Early 45's with chrome lined barrels...

[Loose}{Cannon]

If the sks was so outdated at the very time of its indoctrination..... why they make so many and for nearly 10 years?

Before any speculation, I still have not seen any evidence Russia did NOT use the AK and SKS in the same fashion as the Chinese..... in tandem.

[Boris Badinov]

And the evidence that they did issue the SKS and AK in the 'same fashion' as the Chinese throughout the 1960's and 1970's is...?

[Loose}{Cannon]

?

[Boris Badinov]

I think the 1958 end of SKS production is a pretty significant indication of the Soviet intentions regarding the SKS.

[Boris Badinov]

?

Gonna need some context for the photo. Photo of from what date?

Is he soviet? East German? Polish? Hungarian?

An Albanian with a Type56?

Also how does this demonstrate the "same fashion" as the Chinese?

[Loose}{Cannon]

I dont have any context for the photo, but it looks 1960s Russian uniform to me!   

[Boris Badinov]

I dont have any context for the photo, but it looks 1960s Russian uniform to me!   

Hmmm, looks Hungarian to me. Especially the moustache.

Moustache not typical for Soviet recruits, yes?

Maybe even yugoslavian with an M59, but soviet seems very unikely...because of the moustach.

[Boris Badinov]

I'm sticking with the 1958 end of production being the most significant eveidence of Soviet intentions regarding the SKS. Coupled with the  introduction of full production stamped receiver AKM in 1959.

The dates speak volumes.

[Loose}{Cannon]

Ok, ok...   Russians didnt use the sks. 

[Loose}{Cannon]

By the very early  1960's, the Soviets would have more than enough AKs to supply the small force sizes involved in these conflicts.  Even in the 1956 action Hungary.

[Boris Badinov]

Looking for post 1960 evidence of AK and SKS supplied and implemented in the "same fashion" as the Chinese.

Active production of a weapon implies the intention to dedicate resources to the upkeep of that weapon while still in service. The 1958 end of SKS45 production carries the implicit suggestion that the soviest had no such intention.

[Loose}{Cannon]

Im sure they had the intention of up-keeping the 45s they made post 1958.

[Greasemonkey]

A few places Russia might have been involved possibly not in an official capacity in the late 50's early 60's...in an unofficial capacity meaning weapons were secretly supplied by the Soviets.

The Bay of Pigs conflict, building Fidel Castro up, I bet Cuba is full of Russian goodness.... I mean there were Soviet ballistic missiles there, why not SKSs... also the Guatemala and Nicaraguan conflicts, mostly anything in East Germany.. The first Indochina Wars, even diddling around with North Korea... maybe a few others...any where Russia had an interest, but the underground supply lines and plausible deniablity will prevent the proof of involvement from ever showing.. It was the Cold War, everything was super secret, there might even been conflicts we don't know about or that were blamed on someone else.

Russia I bet built and supplied alot of obsolete hardware to tiny places possibly like Cuba and places in Africa or the Middle East, at least until their own weapon supplies caught up or they just supplied the technical info to nations who had the capability of arms production like Romania and China or even North Korea.

It will be hard to track and prove bonafied SKS use without photos, photographers of the time wanted the wicked cut a man in half, scary weapons, they didn't want a bland semiauto rifle.. no one cared about it, no one really feared it during that time, the SKS pretty much took hind tit and was over shadowed by the Ak, because it was unknown and scary at the time. 98% of photos of any over seas conflict..the Ak is front and center, even today in the Middle East... when terrorist are shown..whats the weapon..the Ak.

Cuba loves some SKSs.... Bet they are Russian..  Can't be from the Havana arsenal...no room for a cigar on the side... 

[Boris Badinov]

Im sure they had the intention of up-keeping the 45s they made post 1958.

I don't doubt it.

But upkeep and re-barreling are two entirely different things. (rebarreling being the operation that I doubt occurred commonly or at all.

[Loose}{Cannon]

Probably not.  I doubt they were shot 10k+ rounds. Mystery solved?

[Greasemonkey]

So.. how do we know that they didn't plan on it. If they knew what barrel was installed and say.... someone went stupid during the Cuban Missile Crisis and WWIII happenend, they already had a contengency plan for quick complete rebuilds already in place. The stakes due to the nuclear age were now higher than during WWI and WWII.

One would always plan on the unexpected, it's being prepared for a worst case scenario. If nukes took out the main weapon factory's, smaller fuctioning shops could pick the slack up and rebuild them reusing receivers already made with little difficulty.

Maybe I'm wrong.. but always having a Plan B and a Plan C, maybe even a Plan D for weapons availibility and service during war makes sense. This was pretty much proven it would work by the last experiment.. if you could produce the barrels or had access to new, it's a simple swap over.

[Boris Badinov]

Probably not.  I doubt they were shot 10k+ rounds. Mystery solved?

I don't know.

This was the question I was asking when I posted the  "Re: Soviet Re-arsenal re-barreling" that ended up in the indexing revelations.

But that thread branched into the indexing revelations and the initial inquiry seeemed to have been left with a consensus that rebarreling was  a fairly simple process and probably a common practice during refurb.

(tbh, in my earliest replies this morning, i thought that was the thread I was responding to.)

[Loose}{Cannon]

Here's the thing...

When Russia was making these things, the mind-set of the cold-war and the unforeseeable future would lend them reason to have the ability to swap barrels at will to keep these carbines serviceable if the need arise.    

[Boris Badinov]

Here's the thing...

When Russia was making these things, the mind-set of the cold-war and the unforeseeable future would lend them reason to have the ability to swap barrels at will to keep these carbines serviceable if the need arise.    

So the answers are "probably"  and "probably not". ?

As it reads, it appears you've offered both responses.

[Loose}{Cannon]

Bingo...

Not sure whats so complicated about it.  Did they rebarrel on a mass scale... probably not because 99% of them likely never reached the threshold requiring replacement, even the non chromed bores.  Did they have the capability and capacity to design the carbine to easily receive a new barrel if need-be.....  you darn skippy.