My first Russian!

[Dannyboy53]

Mary and I have been in the process of moving for the past 4 or 5 days from Arkansas down to Bell, Florida. Today we drove down to Chiefland to find a charger for Mary's cell phone, and we found this in a gun shop next door...it followed me home guys!

I haven't had time to give it a good cleaning, it's been "rode hard and put up wet" but other than that it isn't bad looking. It had a damned 30 round mag in it which I told the shop owner I had no use for, unfortunately he did not have the original magazine. I have another ten round mag in my spare parts kit I'm going to put in it. All numbers are matching except of course for the loss of the original mag. Even the hand guard is stamped with the last four digits on the left side. The bolt is S/N'ed with the usual bucket full of stamps all over it. I ran a patch through the bore and it looks really good with sharp lands and it's clean. I'm excited about it, this is my first Russian and if it is indeed a 1953 Tula, then that makes it even more special for me as we are both '53 models! I know that some of you are wondering, so...I got it for $475, they were asking $550.

I told Loose}{Cannon via text earlier today that it did not have a BBQ finish however I think it may have some in spots but looks as though someone tried to remove it sometime in the past. The serial number ( B01003) has what appears to be an "X" stamped in front of it if you can't make it out in the photo. I apologize for the really crappy pics but promise to get some better shots next week if I can find someone with a decent camera! I only have my $3 dollar cell phone camera (our Kodak recently crapped out) but I will disassemble it, give it a good cleaning and get some more photos next week. We are leaving for Arkansas in the morning to get our other two horses and a few other items then we can come back to Florida and relax a little.

Just before dark I couldn't resist putting one round through it...it spoke Russian really well!














There have been no alterations done to it however some dimwit lazy-azz bubba used a sheet metal screw to attach the bayonet. I haven't checked yet but I'm sure the threads are dicked up, I'm hoping I can chase the threads out with the proper tap then get the correct screw for it. Anyone with any experience with this problem please chime in.

[armedhippie]

Wow, congrats Danny 

Its an interesting 1 for sure. Thats a Tula star on the receiver cover but the replacement stock is an Izzy  . Those sideways s/n stamps on the stock and hand guard are what used to be ( and still is I'm sure) referred to as an "Ex-DDR". This has since been debunked in the past year or so and its thought/known to just be from a certain refurb factory. Some1 will chime in with the name of the place and more detailed info on that I'm sure. Still a cool variation to have.

Good luck with the bayo screw, it'll turn out ok I believe. Congrats on your 1st russian man, prices have gone nuts on these and can't say I could find a better deal on a russian around my hills.

[Greasemonkey]

Arrr matey,  it's one of them thar dee dee arrrreee rifles

Congrats Danny and fairly decent price for a pirates rifle....I mean a Russian SKS.

My memory is failing me, but I'm thinking the arsenal was Liski or something along those lines that did the serial stamping..

[Worm]

Looks awesome Danny,  Congrats! Now get that Kodak fixed so I can drool some more

 

[jd?]

Good job comrade!! 

That bayo screw issue isn't the end of the world.  I'll bet that one of us probably has the solution for the problem if there is one, or simply the right screw if there aint one. 

Interesting to see the Izzy stock on a Tula.  Stock looks very nice by the way.  Looks like it avoided the "Hammer of Grog" refurb stamp on the receiver cover.  Keep us posted, and good luck with the move.  jd

[Loose}{Cannon]

Looks good danny. 

Im hoping you can just replace the bayo screw with the correct one ans the screw currently installed is a somewhat smaller diameter and has not screwed up the threads.

[John Galt]

Nice one Danny!   

John Galt

[running-man]

Welcome to the club Danny! The receiver looks right for a '53.  The refurb, horizontally stamped, Izhevsk stock is pretty neat.  I have a verified pristine BO prefix in my '53 Izhevsk list that's only about 538 guns away from yours by number….very interesting.  You know, that gun might have a replacement receiver cover and the stock is simply off a sister Izhevsk gun.  When you get a chance to get some more photos, try and get some good details of the receiver cover, especially the S/N and the rear end where the fillets transition to the flat to see if we can verify that it's been scrubbed and restamped.  It's impossible to say with any amount of certainty of course (and obviously it will never ever be worth '53 Izhevsk money), but I think it's a distinct possibility you've got an Izhevsk gun there wearing a Tula cover.   

