Author Topic: 1975 M59/66-A1  (Read 7623 times)

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Offline Phosphorus32

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1975 M59/66-A1
« on: April 05, 2018, 12:57:38 PM »
It's been a good couple of months for Yugoslavian SKSs. Picked up this likely non-refurbished 1975 model yesterday at the LGS, like the M59 from a couple of months ago. All of the serial numbers match, all of the assembly numbers match, there are no replacement part numbers to be found. Haven't had it out of the stock yet, so I'll have to give it that thorough inspection in the near future.

It had seen some use judging by the carbon deposits I cleaned off the gas piston head and the copper and carbon I wiped from the bore, but the bore is in very good to excellent condition, with sharp and shiny lands and grooves. The gas block and the rest of the system is not corroded and it is (now) clean. The bolt carrier group has no discoloration or significant wear and the bolt face is bright and smooth. The firing pin channel is (now) clean. I wonder if the previous user had any slam fires, because it was quite sticky with residual Cosmoline before I disassembled it and cleaned it thoroughly...perhaps that's why he sold it.

...and I have another Yugoslavian M59 opportunity that popped up unexpectedly that'll be arriving on Tuesday.












Example Assembly Number


Offline running-man

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Re: 1975 M59/66-A1
« Reply #1 on: April 05, 2018, 01:24:37 PM »
Wow Jon, you sure know how to pick them out.  Very nice specimen indeed!  This one makes my M59/66A1 look like a street urchin!
      

Offline RatedZ

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Re: 1975 M59/66-A1
« Reply #2 on: April 05, 2018, 02:01:27 PM »
This my nicest m56/66a1 variant....   not trying to one up anyone, just really proud of this one.

All matching numbers, full kit and soldiers log book completed.













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Offline Phosphorus32

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Re: 1975 M59/66-A1
« Reply #3 on: April 05, 2018, 02:28:51 PM »
Wow Jon, you sure know how to pick them out.  Very nice specimen indeed!  This one makes my M59/66A1 look like a street urchin!

Thanks Joe! Yeah, this one is an upgrade to my previous best M59/66-A1 in the J block that was "matched" during refurbishment, with replacement parts etc.

Offline Phosphorus32

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Re: 1975 M59/66-A1
« Reply #4 on: April 05, 2018, 02:33:14 PM »
This my nicest m56/66a1 variant....   not trying to one up anyone, just really proud of this one.

All matching numbers, full kit and soldiers log book completed.




Very nice! I only have one with an original logbook, my Slovenian Protokol SKS. Does your log book record a replacement of the receiver cover, as suggested by the EP'd part number?

Offline RatedZ

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Re: 1975 M59/66-A1
« Reply #5 on: April 05, 2018, 03:04:29 PM »
I wish I could read it...   there are several full pages of writing in it, but nothing matching the same EP number on the bolt cover that is hand written.     :(
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Offline bob78

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Re: 1975 M59/66-A1
« Reply #6 on: April 05, 2018, 03:45:45 PM »
Page on the photo is Warranty. It is written that repair cost will be paid by manufacturer 12 months from date of manufacture if rifle had been used, or 24 months if it would be in storage. Due dates are 31.10.1974 and 1975 (31st of October written European style), so this would mean it was made on 10/31/1973. It has been sold in 1975 (datum prodaje = sale date), but it is not stated who the buyer was. It was probably some state owned factory or corporation (all of them in Yugoslavia used to be state owned anyway). Factories, companies, etc. used to have armories or even AA guns in case of sudden attack.

Offline Phosphorus32

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Re: 1975 M59/66-A1
« Reply #7 on: April 05, 2018, 03:47:26 PM »
I wish I could read it...   there are several full pages of writing in it, but nothing matching the same EP number on the bolt cover that is hand written.     :(

That's cool that your logbook has a lot of writing in it.  thumb1

There isn't much written in my book since it's an as issued honor guard rifle. Serbian is a tough language for the AI translaters (like Google Translate) to get correct, and if you throw in abbreviations in the hand written notes of the logbooks, it becomes impossible for someone like myself that has no real knowledge of the language.

Offline Phosphorus32

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Re: 1975 M59/66-A1
« Reply #8 on: April 05, 2018, 03:53:07 PM »
Page on the photo is Warranty. It is written that repair cost will be paid by manufacturer 12 months from date of manufacture if rifle had been used, or 24 months if it would be in storage. Due dates are 31.10.1974 and 1975 (31st of October written European style), so this would mean it was made on 10/31/1973. It has been sold in 1975 (datum prodaje = sale date), but it is not stated who the buyer was. It was probably some state owned factory or corporation (all of them in Yugoslavia used to be state owned anyway). Factories, companies, etc. used to have armories or even AA guns in case of sudden attack.

Right. Good info.

I see that the first two lines under the Garanti that have stamps show the production year as 1973 then the actual production date as October 31, 1973, consistent with the serial number tables that provide letter block to year assignments.

Offline RatedZ

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Re: 1975 M59/66-A1
« Reply #9 on: April 05, 2018, 04:43:44 PM »
There are a couple more pages wrote in but looks like jibberish....   here are all the official pages with a bunch of writing....









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Offline running-man

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Re: 1975 M59/66-A1
« Reply #10 on: April 05, 2018, 04:56:31 PM »
Page on the photo is Warranty. It is written that repair cost will be paid by manufacturer 12 months from date of manufacture if rifle had been used, or 24 months if it would be in storage. Due dates are 31.10.1974 and 1975 (31st of October written European style), so this would mean it was made on 10/31/1973. It has been sold in 1975 (datum prodaje = sale date), but it is not stated who the buyer was. It was probably some state owned factory or corporation (all of them in Yugoslavia used to be state owned anyway). Factories, companies, etc. used to have armories or even AA guns in case of sudden attack.

