Hello from Wisconsin

[SCC30Arms]

I purchased two SKS carbines (One Yugoslavian and one Norinco) at the end of last year after it occurred to me that the situation for the economy, military surplus, and firearms as a whole made a circumstance that might make this a better time to get these guns rather than later. I received them, I ordered an additional stock and other parts for one of them (the Norinco). Though it took a while, the new stock eventually came in.  At the same time, the weather began to warm up and allow working outside and thus I started the work of bringing these guns up into working order. I'm still in the middle in the process though.  Both carbines had cosmoline all over and inside them. On the Yugoslavian SKS, the main work is restoring the stock which is well on its way. On the other SKS (the Norinco), I decided to replace the stock with a Lucky Shot Wood Stock (a Monte Carlo style one of walnut) and some of the trigger group parts. After getting the new stock, I realized it didn't come with a cross bolt. So now I'm waiting for a brand new cross bolt to come in, for the trigger jobs for the trigger groups from both carbines to return from Texas, and for the completion of the restoration of the Yugo SKS stock.

Once these guns are complete, I make sure to post pictures of them on here. I also think I write up the whole process I went through to get these completed.  I hope such a writeup can help someone else in a situation similar to me.

[astronut]

Welcome to the forum.

[running-man]

Sounds like a fun set of projects. Will be watching to see what tou came up with. Welcome to the forums! 

[Phosphorus32]

Welcome to the SKS Files! Hope you enjoy it!

[carls sks]

hi Wisconsin and welcome. good to have you here and nice intro. pics and info on your sks's would be great.

[Larry D.]

Hi and welcome from Arizona.
Look around a bit and you'll find a ton of great info here.


A word of caution though... As some here in Arizona would say - cuidado por los facilitadores..

[Chevy Boy]

Welcome to the forum! It's great that people are still into project guns. There's nothing like bringing an old beauty back to life with a little character, whether it's an old surplus rifle like an SKS or a Winchester 70.

I'd consider doing it myself, if all my extra time and money wasn't going into a project car!

[Cz315]

Welcome!

[SCC30Arms]

hi Wisconsin and welcome. good to have you here and nice intro. pics and info on your sks's would be great.

I have a couple of pictures from around the beginning of the process.

Here is the Yugo, but I didn't remember to take a high quality picture of it until after I took it apart. The lower quality picture at the bottom is from the seller listing.  This one is the one that is getting the stock restored (which is coming along nicely, the (what I assume is) beech stock looks really good) :

By the way, anyone know about identifying manufacturing dates on these? According to the chart I keep on seeing flying around, this gun shouldn't exist as it is a gun with a prefix R (1980) that DOESN'T fall between 633900 and 64480.

Here is the Norinco. According to the Chinese SKS guide, it was made in 1976 and came from the 636 facility. Very few identifying markers on this one, and the bayonet was neutered off. This one is becoming the project gun, but all I'm doing is the brand new stock and handguard (which I have posted a question about putting a cross bolt into at this post on this forum here: https://sks-files.com/index.php?topic=5989.0 ), replacing parts in the trigger group with American parts from Murray's (and is now getting a trigger job done on it in Texas), and putting a Tech sight on the rear. 

[SCC30Arms]

Welcome to the forum! It's great that people are still into project guns. There's nothing like bringing an old beauty back to life with a little character, whether it's an old surplus rifle like an SKS or a Winchester 70.

I'd consider doing it myself, if all my extra time and money wasn't going into a project car!

Taking on a project can seem daunting at first, but it kind of becomes fun once you get started.  I am pretty certain I will be making a thorough writeup on all the things I did with these two SKSs when I am done. I hope such a writeup will help other new people (be it to SKS firearms or to working on firearms period) with their work.

[firstchoice]

Welcome from SW Missouri!

Two questions on your rifles:

On your Yugo, have you checked your gas cutoff piston and area surrounding it for corrosion and pitting? Some came in that were bad and others were used with corrosive ammo, not cleaned, and ended up corroded and pitted. It could give you feeding problems. They do make replacement pistons, or barrels, as I've seen them called. Just a heads up.

Did your Chinese SKS come with a scope rail mounted on it? Many of the /156\ arsenal Type 56's came with the nuetered bayo mount like that and had what was called the "West Coast Rail" or the "Rail To Nowhere" because of the lack of mounts to use on them.

