seen a 4 digit factory 26 in a pawn shop , but no letter prefix , resides in a black and nasty but still has the mag ,my understanding is 4 digits had a letter prefix
Did it have the /26\ marking?
If not, what was the thousands place, 1 or 2, or higher?
Did it have a small star on the receiver, to the right of the serial number?
Not all, the earliest 26's had 4 digits.. w/no prefix.. the very first didn't even have a 26, just the Tula star, est. the first 2000 rifles.. there are a few known with 26 and 4 digits, your thinking of the Letter Guns..
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/7y5op39kqbay9ng/SAM_0939_zpsed0685bc.jpg?dl=0)
What they neglected to say was BUY IT!
no star ,standard factory 26 triangle , no three characters ,maybe 3 inches separated the serial and triangle
i really didnt scour it at the time because of the black stock and the $625 tag on it ,it was more of ok move onto the next let me see that one , it didnt soak in until after i got home later what i had in my hands at the store
i am 100% certain about the 4 digit , no prefix , and factory 26 , i didnt scrutinize barrel ring or matching parts , im pretty sure i can get him down in price without making him privy to the early rifle
but from my reading it should have a letter prefix , if it had the tula star instead of the 26 one could chalk it up to a it was early on and they hadnt nailed down consistency yet scenario
Quote from: Greasemonkey on June 27, 2021, 01:56:33 PM
Not all, the earliest 26's had 4 digits.. w/no prefix.. the very first didn't even have a 26, just the Tula star, est. the first 2000 rifles.. there are a few known with 26 and 4 digits, your thinking of the Letter Guns..
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/7y5op39kqbay9ng/SAM_0939_zpsed0685bc.jpg?dl=0)
so are you saying it may be a early 57?
Quote from: hoopharted on June 27, 2021, 03:05:00 PM
no star ,standard factory 26 triangle , no three characters ,maybe 3 inches separated the serial and triangle
i really didnt scour it at the time because of the black stock and the $625 tag on it ,it was more of ok move onto the next let me see that one , it didnt soak in until after i got home later what i had in my hands at the store
i am 100% certain about the 4 digit , no prefix , and factory 26 , i didnt scrutinize barrel ring or matching parts , im pretty sure i can get him down in price without making him privy to the early rifle
but from my reading it should have a letter prefix , if it had the tula star instead of the 26 one could chalk it up to a it was early on and they hadnt nailed down consistency yet scenario
Well, that is strange. It shouldn't have the /26\ and only be four digits....
well , i have a install tomorrow thats too big for one day and not big enough for two days so i will get off at a reasonable hour , im going to head back and mull it over , if the parts match i will make him a offer using the the black turd of a stock as a haggling point , if its matching i'll offer him $400 and he can keep the stock,lol
Quote from: Justin Hell on June 27, 2021, 03:08:25 PM
Quote from: hoopharted on June 27, 2021, 03:05:00 PM
no star ,standard factory 26 triangle , no three characters ,maybe 3 inches separated the serial and triangle
i really didnt scour it at the time because of the black stock and the $625 tag on it ,it was more of ok move onto the next let me see that one , it didnt soak in until after i got home later what i had in my hands at the store
i am 100% certain about the 4 digit , no prefix , and factory 26 , i didnt scrutinize barrel ring or matching parts , im pretty sure i can get him down in price without making him privy to the early rifle
but from my reading it should have a letter prefix , if it had the tula star instead of the 26 one could chalk it up to a it was early on and they hadnt nailed down consistency yet scenario
Well, that is strange. It shouldn't have the /26\ and only be four digits....
thats what i cant get past , im in no way a expert , but i have read the articles here a couple times so not 100% ignorant ither , no signs of trickery , metal looked good , billboard import on the receiver
Quote from: hoopharted on June 27, 2021, 03:07:04 PM
Quote from: Greasemonkey on June 27, 2021, 01:56:33 PM
Not all, the earliest 26's had 4 digits.. w/no prefix.. the very first didn't even have a 26, just the Tula star, est. the first 2000 rifles.. there are a few known with 26 and 4 digits, your thinking of the Letter Guns..
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/7y5op39kqbay9ng/SAM_0939_zpsed0685bc.jpg?dl=0)
so are you saying it may be a early 57?
No, we were trying to figure out if it was a 1956 Soviet-Sino (first 2000 that had a Tula star on the receiver) or 4 digit ghost (~2001-9999) but since it has a /26\ marking, then it is most likely either missing the letter prefix marking, or it was scrubbed and restamped.
i will go back tomorrow and look closer at it and if i can get a more amical deal out of him i might just take a chance on it
Sometimes, they scrub, renumber, and leave the arsenal stamp intact:
(https://i.ibb.co/2sysrXg/0004-scrubbed-receiver.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/y0t7VsW/5407-scrubbed-receiver.jpg)
If the other parts 'match', best to go by the feature set on the carbine:
- Short vs long threaded barrel lug
- Lightened vs solid bayo lug
- Lightened vs solid bolt carrier
- Stamped vs milled trigger group
- Cast vs machined gas block
- /26\ with 五六式 characters vs. /26\ without them.
- S/N to the right or to the left of the /26\
These will help to at least narrow the range down a little bit.
I don't put too much stock in the oddball guns like these to derive anything earth-shattering from. They are anomalies that don't follow the pattern. Now if we find 3 or 4 of them, my interest is definitely piqued, but subsets of one are lonely hills to die on. thumb1
At $400 who cares what it is as long as it shoots well. You can worry about the details after you buy it. And as far as the stock, you can always resell it so if he says $450 w/the stock take it and run. :)
Quote from: Greatguns on June 28, 2021, 10:40:19 AM
At $400 who cares what it is as long as it shoots well. You can worry about the details after you buy it. And as far as the stock, you can always resell it so if he says $450 w/the stock take it and run. :)
no it was $675 on the tag , i said i was goung to offer $400 , and i did , he balked and asked if i could come up i said $450 was my best offer and went into my song and dance about how if it had the original lumber we would have already filled out the paperwork , he called his boss and came back at $500 , i wasnt going to let it go over $50 bucks so i snagged it
metal is in great shape , and is all there and matched numbers (excluding stock), it DOES in fact have a prefix , it was lightly struck on the receiver and is on all the parts , want to say it was a M or B , it was at that point we started dickering
unfortunately the dreaded duel citizenship got me delayed again so it didnt come home with me tonight ,but its mine
i even said i will give you $400 and you can keep that POS stock and bi pod , he said he cant sell it , i laughed and said but you want to charge me $275 for it , BOL !!! he even got a laugh and thats when he called his boss and went to bat for me
they were clueless as to what it was , actuall so am i ,lol , but then again clueless is my middle name , along with a few others i will not mention
Hey $500 for a letter gun is an decent price these days even if you do end up with a scrubbed stock for it.
Quote from: Greatguns on June 28, 2021, 06:32:35 PM
Hey $500 for a letter gun is an decent price these days even if you do end up with a scrubbed stock for it.
yea , i couldnt live with myself if i let it go over $50 , and like you said with all metal matching i didnt feel i got hurt
hopefully it can come home tomorrow
Great, one more person looking for a letter gun stock!
I have one, but its been sanded beyond belief...had my eye out for awhile. At least its pretty.
Congrats that's a pretty decent deal considering the market.
It's not too surprising the letter was poorly struck, you can barely see the /26\ a lot of the time on letter guns.
i will post some pics when i get it home , will have to grab a normal stock i suppose , too bad russian stocks are not correct
Quote from: hoopharted on June 28, 2021, 07:21:55 PM
i will post some pics when i get it home , will have to grab a normal stock i suppose , too bad russian stocks are not correct
There is very little substitute. It is a tall order finding ANY blade cut side swivel stock. Most Chinese replacements would look out of place...
IF you can find blade cut. Put it in a Russian until the right stock comes along.
Quote from: Justin Hell on June 28, 2021, 09:52:17 PM
Quote from: hoopharted on June 28, 2021, 07:21:55 PM
i will post some pics when i get it home , will have to grab a normal stock i suppose , too bad russian stocks are not correct
There is very little substitute. It is a tall order finding ANY blade cut side swivel stock. Most Chinese replacements would look out of place...IF you can find blade cut. Put it in a Russian until the right stock comes along.
I agree, grab one of those Russian hardwood stocks from Canada for $60 + shipping while you look for the correct stock. Either that of a spike cutout stock and cut your own blade groove into it.
Quote from: Justin Hell on June 28, 2021, 09:52:17 PM
Quote from: hoopharted on June 28, 2021, 07:21:55 PM
i will post some pics when i get it home , will have to grab a normal stock i suppose , too bad russian stocks are not correct
There is very little substitute. It is a tall order finding ANY blade cut side swivel stock. Most Chinese replacements would look out of place...IF you can find blade cut. Put it in a Russian until the right stock comes along.
found a un messed with side swivel stock with honest wear , and Apex was all out of the chicom blades so i bought a spike , wish i boght 2 blades when they had them
serial number E 9696 , is it in the data base?
receiver looks scrubbed doesnt it
(https://i.ibb.co/264xbwm/OLYMPUS-DIGITAL-CAMERA.jpg) (https://ibb.co/RSwf51Z)
(https://i.ibb.co/JBznP3r/OLYMPUS-DIGITAL-CAMERA.jpg) (https://ibb.co/h7KsvY2)
(https://i.ibb.co/Ss2F14p/OLYMPUS-DIGITAL-CAMERA.jpg) (https://ibb.co/JBNDbwP)
(https://i.ibb.co/P5tTPVS/OLYMPUS-DIGITAL-CAMERA.jpg) (https://ibb.co/XzVyKGw)
(https://i.ibb.co/qpmwmyH/OLYMPUS-DIGITAL-CAMERA.jpg) (https://ibb.co/hV2v27G)
(https://i.ibb.co/zSp93Yf/OLYMPUS-DIGITAL-CAMERA.jpg) (https://ibb.co/VvRnFZB)
(https://i.ibb.co/Ng07m8v/OLYMPUS-DIGITAL-CAMERA.jpg) (https://ibb.co/vCNDQ7F)
Yup, the receiver rail got a hard scrub to the left of the serial number.