Good stuff Bob!  thumb1  Yugos don't get enough love, but maybe it's just because they aren't all that well understood.  Zastava was pretty meticulous with their quality control and recordkeeping; seems well ahead of their time compared to the other Iron Curtain countries that we often think of as relying on duct tape and bailing wire to get by.
      

Offline bob78

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Re: 1975 M59/66-A1
« Reply #11 on: April 06, 2018, 02:01:59 PM »
I will try to translate and explain pictures of your log book. As written from top to bottom (with originals in brackets)
PIC 1:
technical inspections (tehnicki pregledi)
date (datum)
type of inspection (vrsta pregleda) - it is written 2nd technical inspection (II. teh. pregled) in all columns
use in kilometers or working hours (rad tehnickog sredstva u km ili mc) - military logbooks were universal for rifles or for example vehicles. Here it is written SZN-M, which is type of yugo oil based cosmoline, used for 10 year storage.
comment (primedba) - it is written isp. which is short for ispravna, or flawless. Brezhibna means the same, but it is in Slovenian language, as rifle was stationed in Slovenia, most northern part of ex Yugoslavia.
signature (podpis)

Offline bob78

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Re: 1975 M59/66-A1
« Reply #12 on: April 06, 2018, 02:07:28 PM »
PIC 2:
Barrel condition (Stanje cevi)
date of inspection (datum pregleda)
number and marking of the barrel (broj i oznaka cevi)
caliber (kalibar)
degree of barrel corrosion (postotak nagrizenosti)
category (kategorija)
signature (potpis)

Offline bob78

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Re: 1975 M59/66-A1
« Reply #13 on: April 06, 2018, 02:21:29 PM »
PIC 3:
Data about time spent in various conditions of storage or use (Podaci o vremenu provedenom....)
Type of facility in which it is stored - used (vrsta objekta u kome se cuva - upotrebljava)
date (datum)
from / to (od / do)
conservation (konzervacija) - "olje or ulje" is gun oil, "dugorocna sa SZN-M" means longterm with cosmoline
deconservation (dekonzervacija) - solvent is solvent  :)
signature (potpis)

In first columne we have some interesting data:  Na ZTV Jesen 74 means On army maneuvers Fall 1974. Few after that I can not understand (some military gibberish), magazin or magacin is storage.



Offline bob78

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Re: 1975 M59/66-A1
« Reply #14 on: April 06, 2018, 02:35:11 PM »
PIC 4 - left page
category (kategozija)
number of document (broj dokumenta)
date (datum)
designated category (odredena kategorija)
signature of person, who entered the data (potpis lica koje je unelo podatke)
PIC 4 - right page
handover and acceptance data (podaci o primopredaji)
name of institution or unit that is accepting technical item (Naziv ustanove...) - SM Ljubljana Uprava za LO, which means  Municipal assembly of Ljubljana (now capital of Slovenia), Office of people's defense.
who it was handover from (od koga je primljeno) - Zavodi CZ Kragujevac means Institution Crvena Zastava Kragujevac, which is factory that made M59/66 rifles
date (datum)
signature (potpis)

Offline bob78

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Re: 1975 M59/66-A1
« Reply #15 on: April 06, 2018, 02:47:54 PM »
PIC 5
Technical logbook - chart (tehnicka knjizica - karton)
semiautomatic rifle 7,62mm ... (poluautomatska puska ...) - in brackets is written name, caliber and model
series and number (serija i broj)
date of manufacture (datum izrade)
origin: Yugoslavian (poreklo: Jugoslovensko)

Technical state after manufacture (tehnicko stanje posle izrade)
new made after TU... (novo izrađeno po...)

conservation data (podaci o konzervaciji)
nomenclature number (nomenklaturni broj)
conservation agent (sredstva za konzerviranje) - ZUON J INHIBITOR was cosmoline type
type of conservation: mid-term (vrsta konzervacije: srednjorocna)
conservation due: 2 years (rok trajanja konzervacije: 2 godini)
date, signature...

Offline RatedZ

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Re: 1975 M59/66-A1
« Reply #16 on: April 06, 2018, 03:05:32 PM »
THAT IS AWESOME!     thankyou1

Thank you so much Bob....    I'm gonna print this out and put with the package just so my kids one day will know what it means...    8)


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Offline Phosphorus32

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Re: 1975 M59/66-A1
« Reply #17 on: April 06, 2018, 04:32:31 PM »
THAT IS AWESOME!     thankyou1

Thank you so much Bob....    I'm gonna print this out and put with the package just so my kids one day will know what it means...    8)


Not sure how to give reputation or forum points, but mods this man needs some!   :)


I echo RatedZ.  This is very helpful bob78. Thanks very much :)  thumb1

Offline bob78

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Re: 1975 M59/66-A1
« Reply #18 on: April 06, 2018, 04:57:14 PM »
You’re welcome. I’m glad I was able to explain some historical data. I did not get any log book when I bought my M59/66, but I know the value of such data for vintage gun owner. It’s the same with old cars, old guitars and such stuff.

Offline carls sks

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Re: 1975 M59/66-A1
« Reply #19 on: April 06, 2018, 07:06:07 PM »
good info everyone, thanks!  thumb1
ARMY NAM VET, SO PROUD!