My new Ghost (pic heavy)

[SurplusFan]

Hey everyone. I was browsing the web looking for more info about my new SKS and stumbled upon Running-Man's thread on gunboards about IO imports. This one's stamp is IO Palm Beach, FL. I was really happy to find out all that info and eventually saw this site on there. There's a lot of good info on this site.
So a little background to my new SKS. My buddy bought this rifle from Classic probably 6 months ago and threw it in a Monte Carlo stock and put a red dot on it(ugh). Well I ended up trading him a $250 Bersa Thunder .380 for it and have since returned the rifle back to stock configuration. Now for the pics:

Untitled by Sn8kebitten, on Flickr

Untitled by Sn8kebitten, on Flickr

Untitled by Sn8kebitten, on Flickr

Untitled by Sn8kebitten, on Flickr

Untitled by Sn8kebitten, on Flickr

Untitled by Sn8kebitten, on Flickr

Untitled by Sn8kebitten, on Flickr

Untitled by Sn8kebitten, on Flickr

Untitled by Sn8kebitten, on Flickr

Untitled by Sn8kebitten, on Flickr

Untitled by Sn8kebitten, on Flickr

As you can see its lost most of its bluing and the stock is very beat up. Shoots great though. Now I have a couple questions. The serial number is 16825 and the only mismatched part is the top cover. But can you guys tell if the stock matches? It's really hard to see but I can sorta make out the numbers on it. Would be even cooler if the stock matches. Gas tube and piston are also electro penciled to match (I've heard that was possibly just done when they were exported). But what I don't understand is that the butt plate doesn't have any numbers stamped on it. Is this a common thing or was it replaced sometime down the road? As you can see it also has a circled K stamp on the left hand side beneath the rear sights, a circled O on the right hand side and a delta shaped symbol to the right of the circle K. Also has a capital A stamped beneath the serial on the bolt cover. Do these mean anything? What can you guys tell me about this rifle? I love learning the history of my milsurps. How rare are these rifles? Lastly, the lug in the stock is pretty loose and can wiggle back and forth. Is this safe to shoot in that condition or should I not shoot it in this stock? (My friend only ever shot it in the Monte Carlo stock) Thanks for reading

[Stoned_Oli]

Looks like 16825 on the stock to me!

That plastic stock is the biggest piece of junk I have ever seen for the SKS BTW, thank God he didn't throw away the original. I don't know if you shot it in the plastic or not, but that is the definition of "cheek bite" right there.
Nice looking old soldier you have there. Enjoy it with pride!

[Loose}{Cannon]

Great rifle SF, and welcome aboard!

The "ghost" rifles are very collectible as the first Chinese variation and mostly consist of 1956 (first year) production as the arsenal /26\ stamp was likely not added until April of 1957 when the "second factory" became state owned and named Jianshe.  Many of these were recently imported within the latest IO batches along with a few other early variations. Currently they are fairly easy to find, but compared to mass import numbers of Chinese rifles in the 80s and 90s they are less common comparably and will only become more and more desirable and harder to find seeing that these rifles are reported to not be seen again (at least from Albania) which is where these came from. Its hard to tell if your stock is matching, but the last two digits appear to match, and it IS the correct bottom swivel Chinese made stock for the rifle. Large numbers of these rifles have shown up with Albanian replacement stocks that were modified during the milling process to accept a standard blade bayonet etc. Eloctro #s on the buttplate is not a characteristic of Chinese rifles, although I guess its possible. The (k) and (o) have been debated before and are very well know Russian proofs which is where it gets interesting as several of us believe the barreled receivers were supplied by Russia in early years. Even more interesting, we also find these stamps on the Romanian barreled receivers.  The (A) on the bolt carrier we don't know what this is, but has been observed on many many guns and may simply be an inspectors mark as I believe several letters/numbers have been seen.  Its unfortunate about the crossbolt in the stock not being supported with wood any longer. I would say its likely possible to shoot, but I wouldn't do it myself. The only thing keeping the stock from drifting rearward and the stock coming out of its ferrule is the crossbolt and any clamping pressure created when the trigger group is i stalled. With the crossbolt basically rendered inoperable, there isn't much to ensure the action stays where its supposed to within the stock... of that makes any sense.

[running-man]

Glad to have you here surplusfan! 

You have a pretty well worn example there.  I agree with Oli, that is the original stock.  Too bad about the receiver cover, but not totally unexpected as many were swapped out with mismatching ones prior to import.

The jury is still out on the collectibility of these ghosts. I suspect as a whole, the poor condition ones will continue to be priced lower than a run of the mill Chinese, but you never know. Yours has the mismatch cover ding in value, but it's in far better shape then many that I've seen!  They certainly have the 'been there, done that' look and additionally, these early Chinese are built exceptionally well.

The loose crossbolt isn't going to make the rifle dangerous to use. You might see if you can identify why it is loose, my guess would be someone took a flat head screwdriver to it and trashed the mortise instead if using a spanner and pulling the nut off properly.  The crossbolt actually acts in the reverse direction than the recoil of the gun. The back flat of the receiver is the one that pushes against the stock during firing.

[SurplusFan]

Thanks for the warm welcomes. Yeah I've always told myself the Monte carlo is one of the ugliest stocks made for sks rifles lol. I do plan on buying a nice wood stock for it though just to shoot out of it with and not have to worry. I'm loving this rifle. I originally had an all matching 1954 russian rifle that I never shot because it was so nice and ended up selling it to this same friend lol now I can shoot this one all I want

[Stoned_Oli]

There are nice Monte Carlo stocks available for the SKS... the ATI just isn't one of those with that high comb.

[Phosphorus32]

Nice ghost you have there!    Hopefully these guys can help you get the crossbolt issue resolved.  Kudos on restoring it to stock configuration.  It does appear that the bayonet is upside down; the thin ("sharpened") edge should be enveloped by the slot in the stock.

[SurplusFan]

Yeah I would like to shoot it in the original stock but I am planning on buying another one sometime. But how could the bayonet be upside down if the loop piece that go's over the barrel is there? Does the bayonet come apart from that piece?

[Phosphorus32]

Yeah I would like to shoot it in the original stock but I am planning on buying another one sometime. But how could the bayonet be upside down if the loop piece that go's over the barrel is there? Does the bayonet come apart from that piece?

Yes. 

Put the bayonet in the perpendicular position (so the spring is more relaxed), back out the bolt that attaches it to the barrel, and the bayonet will come apart into the bayonet (which has a tang), the bayonet handle (knurled handle/muzzle ring portion) and the spring.  Just flip the bayonet over so the thin edge isn't cutting into your hand when you're gripping the foreend while the bayonet is folded into the stock.

[CARBINE]

Looks way better in the original stock, congrats on a very nice collectable shooter!!

[Dannyboy53]

SurplusFan that is an awesome old warrior! Glad to see you have properly dressed it.

[Snell8282]

Nice gun, damn thing looks familiar  from somewhere  :p

[FIST] Finest Infantry Soldier Today

[Adam7]

Nice looking rifle!  I never get tired of seeing these old warhorses.