GB listings for November, 2015 - Russian

[running-man]

A healthy 48 SKS45s this time around.  $250.00 low, $1326.00 high, $569.75 avg.

Please feel free to 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 including me! 

-RM


Item Link   Description   # Bids   Final Price   Year   Arsenal   Arsenal Condition   Current Condition   S/N   RM's Notes
511007916   Russian SKS 1956 D Series, Lam. Stock, Exc Cond.   1   $650.00    1956   Tula   Heavy Refurbished   Good   HM6721_Д   A bit pricey for a heavy refurb, but a nice enough gun I guess.
515240948   Russian SKS Tula 1954 Nice 7.62x39 C&R No Res!   41   $752.00    1954   Tula   Heavy Refurbished   Good   AH477   Decent looking gun if you're willing to overlook the flaking non-BBQ paint on the back of the receiver cover.  I really dig the 75th ABV @ Leningrad refurb mark on the receiver cover.  Not sure why this one warranted 41 bids though.
515510667   1952 Russian SKS TULA Carbine Rifle-Matching No.   1   $649.00    1952   Tula   Heavy Refurbished   Good   BP3015   This is an example of a really good GB presentation.  Every important aspect of this gun is presented with a  nice clear photograph.
517434846   Russia SKS-45, 7.62x39, KBI INC, Item S17   17   $320.00    Uncertain   Tula   Bubba   Fair   Uncertain   Hell of a thing to do to an early Tula like this.
517766845   Russian 1954R SKS Tula Arsenal   1   $440.00    Uncertain   Uncertain   Light Refurbished   Good   AB8870   I almost want to categorize this one as a bubba gun.  That shine on the stock is almost blinding!  Could easily be a coat of poly.
518022386   Russian SKS as NIB UN-refurbished Orignal NR   7   $500.00    1954   Tula   Heavy Refurbished   Good   HП992   "It as been brought to my attention that this may actually be a re-arsenaled firearm. To the best of my knowledge it is as new in the box, unfired and unrefurbished. It came from a collection that included many of these types of guns and I have no reason to believe otherwise."  Yeah the BBQ paint, amber laminate stock, and the [/] refurb stamp on the receiver cover seem to say differently though don't they?
518078170   Russian SKS Izhevsk (Izzy) Rare   28   $1,275.00    1953   Izhevsk   Heavy Refurbished   Uncertain   Uncertain   Amazing that a gun like this only warrants 4 photos. Even more amazing is that it went for almost 13 Benjamins!!!  Who's to say that's not simply a '53 Izhevsk receiver cover on some misc gun?  Buyer needs to tread cautiously and get additional photos for a gun like this....
518314326   Russian SKS Rifle Izhevsk 1954 7.62x39mm   2   $555.00    1954   Izhevsk   Light Refurbished   Good   B860_Ф   This one sold surprisingly low.  Proof that there are still deals to be had.
518756654   Russian Tula 1953 Matching #'s SKS 7.62x39   2   $450.00    1953   Tula   Light Refurbished   Good   BГ162   Not much to say about this one, pretty plain jane for a SKS45.  Decent price though.
518779819   Russian Tula SKS 1953 #s Match Laminated XLNT Cond   9   $625.00    1953   Tula   Heavy Refurbished   Good   MA549   Pretty decent gun here.  Could probably garner a VG if the box were included.  I wonder if the "MЮ" on the buttstock is a marking in line with the MO stamps on Mosins and Nagant revolvers?
518817121   Russian SKS 1954 Tula laminate unfired C&R   1   $525.00    1954   Tula   Heavy Refurbished   Good   AT4642   The arrow on this receiver cover stamp is so light I missed it at first sight.  Interesting gun.
519331584   SKS RUSSIAN, ORIGINAL, MATCHING TULA 1954 USSR SKS45, POST TOKAREV DESIGN   39   $1,326.00    1954   Tula   Light Refurbished   Very Good   ЗT428   This one was talked about in a thread in the Russian section.  I personally think it's at least had a stock recoat, look how dark the valleys of *all* the stamps are from the S/N, Tula cartouche, Tula acceptance mark, to the crossbolt stamps.  Maybe it's just preservative in the valleys of all of them, but man that's dark.  I certainly don't think so.  I wonder if this one was bid up intentionally by one or two bidders?  It'll be interesting if we see it turn up again on GB.  It'll never go at this price again in the near future, I can tell you that.
519458976   Russian SKS Not Chinese Pre AK47 AK74 7.62x39   13   $340.00    1954   Tula   Bubba   Fair   BB8155   I'm not a big fan of a BBQ gun in a plastic stock for some reason.
519506454   Russian SKS 1951 Tula Arsenal   3   $450.00    1951   Tula   Uncertain   Uncertain   Uncertain   Horsetrash!  That plus WTF did the guy do, stuff a dead cat in the rear bracket of that rifle holder?
519512624   SKS Russian, 1950, 7.62x39   2   $404.00    1950   Tula   Heavy Refurbished   Good   ЮM2631   Not a bad looking gun. Not a big fan of the EP'd bolt carrier thought.
519711750   EXCEPTIONAL RUSSIAN TULA SKS RIFLE REAL WOOD STOCK   1   $650.00    1952   Tula   Light Refurbished   Good   ИФ2515   I really like the grain on this refurb.  The circle Б shop did a great job with it.
519757397   Russian SKS Non-Rebuild 1952 Tula all matching   4   $770.00    1952   Tula   As-Issued   Good   MИ3317   Not a big fan of the term 'non-rebuild', either but meh.  I actually like this gun better than the $1k Tula.  The condition is not quite as good with rust issues on the bolt carrier, but the stock is absolutely solid right down to the stock crossbolt stamps in photo #20.
519956010   SKS Russian 1953   1   $475.00    1953   Tula   Heavy Refurbished   Good   BP1482   I am shocked (shocked!) that this one didn't go for more $.  This is the classic laminate stock look at most people drool over.  Ultra black heavy BBQ refurb with a honey laminate stock that just pops.  I guess the market has really cooled down on the low end Russians.
520073304   RUSSIAN SKS 7.62X39 1951R CCCP CDI * NO RESERVE * russia   16   $457.00    1951   Tula   Heavy Refurbished   Good   PИ1771   Pretty decent looking gun.  Good photo presentation in this auction.  Again I'm surprised this one didn't go for more, it has the light laminate against dark BBQ paint that contrasts so well.
520082599   SKS Russian 7.62 x 39   3   $400.00    Uncertain   Uncertain   Bubba   Fair   Uncertain   Gah, I guess it's good that I can't really tell that this one was a Russian.
520180727   CAI Russian SKS 7.62x39 1954R Matching C&R!   2   $405.00    1954   Tula   Heavy Refurbished   Good   ЗH2057   Not a huge fan of this stock/metal combo.  Too dark for my tastes.  Others apparently didn't like it either as it barely pushed $400.
520917008   Russian SKS 1954R 7.62x39   2   $435.00    Uncertain   Uncertain   Uncertain   Uncertain   Uncertain   Horsetrash.
520921813   SKS Russian IZvesk 7.62x30 Synthetic Thumbhole STk   23   $290.00    1955   Tula   Bubba   Fair   Uncertain   Horsetrash.
521326060   RUSSIAN SKS non Refurbished 1954   1   $1,000.00    1954   Tula   As-Issued   Very Good   BB2299   Very nice gun here.  Like *every* other gun on SKS-Files, you simply cannot say this gun is 'non-refurbished'.  You simply can't do it.  Regardless of how much you think you know, you do not know the complete history of this firearm.  You cannot tell with any degree of certainty whether it went to a refurb shop for some very minor work or not.  Our 'as-issued' arsenal condition modifier is maybe as close as we can get, and even that may be a step too far.  As-issued simply means that this is essentially how the gun was configured when it was issued to the first solder who carried/used it.  There is no obvious replacement hardware and there are no obvious refurbishment stamps.  Yes I know it didn't have import stamps, S/N translations, & whatnot, but w/o nitpicking, I think it's the best we will ever do with 60 year old firearms from a former communist country.  I will say this, one thing that gives me a bit of pause on this gun is the lack of the Tula acceptance cartouche on the right buttstock.  Maybe the photo just didn't pick it up, but I sure as heck can't see it.  That might just disqualify it from being a $1k gun to a picky collector.
521349092   Russian SKS #3524 .7.62X39 $.01 No Reserve!   34   $469.00    1956   Tula   Light Refurbished   Good   HO3524_Д   Decent looking early letter gun.  It has the classic Liski charcoaled look on the stock.
521362385   SKS Russian 7.62 x 39mm Mint Condition   3   $535.00    1950   Tula   Light Refurbished   Good   Uncertain   Seller states: "Rifle was possibly imported in 1980s, 1990s but I cannot say for sure." Not imported (legally anyhow) in the 80's.  This one was brought in between '92 and '96 like all the other Russians legally imported into the US.
521364749   Russian Tula SKS very nice 1953 East German Marked   1   $500.00    1953   Tula   Light Refurbished   Good   ДM3486   Looks like the days of seeing a premium on DDRs are at an end.
521787374   Russian SKS 1952r Semi Auto Rifle 7.62x39   4   $475.00    1952   Tula   Heavy Refurbished   Good   KT271   Man lots of heavy refurb 1952 guns on GB this month!
521965234   Russian KBI 1952R SKS 20" 7.62x39 No Reserve   17   $469.00    1952   Tula   Light Refurbished   Good   ЮP2703   Decent bidding on this gun.  Bayo missing and a bit of an ugly stock, but all in all not a bad deal for under 5 Benjamins.
522059574   Original matching non refurbed Letter Series SKS   1   $795.00    1956   Tula   Light Refurbished   Very Good   KБ2317_Д   The only reason I'm calling this one a light furb is the shellac that is clearly put over the crossbolt stamps on the left side and the clear filling in of the valleys of the S/N.  It's a beautiful gun otherwise, that red hardwood stock is downright sexy!  This is one of the few Russians where current condition absolutely positively trumps arsenal condition.
522439474   Russian SKS 7.62X39 with bayonet 1953   1   $499.99    1953   Tula   Light Refurbished   Good   BO5220   This is one of those guns where you think it may be nice, but you really don't know because the photos, while numerous, are simply horsetrash.  Dark, horrible angles (what's wrong with taking shots perpendicular to the important features?!) and multiple shots of stuff most people simply don't care about. I guess that might be a reason as to why this one only garnered a single bid.
522593845   Russian SKS MonteCarlo Stock & Spike Bayonet   1   $250.00    Uncertain   Uncertain   Uncertain   Uncertain   Uncertain   Meh, how can you even tell it's a Russian gun?!  Certainly a Chinese bayo on it....
522602354   Numbers Matching Russian SKS 1952   1   $799.99    1952   Tula   As-Issued   Good   Uncertain   I really waffled between as-issued and light refurb on this one.  The stock doesn't quite look right to me, but the cartouche and S/N look right.  Hard to say, it's too bad the auction is total horsetrash as this gun could have yielded valuable data on '52 series S/N progressions.
522614674   1952 Tula Russian SKS 7.62x39mm   8   $530.00    1952   Tula   Heavy Refurbished   Good   ГB3020   Funny, I can't remember seeing a gun with two separate 1st GRAU @ Balakleya stamps on the receiver cover before.  Two different stamps, certainly.  Neat gun because of that.
522892974   NHM Russian SKS 7.62x39   24   $392.77    1950   Tula   Bubba   Fair   Uncertain   I mean honestly, who turns a potentially $500-$600 Russian into a sub $400 monstrosity like this?! 
523092144   Russian Tula sks   5   $500.00    1950   Tula   Heavy Refurbished   Good   TЮ1458   Pretty heavy refurb on this one.  Early gun, I wish they would have showed the bolt style to help us narrow down when the transition actually took place.
523156524   russian sks 1952 matching early 7.62x39 army rare preban pre ban norinco ak47 ak dad   17   $541.00    1952   Tula   Heavy Refurbished   Good   OЛ3775   Not seeing why this one got 17 bids...
523168295   Russian Tula SKS 1950 #s Match NIB Unfired C&R!   1   $750.00    1950   Tula   Light Refurbished   Very Good   CO1648   Sorry guy, that $1000 BIN is a pipe dream in 2015.  Maybe one day, but not today. Even $750 is pretty generous.  I suspect the box and accessories, along with this being a Gibbs gun helped bring that price.
523249658   Russian SKS rifle Russian SKS ak47 akm   8   $399.00    Uncertain   Tula   Bubba   Fair   Uncertain   Some kind of letter gun with a very heavy refurb and a "does this banana magazine make me look fat?"
523620469   Russian SKS Tula 1952 Excellent condition   1   $499.00    1952   Tula   Heavy Refurbished   Good   BB1553   Not a great presentation.  Too many kooky angle shots and nothing of the left side at all.  I know this one has a '52 cover on it, but I believe it to be a '54 gun.  That BB prefix is unmistakable, but w/o additional verification from the front bayo lug we'll never know.
523671553   Russian Tula SKS 1952 #s Match Excellent Cond   5   $605.00    1952   Tula   Heavy Refurbished   Fair   ГB1517   Check out the October GB report and you'll see this *exact* same gun went through once before.  Looks like they didn't do anything to it beyond removing the ridiculous clamp on muzzle device.  $205 price increase between then and now, WOW.
523907173   Russian SKS (Tula Arsenal 1953)   2   $335.00    1953   Tula   Bubba   Good   ФK4446   At what point does it not matter what a bubba gun is made from?  ---> This gun <---
524013035   Russian SKS 1953 Tula laminate C&R   14   $575.00    1953   Tula   Heavy Refurbished   Good   BP25   Nice low numbered BP prefix here.  Lots of heavy furbs this month.
524249159   Russian SKS SKS-45 1954 Tula Laminate Unissued   22   $980.00    1954   Tula   Light Refurbished   Good   BH4112   This gun did not deserve this price.  No way, no how.  Lots of 1 feedback and NR feedback bidders on this one, something smells funny.
524251889   Russian SKS 1952R   1   $499.00    1952   Tula   Heavy Refurbished   Good   Uncertain   Horsetrash.
525663542   RUSSIAN TULA 1952r SKS Rifle 7.62x39 & Bayonet   8   $500.00    1952   Tula   Heavy Refurbished   Good   MO1453   Not much to say about this one, pretty plain jane for a SKS45.
526622632   Russian SKS 1952r matching #s   1   $520.00    1952   Tula   Heavy Refurbished   Good   ЛK3035   Not sure what to make of this one.  Presentation isn't great, but it's a solid heavy refurb I guess.
527252302   Russian Izhevsk SKS 1954 Original   1   $1,000.00    1954   Izhevsk   Light Refurbished   Good   HO159   I'm having a hard time reconciling "This one is all original matching" with "trigger group is arsenal replacement and renumbered".  Kind of like being a little bit pregnant eh?

