1955 Tula Laminated Letter Gun, Non-refurb

[ichab]

Hello All,

I have what I think is an early laminated Tula letter gun that appears to be non-refurbished.  I'd be interested in any thoughts/opinions. Thank you.



Additional photos:
https://imgur.com/a/ECXvgEt

[Boris Badinov]

I would call this a 1956 because is has the д year designator and the cover serial font is the same as the receiver serial.

Does it have stamps around the front cross bolt on the right side of the stock too?

KP serials are generally considered the transition point between 1955 and 1956. But this appears to also be a transitional rifle IMHO

[ichab]

I'll need to check whether it has markings on the right side of the bolt next time I take it out of the safe.  Would it have a 1955 dated dust cover if manufactured in '56?  Did they use leftovers during the transition period?

[running-man]

I read HP as the prefix on this one BB, not KP.  As far as my data shows, HP is not known to have been a transitional prefix.  I'll have to go through the database and pull other HP's to verify. It's Hard to tell if that recover cover is original, but I'd lean towards it being a replacement...

[Boris Badinov]

I read HP as the prefix on this one BB, not KP.  As far as my data shows, HP is not known to have been a transitional prefix.  I'll have to go through the database and pull other HP's to verify. It's Hard to tell if that recover cover is original, but I'd lean towards it being a replacement...

The cover and receiver serials look like a perfect match. No?

[running-man]

Fonts look fine to me too, Boris.  I was more referring to the relatively sharp edge on the radius all along the back surface, like the whole cover was ground down to reapply a new S/N.  (It may be the lighting too though.)  I typically only notice that feature on a reserialized cover, though with these '56's maybe they had some '55 covers that they had to grind down for some reason in order to apply the correct original S/N onto in the initial build?  Stranger things have happened.

OP, I found your gun in my files from photos way back in November, 2014.  It's quite a nice one.  Only 4 of them and they may actually be the same photos you posted (especially the rear receiver cover #).







I found a few other HP...._Д carbines in my files. Pretty inconclusive though as they are all clearly refurbs:

HP326_Д:



HP1876_Д:




HP2815_Д:




HP3850_Д:



This one is by far the most interesting, because it has one of the Tula star w/o date covers (though it is both refurbed and Bubba'd).  HP4907_D:

[ichab]

Yep, same photos.  I had posted a while back to the SkS Boards but was interested in seeing if there was any additional information to be gained on the rifle.  I'm too lazy to do a teardown again for photos of the bolt, op rod, etc.  But if there's anything else I should look for on the exterior that's not in the existing photos, let me know.

[echo1]

It's still boss, PAX

[Boris Badinov]

Yep, same photos.  I had posted a while back to the SkS Boards but was interested in seeing if there was any additional information to be gained on the rifle.  I'm too lazy to do a teardown again for photos of the bolt, op rod, etc.  But if there's anything else I should look for on the exterior that's not in the existing photos, let me know.

I see the stamps around the  front crossbolt on the left side of the stock. Are there any stamps around the crossbolt on the right side of the stock?

[Boris Badinov]

Fonts look fine to me too, Boris.  I was more referring to the relatively sharp edge on the radius all along the back surface, like the whole cover was ground down to reapply a new S/N.  (It may be the lighting too though.)  I typically only notice that feature on a reserialized cover, though with these '56's maybe they had some '55 covers that they had to grind down for some reason in order to apply the correct original S/N onto in the initial build?  Stranger things have happened.

The receiver and cover fonts on HP1876 appear identical.

Here's an "enhanced" photo of the cover for HP2815, it also appears to be identical font to the receiver. Note the big hook of the 2 and serif 1. The shapes of the 6 and 5 as well.




IMO, the OP rifle could be an all original parts carbine. 

I'm curious to find out about any crossbolt stamps on the right side of the stock.

[ichab]

I'll post photos of the right side of the crossbolt once I have a chance to dig it out from the back of the safe.

[Boris Badinov]

I'll post photos of the right side of the crossbolt once I have a chance to dig it out from the back of the safe.

Can you also get a photo of the serial number etched on the underside of the piston tube?

Laminate stock and handguard are an uncommon pairing for a refurb rifle. I suspect that your rifle may be all original. A matched serial on the piston tube would be a strong argument for an all original parts carbine, imho. As well as the 4 crossbolt stamps we see on  left side too (also, imho). Right side crossbolt stamps even moreso.

[ichab]

Yes, I'll grab a photo of that too.

[ichab]

https://imgur.com/a/8AogzbM

No markings on the right side of the crossbolt that I can see.

[ichab]

https://imgur.com/a/mEfJYxw

Here's the underside of the gas tube.

[Boris Badinov]

https://imgur.com/a/mEfJYxw

Here's the underside of the gas tube.

Thanks. It's a very interesting carbine. All the parts bear the traits attributed to an original parts Soviet SKS45.

There's a lot we don't know about the transition between 1955 and the 1956-58 letter guns. But, I don't see anything on this rifle to suggest refurbishment, or that it's anything other than an all-original-parts rifle.