Getting back into SK vet brinbacks ....

[gew98]

I picked up several months ago a chinese 9 mil serial range type56. Rode hard , put up wet . All matching but receiver cover. And oddly it's off a '53 tula.  Typical chrome bore , for $500 I think I did AOK. No import marks and it certainly has that been to hell and back from vietnam. I also just picked up a '54 tula that has been refurbed , but it's well used , no import markings - not scrubbed of any either. It is matching , complete , has a cleaning kit in butt. Guy had two that he said came from a vets estate. There is a mark on the top cover below the tula star  - a square with a diagonal line through it. Is this a rework 'mark' of some sort ?.

[gew98]

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[Phosphorus32]

Nice, the "9 mil" is a 1964 so fits in the Vietnam War timeline. I think you did very well for a likely bring-back. $500 is a good price these days for a run-of-the-mill Type 56, let alone one with tangible history.

The "diver down" marking denotes Soviet-era refurbishment, as you surmised, repair depot #1 in Balakliya, Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine.

Vietnam bring-back Russian SKSs are very rare. Does the receiver cover number match the receiver serial number on the Russian?

[gew98]

Yes , it's an honest matching SKS , not a renumbered top cover on this russki example.
 

[gew98]

 I had a 1951 Tula that was super , all matching but magazine box , Had NVA sling , laminate stock , kit in buttstock , A vietnamese girls name scratched in fingergroove , and a barely able to see north vietnamese surname scratched in buttstock. Oh and capture papers from 1971 from 2nd LT of artillery from mequaha Wisconsin. Even had a letter from vet wanting to buy it back from the guy I got it from. I tried writing several letters to vet but none answered or returned sadly. I gave it to a buddy whom was a two tour vietnam vet - he brought back two SKS rifles and never saw a russian one while he was there in '70 and '71. My buddy still has it too.

[Phosphorus32]

All matching, no import mark. You've got a real winner in that Russian 

The papered one would be a truly exceptional piece to have. Nice of you to transfer it to a VN vet for safe keeping.

[gew98]

My friend Jim is a great guy with alot of stories of his 18+ months in Vietnam. He was less then 20 klicks form fire base Mary anne when it was over run in 1971. He was part of the "QRF" used to sweep the adjacent area looking for stragglers after that action. The 25th ID really had a bad rep over there for lack of quality with so many draftees in their ranks and it got a good bunch of them killed along with a national guard artillery unit from Bardstown Ky in that attack.
    I'll drop a little more...on two occasions months apart he was involve din Ambushes on NVA patrols and on those two particular ambushes they recovered two tall blonde haired white men. In both events when they called it in helicopters with dudes in civies scooped up the dead "anomalies". He took pics of them and still has the pics. If anyone had a camera out the civie dressed guys grabbed it and pulled the film out. He already had put his camera in his pack before they got there each time so he got lucky. The 'well dressed' guys said they were deserters working with the NVA...started a rumor. My buddy knew enough to know they were minimally Russians. He said both had the same gear as the NVA they were killed with , but the second one killed later had ranger "beads" hanging form his blouse button hole. Nothing in their packs was out of the ordinary for the typical NVA he encountered. Out of his 5 close friends only himself and one other came home. The other three died there. I fhe gets talking about them he chokes a little and then ...well he's done talking. He is still off put to ever show his photo collection..alot of gore and KIA. I've traded and swapped things back and forth with my buddy for 30+ years. He was at the show when I got the chicom 9 mil serial type 56 and showed him it. He right off said..yeah it was there no doubt about it. His matching SKS he brought back is well worn , while the mismatch one was kinda real nice. I asked him why he brought the mismatch home...he said it was the cleanest one he had come across and the guy carrying it fell not far from him - found him the morning after and it gave him a good scare not knowing an NVA got that close during all the shooting. My uncle went there in 66-67 after he dropped out of college and was signal corps. So he got real lucky not being in the meat grinder , but in the late 80's he died from multiple cancers directly tied to agent orange exposure. Some win , some lose.

[Phosphorus32]

Those are some interesting, and terrifying, stories