Type 56 Jungle Warrior

[Phosphorus32]

Did a bit of SKS dumpster diving last week. Teaser: picked up a 1960 Romanian M56 on GunBroker missing its magazine that had one bid already at the start of $109.99...but it also had a $300 BIN (plus 40 shipping), which I didn't hesitate to hit! The Romanian is still on its way.

I also picked up a Type 56 for $251 plus 49 shipping from WV off of the Gunboards WTS forum. I had bought a blade bayonet compatible "jungle" stock earlier this year and have been casually looking for a beater early Type 56 to drop into it. When this one popped up on Gunboards, I knew it was basically what I was after. It would have been better with a blade bayonet but at least I had a spare.

The jungle stock took quite a bit of Dremel and file work. I had to shorten the stock at the foreend and grind back the portion that fits into the front ferrule, relieve the stock along the receiver rails, file the slot for the rear tang by a few millimeters and level out where the rear of the receiver sits on the top of the stock, and finally relieve the stock along the mag and trigger assembly. Surprisingly, the only place I didn't have to touch was the bayonet groove. The handguard took some fitting as well. Again, cutting it back a few mm too fit in the ferrules. Clearly these stock sets were made with a little bit of extra material for later fitting to individual Type 56s, and were not previously issued and fitted.

Some drizzly weather pics:

What I got. The seller said he was taking a loss and I didn't try to talk him down, as I thought his asking price was fair for the current market.



This is as "Bubba" as I get 








It was already inletted wide at the front of the mag well, and too narrow along the rest of the length.












The receiver cover is the only metal mismatch; both number and bluing condition.


One of the oddball early Type 56s that came in with the recent PW Arms imports out of Albania (presumably via Austria)

[martin08]

Now you can move to coastal Guatemala and leave the gun outside, year round.  The stock will never rot. 

Let us know when you move.  And be sure to leave the rest of your guns here in the US.

Very good work, btw.

[running-man]

Nice save on that one Jon!  Is the Sinobanian stock salvageable or cracked/bad shape?

[Greatguns]

Very nice save Jon. 

[Phosphorus32]

Now you can move to coastal Guatemala and leave the gun outside, year round.  The stock will never rot. 

Let us know when you move.  And be sure to leave the rest of your guns here in the US.

I already put it to the test in the cool drizzle today, but yes, it'll come in handy in the torrential downpours of the Guatemalan rain forest. I may need to slather the metal in some RIG before I leave it outside year around 

You'll be the first to know about my guns left behind when I leave for the tropics...well other than the guns going to GM via the WA to VA Pony Express...and a couple of Mosins for RM

Very good work, btw.

Thanks 

[Phosphorus32]

Nice save on that one Jon!  Is the Sinobanian stock salvageable or cracked/bad shape?

Thanks Joe!

Actually, other than being fitted to a long-lug threaded action yet inletted for a spike bayonet, the unnumbered beech replacement stock is in decent shape. It's definitely a keeper to be held in reserve in case (when) something else comes along.

[Phosphorus32]

Very nice save Jon. 

Thanks GG! 

[Justin Hell]

Nice to live vicariously once again...sounds like the stock was a hoot. All that work must have smelled like burning guitar picks.
My question is, did the spring loaded sling, or the stock come first in this arrangement. 

I too made a 57 bubba recently...mine's a six digit though, and I should probably capitalize Bubba. No plastic though.

Looks like a heck of a fun gun. 

[Phosphorus32]

Nice to live vicariously once again...sounds like the stock was a hoot. All that work must have smelled like burning guitar picks.
My question is, did the spring loaded sling, or the stock come first in this arrangement. 

I too made a 57 bubba recently...mine's a six digit though, and I should probably capitalize Bubba. No plastic though.

Looks like a heck of a fun gun. 

Yeah, it's good to have masks handy. Sanding fiber reinforced resin... ...seemed like a good time to wear one 

I have quite a few of those slings with the helical spring attachments and it seemed like one of those was appropriate for this type of stock. Yeah, the sling came second 

Definitely should be a fun shooter!

[Greatguns]

Nice to live vicariously once again...sounds like the stock was a hoot. All that work must have smelled like burning guitar picks.
My question is, did the spring loaded sling, or the stock come first in this arrangement. 

I too made a 57 bubba recently...mine's a six digit though, and I should probably capitalize Bubba. No plastic though.

