GB listings for December, 2015 - Romanian

[running-man]

A crazy 6 Romys this month, $355.00 low, $670.00 high, $473.63 avg.  I still consider the Romy to be the best value in SKSs today.  They are built like tanks, even if they trend a bit uglier then their brethren.

Please post up any feedback (good or bad) to any one these entries.

If you have an objection or observation to add to anything I've listed, by all means call it out.  Let's all look at it long and hard (I only look at each listing for a minute or two at most, I miss things all the time and as I continually try to remind people: we simply don't have all the answers, no matter how good we'd like to think we are) and maybe everyone can learn a thing or two! 

-RM


Item Link   Description   # Bids   Final Price   Year   Arsenal Condition   Current Condition   RM's Notes

529238994   Romanian Type 56 SKS 7.62 x 39 Rifle Used   1   $580.00    1958   Bubba   Fair   Does this banana magazine make me look fat?

530270319   Norinco SKS Semi-Auto Rifle 7.62x39   24   $355.00    1960   As-Issued   Poor   What part of this gun is "Norinco" exactly?  I will say that it is God awful ugly.

531439249   Romanian SKS 7.62x39mm Matching In Box CAI 56   37   $670.00    1960   Refurbished   Good   That stock is iffy to me.  I can't give this one a pass, that number is stamped so poorly I can't help but think this is a replacement stock.  Maybe not, I've been wrong many times before, but for almost 7 Benjamins I want a pristine Romy, not an iffy one with 10 blurry photos and a box.

531464593   Romanian SKS Very Good Condition   9   $371.77    1958   Bubba   Good   Another one with what looks like a refinished stock.  These DE prefixes are interesting, the sub 2000 ones fall in '57 while the higher number ones like this 488x gun fall in '58.  I wonder if they transitioned the year during the run of this prefix.

531989159   Romanian SKS NOT Russian Yugo Chinese Albanian   1   $435.00    1960   Refurbished   Good   Nice gun here, looks like it still has a sheen of cosmo on the stock too.  Too bad about the mismatch stock, but it's not a bad deal at $435.

533013089   Romanian SKS rifle1960 type 56   1   $430.00    1960   Bubba   Good   Real shame about the stock on this one.  You can even see where the sander took off the top of the left crossbolt head.  Too bad.  Could have been a real home run gun here.  Ahh well, what can you do?

[Phosphorus32]

They are built like tanks, even if they trend a bit uglier then their brethren.

Got a real ugly one coming up this month...sometimes I'm drawn to ugly like a moth to a flame but I'm resisting...

Item Link   Description   # Bids   Final Price   Year   Arsenal Condition   Current Condition   RM's Notes

529238994   Romanian Type 56 SKS 7.62 x 39 Rifle Used   1   $580.00    1958   Bubba   Fair   Does this banana magazine make me look fat?

Regretfully Miss Romania, it does, and I don't mean phat!  That polyurethane sheen doesn't do you any favors either old girl. 

[Direct Connection]

Great Job RM . Look forward every month to reading this thread. Oh, and reading your auction comments too. 

531439249   Romanian SKS 7.62x39mm Matching In Box CAI 56   37   $670.00    1960   Refurbished   Good   That stock is iffy to me.  I can't give this one a pass, that number is stamped so poorly I can't help but think this is a replacement stock.  Maybe not, I've been wrong many times before, but for almost 7 Benjamins I want a pristine Romy, not an iffy one with 10 blurry photos and a box.


I always thought it was pretty normal to see the numbers on the stock deformed, misplaced, you name it on most Romy's. anything goes type deal  Pics of my only all matching 68 Romy stock. Referbed stock ? Probably. see lower left butt-stock.  For 670.00 I think I want one pristine also. Thats pretty much pristine Russian prices

[Greasemonkey]

530270319   Norinco SKS Semi-Auto Rifle 7.62x39   24   $355.00    1960   As-Issued   Poor   What part of this gun is "Norinco" exactly?  I will say that it is God awful ugly.

Ugly...   It's better than the 'oops I sanded the crossbolt head off", the suspected cosmo sheen/poly coated wonder, or the I need a phallic extension hanging like a retard bull to garner some extra $$$.

It's got a cleaning rod, poor 'ol ugly Betty just needs a box mag, her identity crisis fixed and someone to love on the 'ol girl for a while. Think of her as a homeless brokeazz meth addicted supermodel, put her through some rehab and a week at the spa, she could be bringing sexy back 

[running-man]

Thanks DC!  I was really on the fence with that gun, and I very well may be wrong.  Yours might be a bit easier to decipher as it appears you might be lacking the letter prefix on the stock. That's a clear indication of a replacement stock even though the number is matching. 

[running-man]

Ugly...   It's better than the 'oops I sanded the crossbolt head off", the suspected cosmo sheen/poly coated wonder, or the I need a phallic extension hanging like a retard bull to garner some extra $$$.

Laugh. No really GM, tell me what you really think! 

Not a bad gun all in all, probably runs ammo through it all day and night. It's just a tad ugly.

[Greasemonkey]

Thanks DC!  I was really on the fence with that gun, and I very well may be wrong.  Yours might be a bit easier to decipher as it appears you might be lacking the letter prefix on the stock. That's a clear indication of a replacement stock even though the number is matching.

Ok, if a stock serial is lacking the serial prefix is a "clear" or lets say "suspected" for now, replacement stock. Now, here is where the "suspected" part comes in, explain my 1958... it has both the vertical original prefix serial and the horizontal prefix"less" serial on the opposite side. Both of the numbers match the receiver serial.

[running-man]

Here's how I'd call them:

Stock with a single serial number w/no dual prefix = replacement/refurbished
Stock with both a dual prefixed number and a matching number with no prefix on the other side (or a horizontal number for that matter, one of my Romys has this type) = refurbished
Stock with a single number with dual prefix = likely original, though could still be a replacement I'd suppose.

I don't see any other way to characterize them to be honest.

[Direct Connection]

I Have to agree with your assessment as It makes far too much sense. But, Although GMs has the 2 letter prefix, Chrysler produced far less in that era so the value is reversed due to the demand and collectabilty. Kinda like Tula vs IzhevskamIright ? 

[MEBears]

My matching '59 that I think is original has the single prefixed number

[Greasemonkey]

Mine all have the double prefix stock stamp, just the '58 is the odd ball.

The prefixes a '57-'58 is DE, a '58 is CD..

[running-man]

My matching '59 that I think is original has the single prefixed number

Can't say I've ever seen one with only a partial prefix MEB.  They either have the two letters in front or they don't.  Is yours a "GN"?  What's the prefix on the receiver say?

[MEBears]

Sorry, I meant the prefixed number on one side but nothing on the other side. It is a GN.

[applegoomp]

531439249   Romanian SKS 7.62x39mm Matching In Box CAI 56   37   $670.00    1960   Refurbished   Good   That stock is iffy to me.  I can't give this one a pass, that number is stamped so poorly I can't help but think this is a replacement stock.  Maybe not, I've been wrong many times before, but for almost 7 Benjamins I want a pristine Romy, not an iffy one with 10 blurry photos and a box.

I ended up with this rifle. Here are 3 pictures of the stock.  I'm curious if it is a replacement as well.   Hopefully with better pictures someone can determine this and tell me why.  Thanks!

[Phosphorus32]

The serial number looks sharp and
not sanded, which is good. I don't know much (anything) about Romanian stock finish variation, so I'm curious what others will say about it.

[running-man]

Interesting find AG. I went back and forth on that one so many times, I lost track.

Having it in your hands, does the finish seem different than any other Romy you've handled?  Are there runs or drips that indicate an additional coat of finish?  With the different lighting in your photos vs the auction photos, it's not quite as shiny as I thought. One thing that is still eating at me is how far offset that S/N is. When I run into a Russian that looks offset like this, they are almost always refurbs. Of course the stock cartouches on the Russians make it a bit easier to tell their refurb status whereas these Romys are much harder to tell.

It'll be interesting to hear what some of the other guys here think when they see your photos. 

[applegoomp]

The stock has no runs or other indication that it has been coated.   It is slightly darker than some of my others.   It does have mildew starting on the butt.   I wonder if it was stored in a damp environment.   There is no rust however.   It came with a bluish green sling attached with a metal clip end.  Not sure if it's Romy or not. 

[Greasemonkey]

Nope, the sling is Yugoslavian.. a little lemon oil will clean the stock up.