Restoring an early /26\ SKS

[Marcus]

My cousin inherited this a couple weeks ago from a close and long-time friend.

When our friend bought it  around 30 years ago,  it was in a Ramline black plastic folding stock,  with a couple of those 30 round detachable "duckbill" magazines.

Realizing that parts might be a little harder to find  and cost many times what I sold all my spare parts for a few years ago,  I none the less am endeavoring to get this thing back as close to original condition and configuration.

I picked up a nice Chinese blade bayonet stock on Ebay,  and a Russian one too for back-up in case  there were any issues with the Chinese stock or  I didn't win that auction.  The auction for the Russian stock ended before the Chinese.

Paid  $125 for the Russian stock with the shipping and California Bandit tax,  about $117 for the Chinese.......  nice stocks,  but expensive.

I still need a bayonet,  rear sight leaf and spring, handguard,  and a correct magazine  to finish it off.   I know of parts places where I can get everything but the magazine (out of stock at the parts places),  but hoping to pick them up from a private party on one of the AK or SKS sites I am a member of.

With nice original stock, looks lots better!






This is the stock Bubba put it in,  our friend got it in this configuration:

[carls sks]

nice improvement, doing good.

[Marcus]

It's amazing how much better it looks just by getting rid of that "tactical" stock and the duckbill magazines, and dropping it into a nice correct original Chinese stock.

[Phosphorus32]

It's amazing how much better it looks just by getting rid of that "tactical" stock and the duckbill magazines, and dropping it into a nice correct original Chinese stock.

Indeed! Original configuration and wood are both beautiful things 

[BMont]

Grab a bayo and a cleaning rod and your there!  Nice

[Marcus]

Cleaning rod is on the way,  I made a deal for a bayonet and handguard,   working on finalizing a deal for a magazine and rear sight leaf & spring.   

Once I get all those parts,   she's back to correct original configuration and ready to  take out back to my little range and see how she shoots.

Totaling up the cost of restoring this rifle for my cousin,  I have a significant investment in the parts.   But still way less than the restored value of the rifle.   

If  this was one of the project rifles that I just stuck in the vault and picked up parts as they became available at lower prices,  I could cut the cost down some.  But a lot of these parts are only becoming increasingly hard to find and costly,  so this strategy might not work as well as it has for me in the past with restorations.  And I did want to get this done so I can return it to my cousin, who, like me,  originally got into SKS rifles  with the Vietnam  Bring-backs  that were occasionally available, long before the imports from Russia and China.

Also,  I paid a premium on the stock, but it is a premium stock and I think it really makes the rifle.  Most stocks I see for blade bayonet SKS rifles are either beaters off Romanian rifles or those Chinese ones that came in from Albania  or are pricey Russian stocks - and I grabbed one of those too, just in case.

There is also a certain sense of satisfaction that comes from saving a piece of history like this, and  undoing Bubba's vandalism of long abo.

[High Noon]

Will be a nice one once you're done! 

[Bacarnal]