A good score - Arsenal 0223 matching with 380 rounds of ammo - $300

[gunhorde]

I picked this up from an elderly neighbor yesterday, he's thinking about moving this summer and is starting to let a few things go. My wife was interested in the furniture, I asked him about firearms, so he brought out this SKS. Missing the bayonet and a pinned-on muzzle brake. He said he had the original bayonet, and only wanted $120 for it. Knowing it was worth a lot more, I refused, and offered him a minimum of $250 "if he was OK with that" - He replied "I would have been OK with the $120"... my wife thinks I'm nuts, but she's a bargain hunter and I was raised to treat people fairly. She was too, but again, she's "all about the bargain".

Anyway, I took the rifle home, and picked up the spare parts this afternoon. It's back to it's original state, with a repro Chinese sling added. All numbers matching and he had 380 rounds of Wolf ammo for it, a bunch of stripper clips and 2 extended magazines. I gave him $300 cash and refused his offer of change back. I won't lose any sleep over that, and he was pleased to have more money than he expected.

Tomorrow, test firing.

Here's the rifle as I received it yesterday with the brake still installed, and no bayonet or cleaning rod. It also had a ratty nylon hunting sling on it that I had to cut off with my knife.






Here's the rifle after I removed the brake and re-installed the bayonet and cleaning rod.










And all visible numbers match.












Plus the extras....

[Greatguns]

That's a great score, well done.

[lowell66dart]

Nice, fair deal. I'm off to look at my hope to be first Yugo in a few minutes.

[carls sks]

nice and you were too.

[Bubbazinetti]

You did well.

[Larry D.]

Well done!

[Matchka]

A1!
Dollar for dollar, beats my 3 Russki refurbs all day long!

[Justin Hell]

Stories like this keep hope alive you can find a great deal on an SKS and still be a decent human being about it at the same time.
I think I may have to hold off for small miracles like this for awhile. It's getting too expensive in the real world.  Usually anything close to a deal like this involves a heck of a lot more restoration than removing a muzzle brake and screwing a bayonet back on. 

The blank sided 20 rounder is worth almost 2/3rds of the buying price.  If it fits and runs well, it might be worth hanging onto. 

[High Noon]

Very nice!  Looks much better, when in the stock configuration too me.