Russian recoil spring assemblies

[Justin Hell]

Forgive me, I only have one Russian...and it is a bit of a headache in the 49/50 realm.

The other day I noticed something in my photos I had forgotten...my recoil spring assembly is blued. Not the spring itself...but the innards. Lately I keep noticing Russian recoil springs for sale that are quite noticeably BBQ'ed. Whether this could have any tie in to the blued bayonet connundrum I dunno, but I haven't seen another like mine...granted, virtually nobody photographs their recoil spring when doing even the most ilicit gun porn...

So betwixt my only having one...and not a lotta information to work with, I am unsure what is 'normal' for a Russian SKS.  Do any of the 49/50 guys out there have blued recoil spring assemblies? Do folks with refurbs commonly see BBQed ones?  I want to say 'in the white' is normal for virtually every SKS of any nationality...even Russians. Am I nuts, ill informed, or just oblivious?

It seems like a very odd thing to do at refurb...especially the BBQ ones. I don't think I have ever seen a corroded one...ever. I only recall hearing the need of replacement spring a newborn's handful of times. Did they change to a noncorrosive alloy later on and have to maintain the older ones with paint?

It probably is among the least talked about part of an SKS....even the op rod gets more play (mischievous lil buggers), aside from where to stick the squiggly end...you rarely hear them mentioned.

[jaroslav]

You have never seen a corroded recoil spring .....That's why they are BBQed
Anyway, Innards of a recoil spring on my 49 is blued but not the spring.

[Justin Hell]

You have never seen a corroded recoil spring .....That's why they are BBQed
Anyway, Innards of a recoil spring on my 49 is blued but not the spring.

Cool, I wonder if that is an early trait gone unnoticed (at least by be).  Mine came missing a few parts but the guts were mostly there.  It did come with a two piece Chinese gas tube...but with the original, single serialed gas piston.   

It is nice to know that it may have retained it's spring guide also.

[firstchoice]

Hey Justin. Just scanning the old posts and ran across your inquiry. I know mine aren't in the '49-'50 range that you're looking for but I thought I'd throw in my data for whatever help it could be.

RM, are you still wanting pics of the receiver, etc. for the Russian Serial Data Board? Don't know if that's still ongoing, or not?

I have two '54 refurbs.

1.) '54 Tula NHM SAC, CA import. SN: HП 4662 Smooth black painted surface on the Receiver Cover, Bolt Carrier, etc. The bayonet is still "in the white", or however the original bayo finishes are described. The stock and handguard are of the hardwood (Birch?) type. The Rear Sight Leaf and RSL Spring have been replaced with "in the white" parts, as well. The Recoil Spring Assembly has the blued spring guide, with the recoil spring "in the white".

2.) '54 Tula CAI ST ALB, VT import. SN: ИП 3791 Smooth black painted surface on the Receiver Cover, Bolt Carrier, etc. The bayonet is still "in the white". The stock and handguard are of the laminate style. The Rear Sight Leaf and RSL Spring are "in the white". The Recoil Spring Assembly has the blued spring guide, with the recoil spring "in the white".

firstchoice

[Justin Hell]

OK, It seems this is a normal Russian trait.  The supplier of my parts at the time was working with early guns mostly...the two I bought from him were blued, as was my original...

I suppose I should really get more Russians.

[running-man]

Hey Justin. Just scanning the old posts and ran across your inquiry. I know mine aren't in the '49-'50 range that you're looking for but I thought I'd throw in my data for whatever help it could be.

RM, are you still wanting pics of the receiver, etc. for the Russian Serial Data Board? Don't know if that's still ongoing, or not?

I have two '54 refurbs.

1.) '54 Tula NHM SAC, CA import. SN: HП 4662 Smooth black painted surface on the Receiver Cover, Bolt Carrier, etc. The bayonet is still "in the white", or however the original bayo finishes are described. The stock and handguard are of the hardwood (Birch?) type. The Rear Sight Leaf and RSL Spring have been replaced with "in the white" parts, as well. The Recoil Spring Assembly has the blued spring guide, with the recoil spring "in the white".

2.) '54 Tula CAI ST ALB, VT import. SN: ИП 3791 Smooth black painted surface on the Receiver Cover, Bolt Carrier, etc. The bayonet is still "in the white". The stock and handguard are of the laminate style. The Rear Sight Leaf and RSL Spring are "in the white". The Recoil Spring Assembly has the blued spring guide, with the recoil spring "in the white".

firstchoice

Yes FC, I'm still collecting Russian SKS data, but it has slowed down tenfold with the change in format of the gunbroker auctions.  Whereas before I could automatically glean 40-60 new Russians a month with maybe half of those being very nice as-issued examples, now I manually pull only a few per month and those are usually posted on forums or are particularly nice guns that fetched exceptional prices at auction. 
I had hoped to have the Russian S/N survey up and running by now, to get things back to being automated, but life got in the way and I still need to finish it.  Hopefully after summer I'll have a chance to finalize it and put it up. 

[Phosphorus32]

Hey Justin. Just scanning the old posts and ran across your inquiry. I know mine aren't in the '49-'50 range that you're looking for but I thought I'd throw in my data for whatever help it could be.

RM, are you still wanting pics of the receiver, etc. for the Russian Serial Data Board? Don't know if that's still ongoing, or not?

I have two '54 refurbs.

1.) '54 Tula NHM SAC, CA import. SN: HП 4662 Smooth black painted surface on the Receiver Cover, Bolt Carrier, etc. The bayonet is still "in the white", or however the original bayo finishes are described. The stock and handguard are of the hardwood (Birch?) type. The Rear Sight Leaf and RSL Spring have been replaced with "in the white" parts, as well. The Recoil Spring Assembly has the blued spring guide, with the recoil spring "in the white".

2.) '54 Tula CAI ST ALB, VT import. SN: ИП 3791 Smooth black painted surface on the Receiver Cover, Bolt Carrier, etc. The bayonet is still "in the white". The stock and handguard are of the laminate style. The Rear Sight Leaf and RSL Spring are "in the white". The Recoil Spring Assembly has the blued spring guide, with the recoil spring "in the white".

firstchoice

Yes FC, I'm still collecting Russian SKS data, but it has slowed down tenfold with the change in format of the gunbroker auctions.  Whereas before I could automatically glean 40-60 new Russians a month with maybe half of those being very nice as-issued examples, now I manually pull only a few per month and those are usually posted on forums or are particularly nice guns that fetched exceptional prices at auction. 
I had hoped to have the Russian S/N survey up and running by now, to get things back to being automated, but life got in the way and I still need to finish it.  Hopefully after summer I'll have a chance to finalize it and put it up. 

Hey Joe,

If you do a GunBroker saved search for Russian SKS and check only new listings you should get listings delivered to your email without getting spammed with all of the repeat listings. At least with this method you can quickly click on the links embedded in the email and see if they're worth recording.

[running-man]

I've done that before, but find myself cruising listings and actually thinking about bidding when I have no business even being there!   

[Phosphorus32]

I've done that before, but find myself cruising listings and actually thinking about bidding when I have no business even being there! 

Hey I'm here to help enable