Regardless, it's a nice little gun.  You got a very good price as the avg. Russian "bubba' "fair" condition gun was $550 in March on GB before shipping and transfer fees.  Get the bayo screw fixed and slap in a non-matching Russian magazine and nobody would be the wiser that bubba owned this gun.

[Stoned_Oli]

They should have put that stock on my Liski Izhevsk... Bastards! 

Nice score for a first Russian! Are there any triangle stamps up in front of the serial number? It may be REALLY faint...

[Phosphorus32]

Nice find Danny!  Looks like an interesting mix.

The Liski refurbishment arsenal mark that GM referred to is at the bottom of the table. Despite the misspellings and inaccuracies in the table heading, the table itself is based on original Russian documents that identified the arsenals, so I believe it is accurate.  The /1\ mark was formerly thought to represent a DDR designation (hence the term "ex-DDR") before this Russian primary source of information came to light in the last year or two.

The GRAU and ABV facilities were for repair of weapons of all types. The Artillery Directorate of the Ministry of Defense was apparently responsible for review and acceptance of weapon designs, and maintenance of weapons, including small arms.

GRAU: Glavnoye raketno-artilleriyskoye upravleniye, Main Missile and Artillery Directorate.

ABV: artillery base for ordnance. 

[Loose}{Cannon]

Looks to me like he has a partial Nizhyn stamp...    there was obviously more then one location stamping horizontally. q

[Dannyboy53]

Thanks to all for the "flowers"! I am anxious to get back to Florida and spend some time going through it. A soon as I can get some decent photos of all the insides & some info for running-man's Russian thread then you guys will be able to tell more about it.

Oli I will go over it with a magnifying glass for the triangles you speak of but I didn't noticed any when I brought it home.
Jon thanks for posting the arsenal list, I'll check for any of these symbols.

[Dannyboy53]

Jd & Cannon, I didn't even touch the bayonet screw before we left to make our final trip back to Arkansas. I have an extra screw in my parts kit. Cannon I'm hoping also the threads will be okay but it's no big thing, if the threads need it I have a big tap & die set to chase them out!

I did get the stock cleaned up, it is in really good shape and looks nice. As with anything else, the pictures do not do it justice!

[Dannyboy53]

Got some time between connecting my water and other things needing to be done to get some more photos. I haven't disassembled it yet so more pictures are in the works. Moving is a major pain in the butt, however I should be caught up enough tomorrow to start cleaning it and get some photos of the internal parts.

The magazine you see comes from Mary's Chinese [0306] gun, since she is using 20rnd Tapco mags this one was in our parts box so I "liberated" it.


Running-man I don't know if this photo is what you were asking for, if you would like more pics please let me know!




What the heck is this, located on the wrist directly behind the reciever cover?


S/N is very faint on the gas tube, barely legible. Is this the BBQ finish you guys have been talking about?


Left side of the hand guard.




Number 5 stamped on the underside of the stock between the bayonet cut and the magazine well.


I installed the proper bayonet screw however another minor issue popped up immediately! The bayonet would not lock into the storage position (it doesn't sag) however a phone discussion this afternoon with Loose}{Cannon revealed the problem...I have the wrong bayonet collar, it has a straight latch and the bayonet lug is angled! Thanks Cannon!

[K-9]

Really cool!  Thanks for posting those!

[Loose}{Cannon]

Now that I see the pic.... not so sure the coller is straight or angled.       maybe its just the shadows?

[Loose}{Cannon]

Maybe I missed it....  but where is the import stamp and who is it?

[Blicero]

Betcha it's a KBI.

Great rifle Danny. Congrats!

[jd?]

It does look to me like the collar needs to be mo-tapered than it is;  then it would suck in there and straighten things up.  I was just looking at one of my Russians, and the collar is even more angled than the lug.  (moangular).

Danny, that looks to me like a well worn bbq finish.  Some paint, some missing?  Looks like maybe none on the mag?  A guy like me -- I'd be looking hard at stripping it.   but then I just can't leave nuthin alone. jd

[Dannyboy53]

Maybe I missed it....  but where is the import stamp and who is it?

You didn't miss it Cannon, I failed to post that info..sorry!

Betcha it's a KBI.

Great rifle Danny. Congrats!

Thanks Blicero, and you win the bet....left rear of reciever in VERY small block lettering:

KBI  HBG, Pa  RH023910