these rifles for 30 years now.
In 1990 I bought two new in box rifles. One was a standard rifle with a nice blade bayonet, and the other a paratropper with the shorter barrel and a spike. I believe I ordered "select," or a hand picked(?), option that added $5 or $10ea I believe. After cleaning a ton of cosmoline I noticed this rifle had a unique s/n, starting with an alpha character followed by four numbers. Took it out and fired 5-10 rounds, cleaned it and has been put away since. The second SKS I ordered from the same source, (FFL friend buying these 10 at a time), was a Paratrooper with the shortened barrel, same "select" upgrade. This one has a cool s/n as well, but appears a newer rifle. This one gets some black furniture.
A couple of pix standard:
Paratrooper: