SKS-FILES FORUM

I had posted on the 'other' boards (look for the guy with the two "IO 250's" in the yugo section  ???) and got to thinking about this.  It's clear that different people have all sorts of different reasons for buying an SKS.  I just want to get an indication of what people typically are thinking when they are deciding whether to shell out well above the going price for a certain SKS they find. 

What makes a certain SKS so desirable to you that you would pay out extra $$ just to be sure you get it?

What quality from the above poll (or one I haven't listed) is most important to determining the current going rate of XYZ SKS?

It looks cool, and goes bang x10. thumb1

And you left "Because it's Romanian" choice out!! bat1

Had to vote for rarity, even though I don't have many of those. I do have an interest in the harder to find variants, so that's what I had to go with.

Then again I could have voted for the "fill a slot in the collection", "condition" and "country of origin" ones too.

I guess it mostly depends on the reason I am buying a specific gun. Do I want a brand new shtf gun that I don't care anything about its rarity? Do I want a collector gun? Too hard to narrow down but if I had to pick one, it's rarity for collecting's sake.

You guys know I'm a bit prickly in the condition department, at least when it comes time to spend my own money. But if I'm shelling out above the market price, it better be rare. So I vote rarity. And it doesn't even have to be rare so much as interesting or not oft encountered. And really, I'd like to say I'm disciplined enough to want both rarity and high condition if I'm overpaying. But sometimes I get wrapped up in the emotion of winning...

Rarity trumps condition. The rarer something is, condition matters less. Conversely (or is it inversely? I always confuse those two), if a piece is in outstandingly better condition than 95% of others on the market, it doesn't matter how abundant that gun is, a premium in price should still be expected.

Long story short. Outstanding condition and rarity should be the only things making anyone me overpay. Should, being the operative word.

The $2800 NK with a painted stock is coming to mind, as I think about this thread.

I voted other because for me, the SKS is desirable if it is messed up enough that I can make a project out of it.

"other" = VERSATILITY

Nutin it can't do !!! Well, within it's distance capability down range anyway.

Marcus

I tried to pick more than one but the poll wouldn't let me   :-\  chuckles1

My first SKS I picked because it was a good-value, semi-auto shooter that also happened to be a military surplus rifle = multiple wins.  Subsequently I've picked mostly for matching & condition but also starting to add different countries/models to my collection.  Basically, my SKS collection is still modest, so many factors affect my choices  ???

Oh and it's worth mentioning I'll also overpay, contrary to my character, for beat to hell total mismatching Yugos with no redeeming qualities beyond their ironic defiled beauty.

I contemplated letting people choose more than one, and I suspect that multiple decisions probably do come into play!  I guess I just wanted to know what would make you drop $50, $100, or $200 more than market value on the gun of your dreams if you saw it at a gunshow, had to have it, and the seller wouldn't budge on his price? 

I put down "Condition" for my vote.  I think it gets overlooked too often in favor of 'rarity' and country/arsenal (which is just rarity prettied up for the Izhevsk snobs).  What may be über rare to one person might be just another new condition Yugo to another. 

I do see where "rarity" and "above market price" go hand in hand.  I'll have to think a bit more about that one.  think1  (Dang that Blicero for making sense….)

Quote from: Blicero on February 10, 2015, 07:14:53 PM
Oh and it's worth mentioning I'll also overpay, contrary to my character, for beat to hell total mismatching Yugos with no redeeming qualities beyond their ironic defiled beauty.

You know you love Ugly Betty.  If I told you I wanted to reverse that deal, ship you back the ammo and the $$ you wouldn't do it I bet…  bat1 

That little ethnic cleanser has something about her that is not explainable…..

My wife and I were looking for some rock solid SHTF arms and these fit the bill to a "T". They are moderately priced and sufficiently accurate. Condition is our primary concern when buying any used firearm

Oh hellll no you're never getting this bad boy back now that I've made it visually appealing and brought it into the 21st century.
(https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTQ6flv13V0dEnHk_dmbagLKCl92zzS67nD-XOZuAYIiEUMgov5)

Quote from: running-man on February 10, 2015, 07:21:06 PM

I put down "Condition" for my vote.  I think it gets overlooked too often in favor of 'rarity' and country/arsenal (which is just rarity prettied up for the Izhevsk snobs).  What may be über rare to one person might be just another new condition Yugo to another. 

Condition, BAH!!! OVER RATED!!!  chuckles1 Old, used, beat to death, mismatched, sloppy tolerances, dirt in the action is what "Communist military surplus" is about, thats whats sexy, especially when you pick one of these Commie made turds up for the first time, rack a stripper clip in them and dong the gong at 200yards. If one wants new, shiny, purdy, slick rifle, they roll off assembly lines all day, everyday, for roughly the same cost and are even higher quality than these street and jungle beaters are, but, these have no life, no dirty, dark trench secrets, no blood on their hands, no soul.

Quote from: Greasemonkey on February 10, 2015, 08:04:50 PM


Condition, BAH!!! OVER RATED!!!... no soul.

I'm going to quote this line when you bring these guns out to the range:

(http://i1016.photobucket.com/albums/af283/C13mechanic/SAM_0725_zpsd16510be.jpg)

and you get upset when I smash them into a tree stump a couple times, maybe bury them in the mud for a couple hours. I'm giving them soul!

Ya jelli brah!!  Besides, those, they are everywhere, I traded a Mosin for one.

Quote from: Greasemonkey on February 10, 2015, 08:04:50 PM

Quote from: running-man on February 10, 2015, 07:21:06 PM

I put down "Condition" for my vote.  I think it gets overlooked too often in favor of 'rarity' and country/arsenal (which is just rarity prettied up for the Izhevsk snobs).  What may be über rare to one person might be just another new condition Yugo to another. 

Condition, BAH!!! OVER RATED!!!  chuckles1 Old, used, beat to death, mismatched, sloppy tolerances, dirt in the action is what "Communist military surplus" is about, thats whats sexy, especially when you pick one of these Commie made turds up for the first time, rack a stripper clip in them and dong the gong at 200yards. If one wants new, shiny, purdy, slick rifle, they roll off assembly lines all day, everyday, for roughly the same cost and are even higher quality than these street and jungle beaters are, but, these have no life, no dirty, dark trench secrets, no blood on their hands, no soul.

That was beautiful  clap1

Quote from: Blicero on February 10, 2015, 08:12:25 PM

Quote from: Greasemonkey on February 10, 2015, 08:04:50 PM


Condition, BAH!!! OVER RATED!!!... no soul.

I'm going to quote this line when you bring these guns out to the range:

(http://i1016.photobucket.com/albums/af283/C13mechanic/SAM_0725_zpsd16510be.jpg)

and you get upset when I smash them into a tree stump a couple times, maybe bury them in the mud for a couple hours. I'm giving them soul!

Well played!  clap1 clap1 chuckles1

Alright big guy, wanna play, come on smiley, lets play thumb1


Remember this

QuoteBSW- rare maker. Chaching.
All matching. Chaching.
Navy marked. Chaching.
Walnut. Chaching.
Dead sexy. Chaching.

Oh, and how the butt hurt flowed when

QuoteI feel like I've been kicked in the nuts.
I've referenced everything in the k98k Bibles and the BSW offered looks 100% legit. Even the best faked k98 rifles I've seen were still glaringly wrong. This gun takes forgery to a whole new level.

EPIC FAIL!!!!

Least I wasn't toting a faked azz chump rifle for 10 grand. Chaching  fart1 thumb1

Ohhh burn! But come on, that one fooled pretty much every K98 Legend around. How can you expect different from a peon like me?

And I issued a warning because of your testiness. Do you need a timeout?

Stop deflecting. You say condition is overrated but if somebody scuffed up or dinged or damaged one of your rifles you'd be nauseous, and rightfully so. You wouldn't say hey they have more history now they have soul!

Whoa that's weird. I can't even say t.imeout without it automatically inserting an icon? Who's idea is that? Runningman?

Quote from: Blicero on February 10, 2015, 08:48:01 PM
How can you expect different from a peon like me?

Because, it's you, you know, you practically poop German eagles, nuff said thumb1


Like I ain't never scratched or dinged one, like anything, even a car, you wanna keep it pristine, don't touch it.

Quote from: Blicero on February 10, 2015, 08:55:35 PM
Whoa that's weird. I can't even say t.imeout without it automatically inserting an icon? Who's idea is that? Runningman?

Thats what the name of the smiley is called.... you type that out and thats what it displays.

Somebody needs to stop hitting the report to mod button like its going outta style. 

Quote from: Loose}{Cannon on February 10, 2015, 09:04:36 PM
Somebody needs to stop hitting the report to mod button like its going outta style. 

Well, it shows how attentive our Mod is to our needs, like pushing the stewardess button and she shows with your Coke after landing. bat1 bat1  Bwhahahahahahaha

Quote from: Greasemonkey on February 10, 2015, 08:04:50 PM

Quote from: running-man on February 10, 2015, 07:21:06 PM

I put down "Condition" for my vote.  I think it gets overlooked too often in favor of 'rarity' and country/arsenal (which is just rarity prettied up for the Izhevsk snobs).  What may be über rare to one person might be just another new condition Yugo to another. 

Condition, BAH!!! OVER RATED!!!  chuckles1 Old, used, beat to death, mismatched, sloppy tolerances, dirt in the action is what "Communist military surplus" is about, thats whats sexy, especially when you pick one of these Commie made turds up for the first time, rack a stripper clip in them and dong the gong at 200yards. If one wants new, shiny, purdy, slick rifle, they roll off assembly lines all day, everyday, for roughly the same cost and are even higher quality than these street and jungle beaters are, but, these have no life, no dirty, dark trench secrets, no blood on their hands, no soul.

That is the primary reason I'll buy a a worn used firearm over new everytime.  The only exception for me so far is when I bought a RIA 1911.

Quote from: Greasemonkey on February 10, 2015, 09:09:22 PM
Well, it shows how attentive our Mod is to our needs, like pushing the stewardess button and she shows with your Coke after landing. bat1 bat1  Bwhahahahahahaha

ROFLMAO!  That one got an audible laugh loud enough for both my wife and daughter to come in to see what was going on!   chuckles1

Quote from: jeepguy on February 10, 2015, 09:16:40 PM

Quote from: Greasemonkey on February 10, 2015, 08:04:50 PM
If one wants new, shiny, purdy, slick rifle, they roll off assembly lines all day, everyday, for roughly the same cost and are even higher quality than these street and jungle beaters are, but, these have no life, no dirty, dark trench secrets, no blood on their hands, no soul.

That is the primary reason I'll buy a a worn used firearm over new everytime.  The only exception for me so far is when I bought a RIA 1911.

I agree!  The biggest difference between new and old for me is really in the quality of the materials and the quality of the workmanship.  New firearms nowadays are downright cheap and flimsy just like most everything else.  A pal of mine at work bought a new Remington 700 in .270, pre-mounted with a scope.  Paid under $340 for it I believe.  Thing was light as a feather with the synthetic stock and had no heft to it at all.  Easing the bolt into battery was like fingernails running across a chalkboard in my mind as I operated it.  Pull the bolt back to cycle it and you begin to wonder if it's going to keep coming back and fall out of the action onto the floor.  Loose, ridiculous tolerances, simply a horrible, horrible gun.  You get what you pay for I guess, but good gravy I was downright embarrassed for him!!! 

Another pal of mine at work bought a $500 Kel-Tec PMR 30 in .22 WMR.  Aside from the barrel, trigger, hammer, and a few springs out of steel and the slide out of aluminum, the whole %$#%#$%$ thing is plastic.  It's unfair to even begin to compare something built in the 50's to something built in 2015.  Modern stuff might have the performance & materials down to an exact science, but there's something to be said about the soul of older milsurps. (even the trashy, POS middle-eastern ones right Blicero?)  chuckles1

I always feel awkward when I refuse to shoot other peoples' deer rifles or ARs or Taurus revolvers or whatever newfangled POS they have at the range. I feel like I'm insulting them. Just see no point in wasting their ammo when I know the gun will leave me flaccid.

1911s are the only exception. I'll happily shoot any and every one handed to me.

That's the feeling I had when I tried a Glock 17.   It was kind of disappointing really, I don't get the obsession people get with them.

Quote from: Greasemonkey on February 10, 2015, 06:08:10 PM
It looks cool, and goes bang x10. thumb1

And you left "Because it's Romanian" choice out!! bat1

Hear hear! I left my wife standing in front of a pawn shop in full leathers and a 50 lb. backpack for half an hour to buy my Romey... All I could say was, "It's Romanian!".

(http://i694.photobucket.com/albums/vv305/Stoned_Oli/Camping.jpg)

(http://i694.photobucket.com/albums/vv305/Stoned_Oli/Romey%20Ride.jpg)

Quote from: Stoned_Oli on February 11, 2015, 09:17:15 AMHear hear! I left my wife standing in front of a pawn shop in full leathers and a 50 lb. backpack for half an hour to buy my Romey... All I could say was, "It's Romanian!".

Oli it doesn't look like she was sufficiently impressed with your announcement! lalala  ;)

I had to go with 'other' because any of the additional options could come into play at any time....and there was no 'oddball' option.

I avoid pawn shops and gun stores sometimes when I have money, which isn't often...but I try to stay away like I do with regards to Huskies at the animal shelter. Just like SKS's you can almost always find something to love about them....and it is hard to feed them all.

Wifey is putting her foot down and saying that all of the tax refund (which should appear any minute) will be going to ammo and other 'things' we need to get done around here.  But, some of that is going to end up in my account too....so if a paratrooper, or any AK mag variant comes along in the next few days, I am in trouble...even scarier is my recent binge watching of the A-Team has me itching for a chrome side folder Mini 14....which, thankfully is less common and way less likely to end up with me living in the dog house.

That being said, I am a sucker for nearly any SKS I can afford and can rescue from the hands of anyone else but me....so, beware...a few lotteries and I will own them all.  :)

Rarity and condition go hand in hand in hand.  Over time prices go up even with the SKS.  Though not to the tune of say WII Mauser K98's or WII war time P.38's or PPK's.  The early guns 1957-1960 are the rarest and should be priced higher than say a recent Norinco. Especially one in good condition. As should the battlefield pickups with documented with papers.  But the price is set what a willing buyer will pay a willing seller.  Other things come into play here milled or stamped guns. screwed or pinned barrel these would be variations.  A WII Mauser SVW45 is rare and I have one in perfect 99% condition I paid 2.8K for it  5 years ago and now it is worth 3.4k.  SKS's may never attain the rarity of the P.38 pistols but time will tell.

I won't even consider an SKS for purchase unless it has stamps on it that only I can see.

That "market value" term is what bothers me .  My sks's cost me between $220 and $350, delivered.  That runs the gamut from my Sneak to my cracked stock special, but they all perform well , and have some historical interest.  When I see those beautiful Russians going for big bucks, I think about all the beautiful Russian guns in Canada in the sub $200 range and do a reality check.  "market value" is whatever one of us fools is willing to pay for a reason we can't quite define . :)

I chose matching numbers. I guess because from years of auto restoration, I have an appreciation for originality.

Something is only all original once. And the older it is, the less likely it's all original. A rare SKS is great....but if it's missing commonly swapped out parts like the magazine, stock, or receiver cover, to me, it's lost it's appeal.

I'm more of a shooter than a collector. Given that, to me the most important attribute of an SKS or any rifle is its accuracy and whether or not it is fun to shoot. I do prefer that an SKS be in its original configuration.

I've never been a collector as the term is defined,if I buy a gun I'm going to shoot it at some point and I know that shooting a NIB gun pretty much take away a lot of value but I've never sold a firearm I bought unless it turned out to be a piece of junk and was just unreliable.

As to my  SKS rifles I own two a 1970 refurbished Yugo M59/66A1 and a NIB Chinese factory /26\ rifle all milled parts with screwed on barrel and lug made in 1965 if I remember the Serial # correctly,both rifles have all matching #'s 

I missed out on the days of the $89 SKS rifles but I got my Yugo for $149 which I hand picked myself from the crate and my new Chinese for $225.   I probably paid to much for the Chinese rifle but they were nowhere to be found in my area especially a new unfired one and it's been a once in a life time chance purchase as I've never seen a new one since.

I bought my rifles because they were a excellent source for a cheap effective med range cartridge good for hunting and self defence as well as just being different for the normal every day common US calibers.  Ammo was very cheap at the time and still is even for good quality hunting ammo from PPU,I reload most all my own ammo for the X39 anyway and just keep my supply of steel case ammo for a rainy day.

To me the SKS is just a poor man's M1 Garand that can serve several purposes and there just fun to shoot.

  I had to take the "Other" choice. After thinking about each choice given on the poll, I could only think of all the possible combinations of the choices that could make or break my decision to spend the extra money on any given "unique" SKS. It could be rough, but have all matching numbers and a rare arsenal code. It could be non-matching but have an outstanding stock with grain that I've never seen and a rare sling. Too many variations to pick just one special reason that I look for. There's about four of the special quality choices in the poll that I use to decide if I'm even interested in buying the SKS to begin with, much less spend anything extra. Unless it's bent in half, I look at the numbers and Nationality first. By now, most of us can look at one and figure that out pretty quick. Arsenal codes, date stamps, proof stamps, stamp locations, methods used to apply the import stamp, (which has turned me off completely on a couple of otherwise nice carbines), and metal/wood/bore condition. The plethora of combinations on the boatloads of Type 56 carbines that arrived here, some with the "special" qualities, just makes it...interesting.  thumb1 

firstchoice

Since I'm not a collector, I just want the ones I look at to be in OEM for matching preferably. Although, my next SKS purchase will be a Russian Refurb. I want the blued blade/bolt.

One thing I haven't figured out, and it kind of fits in with desirability, I've seen it many times, and I gotta ask, the sasquatch is highly curious think1... 

Go to a show early one Sat. morning, looking, drooling, and lets one finds, say an Albanian, at fair market value. One keeps looking, walking around and spies with their little eye, and a dozen Chinese, a Russian, maybe a Yugo M59/66, all priced the same, at there respective fair market value.

Fast forward to 4:50ish PM Sunday afternoon, last call was made over an hour ago, the jerky is all boxed back up, bathrooms are all stankin and stuff.  Guess which SKS is still there, all alone. 99.9% of the time, the Albanian.. 

I've always wondered, why ::), it seems certain variants get absolutely no love and looked over, while others get snatched up, hugged, squeezed and named George, before the price tag even quits swinging. After a while of scanning through RM's auction lists, I've even noticed it in auctions as well, and the only rational things I come up with: :o

The Russian, ok, I get it, I know, it's the "one", the "original", it's a RUSSIAN you fricken dolt!! Ivan Smirnoff built it just for me. bla bla buzz bla  chuckles1
A Chinese, geeze, well, I get that as well, in general, there is probably at least one in the states for every person in a small third world nation and 4.5 billion screaming Chinamen can't be wrong.  rofl
Yugoslavian, sorry, the former Yugoslavia, as long as it ain't that awful M59, that M59 creature seems to be one that either confuses or turns or throws most people off. No disputing the grenade launcher on the M59/66. thumb1

But, the Romanian and Albanian, more so the Albanian, are like the bastard children of the SKS world. They are kinda treated like going to the dog pound, and leaving the little 3 legged 1 eared personality disorder bipolar helpless pooch that barks with a lisp behind. I know the Albanian doesn't lend itself to being bubba'ed up, and I admit, it's kinda strange looking. The Romanian is a M56, not a Type 56, is that it, it still ingests 7.62x39 ammo? I mean, it's not like the availability on either of them is 0, nada, zilich, they are not made from unobtainium. Even the Albanian while it is relatively uncommon comparatively, at maybe only a few thousand in total existence, is usually somewhat easily found.

Again, I am not trying to flair up lovers/worshipers of one particular SKS breed  bat1 bat1, just over my many, many years of being in the hobby, I kinda noticed a trend and it's always been a curiosity of mine.

