Unrefurbished '54 Tula?

[RossP226]

I was at my local gun store on Saturday morning and noticed some SKSs had come in.  I was not in the market as I have a clean 54 Isvesk and 51 Tula, (I'm a shooter, not a collector) but one of the rifles looked very good and it's rare to find one now that is not a BBQ job.  I examined the 54 Tula and it was clean, no paint and there was no referb stamp on the receiver cover nor the X stamps on the stock (both my SKSs are refurbs). Then I tried the trigger....beautiful and smooth, not like my other SKSs which have gritty trigger actions.  Well, I had to have it.  It cleaned up nicely.  The stock is a bit scarred but other than that very nice condition.  Now, it clearly was issued as the front site has been drifted to the left which I expect means it was sighted in and the hammer face shows some scoring.  But the absence of any wear on the friction points in the receiver would seem to suggest very little use.  Anyway, the trigger sold me - can't wait to try it out.

[Larry D.]

Nice.
It's a beauty.

[astronut]

Very Nice!   

[carls sks]

beauty and numbers matching, jealous for sure. 

[RossP226]

The bayonet has a strange gold finish on it which is not cosmoline.  I'd like to remove it - is it common to find this on the bayonet?

[running-man]

The golden bayonet is a protective coating applied by the Russians.  It is perhaps a chromate coating, but  to my knowledge no one has sent it in for analysis. It's definitely a chemical conversion coating and not simple dried grease.  Most collectors look for that feature on their as-issued Russian SKS45s.

You did quite well on this one. Certainly in very nice shape. Good eye! 

[RossP226]

The golden bayonet is a protective coating applied by the Russians.  It is perhaps a chromate coating, but  to my knowledge no one has sent it in for analysis. It's definitely a chemical conversion coating and not simple dried grease.  Most collectors look for that feature on their as-issued Russian SKS45s.

You did quite well on this one. Certainly in very nice shape. Good eye! 

Glad I asked, that is good know.  I won't mess with it.  Thanks for the input!

[Bacarnal]

Cool piece.  Cheers,Bruce.

[pcke2000]

The golden bayonet is a protective coating applied by the Russians.  It is perhaps a chromate coating, but  to my knowledge no one has sent it in for analysis. It's definitely a chemical conversion coating and not simple dried grease.  Most collectors look for that feature on their as-issued Russian SKS45s.

You did quite well on this one. Certainly in very nice shape. Good eye! 

Glad I asked, that is good know.  I won't mess with it.  Thanks for the input!

Are you in Canada?

[Bob_The_Student]

Good find, congrats!

[RossP226]

The golden bayonet is a protective coating applied by the Russians.  It is perhaps a chromate coating, but  to my knowledge no one has sent it in for analysis. It's definitely a chemical conversion coating and not simple dried grease.  Most collectors look for that feature on their as-issued Russian SKS45s.

You did quite well on this one. Certainly in very nice shape. Good eye! 

Glad I asked, that is good know.  I won't mess with it.  Thanks for the input!

Are you in Canada?

Yup, up here in the Great White North.