Quote from: Phosphorus32 on June 30, 2021, 08:36:23 PM
Yup, the receiver rail got a hard scrub to the left of the serial number.
so you think shenanigans or what
No the database doesn’t have this one. That receiver has been scrubbed and restamped. Font and position is totally wrong for a letter gun. Not a bad deal though, looks to be a good shooter.
so do you think it was done as fakery or done prior to importation , i just cant see someone going through all of that to fake a sks , i know the nonsense is rampant in K98's , i mean up until recently the prices were not out of line or out of wack enough to seem worth the while and this thing has been in that black and nasty for some time ,it had a crud line at the stock when i pulled it
I'd say done before import.
Quote from: Greasemonkey on July 01, 2021, 04:05:55 AM
I'd say done before import.
not that I'm wishful thinking looking for qa better outcome but I'm leaning towards agreeing with you , I didnt catch it when looking it over , the lighting in the shop wasnt the best
Looking even closer I think I see remnants of the original serial
I'm just not sold on the fact that they resealed it as a arsenal makeover either
It looks like a worn single digit -- possibly a 3 or maybe a 5 -- stamped to the left of the receiver serial number. In that position, such a single digit stamp is a characteristic seen on some of the Israeli Capture/Middle East Contract carbines.
Can you get a photo of the import stamp that may be on the barrel?
Quote from: Boris Badinov on July 01, 2021, 09:59:57 AM
It looks like a worn single digit -- possibly a 3 or maybe a 5 -- stamped to the left of the receiver serial number. In that position, such a single digit stamp is a characteristic seen on some of the Israeli Capture/Middle East Contract carbines.
Can you get a photo of the import stamp that may be on the barrel?
Looks like an "8" or "3" to me
I'm at work , I did snap a pic of import, just didn't post it , it's on the receiver , California cfg
Quote from: Greasemonkey on July 01, 2021, 04:05:55 AM
I'd say done before import.
+1000 Likely a refurbishment where they had to swap out the receiver or the whole barreled receiver but otherwise, it looks like all the other original components from the E9696 gun were useable.
When you get a chance with the action out of the stock, take a look at the left barrel lug and see if the clocking number (0 through 35) and fonts for both numbers match on the receiver and barrel. That will give you an indication of how much of that barreled receiver may have been replaced. thumb1
(https://i.ibb.co/nnRJ7Q6/OLYMPUS-DIGITAL-CAMERA.jpg) (https://ibb.co/tx3rqYQ)
Quote from: running-man on July 01, 2021, 01:24:40 PM
Quote from: Greasemonkey on July 01, 2021, 04:05:55 AM
I'd say done before import.
+1000 Likely a refurbishment where they had to swap out the receiver or the whole barreled receiver but otherwise, it looks like all the other original components from the E9696 gun were useable.
When you get a chance with the action out of the stock, take a look at the left barrel lug and see if the clocking number (0 through 35) and fonts for both numbers match on the receiver and barrel. That will give you an indication of how much of that barreled receiver may have been replaced. thumb1
is this what yo mean? the 9's
(https://i.ibb.co/JHL13y2/OLYMPUS-DIGITAL-CAMERA.jpg) (https://ibb.co/m4sjNXt)
definitely two remnants of the original sn , one closest to the collar is a 8 and the other is so light its not even possible to guess , at least you guys put my mind to ease that its not some jacked up forgers abomination , i have a K98 that is , and have had it for about 25 years and still makes me sick when i oil it up, cant sell it , been slowly buying the parts to make it into a fax sniper
Hmmm...
Is it just me, or does the font of the 9's in the barrel indexing pair look the same as the font of the 9's on the receiver?
But different from the 9's on the other serialized parts?
OP --
Is the receiver serial # 9696 or 9698?
Quote from: Boris Badinov on July 01, 2021, 06:03:44 PM
Hmmm...
Is it just me, or does the font of the 9's in the barrel indexing pair look the same as the font of the 9's on the receiver?
But different from the 9's on the other serialized parts?
I would tend to agree with this one Boris. Though the 9 on the barrel lug looks a bit different to me. Hard to say for certain, but it looks a bit narrower than the 9 on the receiver...but yes, they certainly look very similar to the receiver S/N to me. Add the scrub marks on the receiver and sharp corners where the flat transitions to the round at the front of the receiver and I think that a replaced receiver is the most plausible explanation. dntknw1
Impossible to say for certain, it look to be in really good shape though! thumb1
Quote from: Boris Badinov on July 01, 2021, 06:06:11 PM
OP --
Is the receiver serial # 9696 or 9698?
all 9696 except the electro pencil gas tube and piston , it is a 6 , the left side of the bottom of both 6's taper , the last 6 a bit more than the other
well i could have done without a $500 shooter , but i guess you win some you lose some
well its back in a respectable stock , waiting on the spike