Quote from: Greasemonkey on June 29, 2015, 06:32:19 PM
One thing I haven't figured out, and it kind of fits in with desirability, I've seen it many times, and I gotta ask, the sasquatch is highly curious think1... 

Go to a show early one Sat. morning, looking, drooling, and lets one finds, say an Albanian, at fair market value. One keeps looking, walking around and spies with their little eye, and a dozen Chinese, a Russian, maybe a Yugo M59/66, all priced the same, at there respective fair market value.

Fast forward to 4:50ish PM Sunday afternoon, last call was made over an hour ago, the jerky is all boxed back up, bathrooms are all stankin and stuff.  Guess which SKS is still there, all alone. 99.9% of the time, the Albanian.. 

I've always wondered, why ::), it seems certain variants get absolutely no love and looked over, while others get snatched up, hugged, squeezed and named George, before the price tag even quits swinging. After a while of scanning through RM's auction lists, I've even noticed it in auctions as well, and the only rational things I come up with: :o

The Russian, ok, I get it, I know, it's the "one", the "original", it's a RUSSIAN you fricken dolt!! Ivan Smirnoff built it just for me. bla bla buzz bla  chuckles1
A Chinese, geeze, well, I get that as well, in general, there is probably at least one in the states for every person in a small third world nation and 4.5 billion screaming Chinamen can't be wrong.  rofl
Yugoslavian, sorry, the former Yugoslavia, as long as it ain't that awful M59, that M59 creature seems to be one that either confuses or turns or throws most people off. No disputing the grenade launcher on the M59/66. thumb1

But, the Romanian and Albanian, more so the Albanian, are like the bastard children of the SKS world. They are kinda treated like going to the dog pound, and leaving the little 3 legged 1 eared personality disorder bipolar helpless pooch that barks with a lisp behind. I know the Albanian doesn't lend itself to being bubba'ed up, and I admit, it's kinda strange looking. The Romanian is a M56, not a Type 56, is that it, it still ingests 7.62x39 ammo? I mean, it's not like the availability on either of them is 0, nada, zilich, they are not made from unobtainium. Even the Albanian while it is relatively uncommon comparatively, at maybe only a few thousand in total existence, is usually somewhat easily found.

Disclaimer

Again, I am not trying to flair up lovers/worshipers of one particular SKS breed  bat1 bat1, just over my many, many years of being in the hobby, I kinda noticed a trend and it's always been a curiosity of mine.

Well, I'll give you my answer to that, maybe it will shed some light.

My first SKS was Chinese. Being the type of person I am when interested in something, I like to learn everything possible about what I have. So my initial interest was in Chinese guns. Add onto that, there are a zillion more models of Chinese SKS than any other kind, plus military and commercial, plus tons of build differences,  which makes them even more interesting.

Yugos are just neat because of the grenade launcher.

Now I know that the allure of the Russian is that it was the original. And allure of the Albanian and Romanian is the low production numbers.

But here's the thing for me....  I see Russians, Albanians, and Romanians for sale often. So to me, my thought is I can buy one any time. And there aren't as many variables of them to "collect". The Chinese guns, are going way up in value fast. And there are lots of models to obtain if you are a collector. So right now, there is more focus on finding and buying those guns before they are either dried up, or way out of my price range.

I don't have a good answer why the Albys aren't loved more.  I, personally, love em.  My #2 favorite gun is my Alby ranch gun.  Maybe it's because they are so unfamiliar to people that they aren't more in demand.  If "rarity' was real and tangible, the Alby would be the first gun snatched up in your example scenario.  The fact that it typically isn't (and I've observed the exact same thing, the Albys absolutely don't get the love that a Russian or even run of the mill Chinese get) really points me in the direction that people don't really understand nor appreciate them.  To be honest, they really didn't sell like hotcakes when they first were offered at retail either.  That Alby ranch gun I've got was bought for $79.99 with free shipping from AIM.  They were simply trying to unload the darned things.  It boggles my mind now that I look back.

As for Romys not getting the respect they deserve....that one I haven't the foggiest.  Fit and finish of the metal on my two are on par with any Russian.  The stocks are the only thing that dings them in my opinion.  Who knows though?