I'm looking forward to your posts on the progress of your projects.

firstchoice

[SCC30Arms]

On your Yugo, have you checked your gas cutoff piston and area surrounding it for corrosion and pitting? Some came in that were bad and others were used with corrosive ammo, not cleaned, and ended up corroded and pitted. It could give you feeding problems. They do make replacement pistons, or barrels, as I've seen them called. Just a heads up.

I checked, took apart, and thoroughly cleaned the gas cut off piston. There was no corrosion or pitting, just cosmoline and crud. I do have a backup from Murray's gunsmithing standing by if I need it.

Did your Chinese SKS come with a scope rail mounted on it? Many of the /156\ arsenal Type 56's came with the nuetered bayo mount like that and had what was called the "West Coast Rail" or the "Rail To Nowhere" because of the lack of mounts to use on them.

No scope rail mount on this, and this Norinco came from arsenal 636.

[running-man]

By the way, anyone know about identifying manufacturing dates on these? According to the chart I keep on seeing flying around, this gun shouldn't exist as it is a gun with a prefix R (1980) that DOESN'T fall between 633900 and 64480.

Glen Burton's (aka Withergyld) list, while the gold standard and in general an excellent Yugoslavian M59 & M59/66 resource is not all inclusive.  He stopped his survey long before he could fill in some of the holes. 

We have a relatively small (small by our standards when compared our Chinese and Russian lists) Yugo S/N list (Yugoslavian SKS Serial Number Collection, Note that you must be Rifleman level or above to view any of our S/N lists) and the R series appears to encompass a bit more than 633k to 644k:

R63371X
R63416X - White RSL,  Lum Paint NS, Flat CB
R63587X
R63693X
R63842X - Flat CB
R64159X
R64363X - Flat CB
R64487X
R64601X
R64789X
R64830X - M59/66A1, "C.A.I. GEORGIA VT.; ZASTAVA SERBIA M59/66 7.62 x 39" import stamp

[SCC30Arms]

By the way, anyone know about identifying manufacturing dates on these? According to the chart I keep on seeing flying around, this gun shouldn't exist as it is a gun with a prefix R (1980) that DOESN'T fall between 633900 and 64480.

Glen Burton's (aka Withergyld) list, while the gold standard and in general an excellent Yugoslavian M59 & M59/66 resource is not all inclusive.  He stopped his survey long before he could fill in some of the holes. 

We have a relatively small (small by our standards when compared our Chinese and Russian lists) Yugo S/N list (Yugoslavian SKS Serial Number Collection, Note that you must be Rifleman level or above to view any of our S/N lists) and the R series appears to encompass a bit more than 633k to 644k:

R63371X
R63416X - White RSL,  Lum Paint NS, Flat CB
R63587X
R63693X
R63842X - Flat CB
R64159X
R64363X - Flat CB
R64487X
R64601X
R64789X
R64830X - M59/66A1, "C.A.I. GEORGIA VT.; ZASTAVA SERBIA M59/66 7.62 x 39" import stamp

Mine is R64579X, and just like the one at the bottom of your list above, it is marked "C.A.I. GEORGIA VT.; ZASTAVA SERBIA M59/66 7.62 x 39" as well. Does that still mean it was made in 1980? Also, with that import stamp, does that give any clue as to when this firearm was imported?

[High Noon]

You won't stop at two!

Nice rifles....

[Bacarnal]

SCC, Welcome from Kentucky!!!  Nice rifles!!  As your Chinese is what is considered a commercial, remember to keep the original stock since it will add to the value if you decide to part with it.  Cheers, Bruce.

[running-man]

Mine is R64579X, and just like the one at the bottom of your list above, it is marked "C.A.I. GEORGIA VT.; ZASTAVA SERBIA M59/66 7.62 x 39" as well. Does that still mean it was made in 1980? Also, with that import stamp, does that give any clue as to when this firearm was imported?

Yes on the '80 manufacture (as far as we know).  The CAI stamp is a newer one for a Yugo, likely into the late 2000's possibly even the early 2010's and probably the last CAI Yugos imported.  See: List of Yugoslavian M59 & M59/66 Importers.

[Bubbazinetti]

Welcome to the Files.

[Bob_The_Student]

Hello and welcome!

[SCC30Arms]

SCC, Welcome from Kentucky!!!  Nice rifles!!  As your Chinese is what is considered a commercial, remember to keep the original stock since it will add to the value if you decide to part with it.  Cheers, Bruce.

Will do. Back when I was deciding on the new aftermarket stock, I already decided to keep the original stock because of being a reference point when I started putting my rifle back together, plus it is parts matching to all the other parts of the gun so why break that up?