Update 12/6/15:  Found a Russian hiding in the Chinese Military list.  Nothing special, but it's a Russian and belongs here.  Price table auto updates when I add new stuff so it's up to date.

519008369   Chinese SKS 762*39 GREAT CONDITION   17   $356.00    Uncertain   Tula   Bubba   Fair   Uncertain   Defintely a Russian letter gun here.  Maybe a '56 series, but the photos aren't clear enough to tell for certain.

[pcke2000]

527252302, the 1954 Izhevsk. The seller initially listed on gunboards, then for some reason sold it on gunbroker, and he told me he was surprised about how much money he got

[pcke2000]

515240948, can you please show me why you think the refurb mark represents 75th ABV ? I didn't find this specific mark in the refurb marks table online.

Thank you very much!!

[pcke2000]

518078170, 1953 Izhevsk. I asked the seller to provide pictures of the serial number on receiver. No response.

[pcke2000]

519711750, does the stock look like re-finished?

[pcke2000]

519757397, even the bayonet staking marks look good.

[pcke2000]

521326060, concur, lack of Tula inspection cartouche on the right side of butt stock is a major concern. I asked the seller to provide more clear pictures of that area, no response.

[pcke2000]

521349092, may actually have gone through refurb more than once. There's a refurb stamp from 1st GRAU partly covered by BBQ paint on the receiver cover

[pcke2000]

522439474, interesting findings:

(1) receiver cover take-down latch was stamped with numbers '100': picture 30

(2) receiver serial number was re-stamped: picture 33

[pcke2000]

524249159, a premium for the KBI box??

[Loose}{Cannon]

522439474, interesting findings:

(1) receiver cover take-down latch was stamped with numbers '100': picture 30

(2) receiver serial number was re-stamped: picture 33

Yugo lever....  Lol

Serial scrub and stamp is interesting.

[running-man]

515240948, can you please show me why you think the refurb mark represents 75th ABV ? I didn't find this specific mark in the refurb marks table online.

Thank you very much!!

That table that RyanE produced and posted on gunboards is based of the Chumak et. al. groups work and their their original (updated to show the final ABV & GRAU) image:


The original paper was published for the proceedings of the Fifth International Scientific-Practical Conference on 14-16 May 2014.  The first internet postings on Russian forums talking about the paper was from 08/27/2014.  For the past year and a half they've kept right on deciphering and apparently now have many more than the original 60 marks known, and more than the original 20 of the 60 deciphered.  It just hasn't been all buttoned up in a nice to see data table yet.  We're working on getting the Russian SKSguide up, and there will be about as good a place as any to consolidate all the information. 

Anyhow, this mark:



is identical to this one very prevalent on optics that the researchers assigned to 75th ABV:


So 75th ABV is what it's called until they say otherwise...

[running-man]

522439474, interesting findings:

(1) receiver cover take-down latch was stamped with numbers '100': picture 30

(2) receiver serial number was re-stamped: picture 33

Yugo lever....  Lol

Serial scrub and stamp is interesting.

Didn't notice either of those.  Definitely a scrubbed receiver.  I read ИO342 underneath.  This likely has some implications as to that magical 2685900 number of SKS45s made that keeps getting regurgitated.  We know the Chinese rampantly scrubbed their receivers, I guess I never really gave it much thought that the Russians could have done that as well...

LC nailed the yugo lever.  I totally missed that.  The gun was probably bubba'd for a scope mount receiver cover with a bolt to hold it in place at one time and when it came time to get it back to stock so it could be sold, a Yugo lever was all they could find.  That gun really should be categorized as a bubba gun, not a light refurb.

Here's a lever off a M59/66:

[Loose}{Cannon]

Nice...   Keep following that russian thread RM!

[running-man]

519711750, does the stock look like re-finished?

The circle Б stamp on the stock is an unknown refurb shop stigma (and coincidentally one of the more common stock refurb markings on an SKS).  That stock has been sanded, restamped, and refinished IMO.