Quote from: Power Surge on June 29, 2015, 06:50:51 PM
Well, I'll give you my answer to that, maybe it will shed some light.

My first SKS was Chinese. Being the type of person I am when interested in something, I like to learn everything possible about what I have. So my initial interest was in Chinese guns. Add onto that, there are a zillion more models of Chinese SKS than any other kind, plus military and commercial, plus tons of build differences,  which makes them even more interesting.

Yugos are just neat because of the grenade launcher.

Now I know that the allure of the Russian is that it was the original. And allure of the Albanian and Romanian is the low production numbers.

But here's the thing for me....  I see Russians, Albanians, and Romanians for sale often. So to me, my thought is I can buy one any time. And there aren't as many variables of them to "collect". The Chinese guns, are going way up in value fast. And there are lots of models to obtain if you are a collector. So right now, there is more focus on finding and buying those guns before they are either dried up, or way out of my price range.

Cost and price, the estimated worth/value 1,5,10 years from now aside, any firearm will appreciate, given enough time.. in the 70's-80's my old man bought M1 Carbines, another zillion variant type rifle a dime a dozen from WoolWorth, Roses and KMart. So money and or future price speculation as an excuse is kinda null and void, it's a given, prices will go up, or at least increase until the absolute worse case scenario, the market flat out crashes, being unable to support the quick price rise. I don't see the market or supply necessarily drying up or even crashing, I see people flipping them enough trying to jack prices to a point where the market stagnates, because no one wants to pay the top dollar. Currently, plain jane round receiver Mosin refurb M91/30s are up for auction now skirting 400 bucks, and yea, some sell. Will that last, very doubtful, that's a price bubble just ready to burst. Yet Romanians and Albanians, hover around roughly the same price range, and have for quite some time, yes there are exceptions, random bid wars and what not, I'm just speaking in general. Even during the past two we're taking your gun threat buying sprees, the prices didn't fluctuate wildly like the others did.


BEWARE--OPINION AHEAD  :o rofl chuckles1
Now, models, this I can truly see, they are a little catchy, but, it still boils down to, it's Chinese, and straying away from the standard military issue Type 56, it's commercial. And I guess I look at it as all those oddball strange fluff and buff variants, remove or look around the fluff and buff, they were, at one time a normal plain jane standard issue Type 56. Thats a never ending argument, classic vs. bubba which this is not about that.  Now, something to consider, the Albanian is a Chinese bastard step child with a weird twist, the Chinese instructed and taught them, the Albanians just did it their way.

Quote from: running-man on June 29, 2015, 06:56:17 PM
I don't have a good answer why the Albys aren't loved more.  I, personally, love em.  My #2 favorite gun is my Alby ranch gun.  Maybe it's because they are so unfamiliar to people that they aren't more in demand.  If "rarity' was real and tangible, the Alby would be the first gun snatched up in your example scenario.  The fact that it typically isn't (and I've observed the exact same thing, the Albys absolutely don't get the love that a Russian or even run of the mill Chinese get) really points me in the direction that people don't really understand nor appreciate them.  To be honest, they really didn't sell like hotcakes when they first were offered at retail either.  That Alby ranch gun I've got was bought for $79.99 with free shipping from AIM.  They were simply trying to unload the darned things.  It boggles my mind now that I look back.

As for Romys not getting the respect they deserve....that one I haven't the foggiest.  Fit and finish of the metal on my two are on par with any Russian.  The stocks are the only thing that dings them in my opinion.  Who knows though?

This, I'm inclined to believe, unfamiliar, strange, maybe against the norm, morally degrading, maybe not socially acceptable. For all I know, it's those that is talked, discussed and photographed the most, maybe in the end, it's just the classic case of, mob rule mentality, everyone else is doing it, so I should too.
I've read many posts elsewhere, the Romanians or Albanian are piss poor quality wise, I've never seen it on Romanians, the stocks are usually battered, numbers all over the board, but everything else seems fine. The Albanians, the quality can be hit or miss it seems, but in the end, it still goes bang.

All are very good points to bring out, like I said, I just find the whole mess kinda interesting.  thumb1