Looks like a heck of a fun gun. 

Yeah, it's good to have masks handy. Sanding fiber reinforced resin... ...seemed like a good time to wear one 

I have quite a few of those slings with the helical spring attachments and it seemed like one of those was appropriate for this type of stock. Yeah, the sling came second 

Definitely should be a fun shooter!

I have been eyeing one of those slings for my Israeli Capture(arrived at the FFL today BTW), but I vacillate between one with the springs for the era or a Russian sling because it has the Russian Laminated stock on it. The fact that I already have a Russian sling is partly to blame, lol.

BTW Jon, I really like the pics with the beads of water on the stock, very "Getty Images" like or National Geographic like. 

[echo1]

Nice. I put a spring sling on my glass job. PAX

[Bubbazinetti]

Very nice boss.I never knew there were tropical jungles in Sino-Romania.

[Phosphorus32]

Nice to live vicariously once again...sounds like the stock was a hoot. All that work must have smelled like burning guitar picks.
My question is, did the spring loaded sling, or the stock come first in this arrangement. 

I too made a 57 bubba recently...mine's a six digit though, and I should probably capitalize Bubba. No plastic though.

Looks like a heck of a fun gun. 

Yeah, it's good to have masks handy. Sanding fiber reinforced resin... ...seemed like a good time to wear one 

I have quite a few of those slings with the helical spring attachments and it seemed like one of those was appropriate for this type of stock. Yeah, the sling came second 

Definitely should be a fun shooter!

I have been eyeing one of those slings for my Israeli Capture(arrived at the FFL today BTW), but I vacillate between one with the springs for the era or a Russian sling because it has the Russian Laminated stock on it. The fact that I already have a Russian sling is partly to blame, lol.

BTW Jon, I really like the pics with the beads of water on the stock, very "Getty Images" like or National Geographic like. 

I think the Russian sling would look good on the laminate. On the other hand, since the SKSs were supplied by the Chinese, a Chinese sling would probably be more historically correct. Good to hear it arrived. Looking forward to pics.

Thanks for the kudos on the pics.  My artistic sensibilities required me to wait for just the right weather and lighting to ensure the environmental aesthetic would match the bleakness of Chinese communism that I wished to convey in the photographic compositions...uh, I mean I took the pics this morning and it happened to be grey and drizzly 

[Phosphorus32]

Nice. I put a spring sling on my glass job. PAX

Thanks PAX. Great minds think alike   

[Phosphorus32]

Very nice boss.I never knew there were tropical jungles in Sino-Romania.

Thanks! 

Yeah, when you pass the mud of Elbonia and get to the coast, the semi-tropical Mediterranean climate arises 

[Greasemonkey]

Wait...  The enabler shopping in the enablers back yard  send it back to the correct side of the Mississippi.   And send the Romanian too...I already got a sling or two or three for one... Call it interest for it having to model and suffer desert rain and the fear and torture of them west coast stuffs.

Guess I need to find one to stick my glass stock on.. I kinda like it...shockingly 

[Phosphorus32]

Wait...  The enabler shopping in the enablers back yard  send it back to the correct side of the Mississippi.   And send the Romanian too...I already got a sling or two or three for one... Call it interest for it having to model and suffer desert rain and the fear and torture of them west coast stuffs.

Guess I need to find one to stick my glass stock on.. I kinda like it...shockingly 

Yeah, I know, picking SKSs from up the holler is getting kind of sneaky  (of course I didn't know where the seller was from until after I bought it)

[echo1]

Nice. I put a spring sling on my glass job. PAX

Thanks PAX. Great minds think alike   

The main reason I went with a Jungle stock was I had a glass HG that matched perfect. It's tough to get those two bits to match, and it needed to fit a pinned barrel. The rifle is actually a Franken build from all scrubbed parts on a late production receiver. It's from an obscure arsenal, so it's believable. The barreled action and parts were from Lkermit. PAX

[echo83]

Nice work! The price was right, and the finished result looks great. It's kind of like the chicken and the egg; which comes first, the rifle or the parts...

[Phosphorus32]

Nice work! The price was right, and the finished result looks great. It's kind of like the chicken and the egg; which comes first, the rifle or the parts...

Thanks!

I do that with bayonets some times; find a new bayonet that necessitates finding the rifle