My first Russian SKS...a 1954 TULA....lots of pics...

[ybrik]

Greetings from Canada!
Folks, I am new in this forum.
I'd like to learn more of what I got here.
I'm so new to the SKS platform that I haven't field stripped this carbine yet..

Enjoy the pics...









































These are all the pics I could take without disassembly. I'm believe there are more markings underneath the bolt carrier and bolt.
Let me know if there are more markings that I am not aware of that I could also post here.

I need to go through the SKS HOWTOs to dis assemble this. 

What do you think fellas...how did I do on this one?

[running-man]

Welcome to the ranks of SKS ownership!

Looks like a nice Russian SKS-45!  1954 is the most common year typically found out there.  AB is a known prefix for '54 and the metal parts all look as they should.  Bayo lacks the gold chromate coating, but in my book that is not a huge deal on one of these.  A definite plus is that this carbine is pinned internal to the magazine and not riveted externally or even worse Frankenpinned. 

You'll get different opinions on the stock.  I have no doubt it is the original stock to the carbine though some will say it is as-issued, others will say it's likely been lightly refinished.  The double struck cartouche on the right side of the stock is certainly not something commonly seen, so that is certainly interesting. The sans serif 1 in the S/N matches other as-issued stocks from the '54 AB series I have in my files.  The "A" seems a bit short on the bottom legs, in fact it almost looks like a Д.  Some of the other "A's" from '54 are a bit similar though so it may have just been a worn stamp or stamped poorly.  The color in some of the photos seems a bit more brown than I'd expect for an original finish, but it may just be your lighting not popping the ruby red I'd expect. 

Make sure to pull the firing pin out of the bolt and clean the channel thoroughly before you fire it. 

[Boris Badinov]

Nice looking rifle.

It has the hallmarks of an unissued, straight-to-long-term storage rifle, and no wear that might indicate issued use.

The darker stock color that RM comments on could be a trick of the lighting in the photos. But stored rifles were subject to regular inspection and maintenance of the wood and metal to prevent corrosion and correct cracking or flaking wood finish. The Soviets used VK-1 nitrocellulose lacquer on the sks45 stock. VK-1 has a natural reddish-brown tint. So any lacquer added during storage maintenance would have the effect of darkening the stock finish.

As RM stated, 1954 is the most common year. But the high condition of your rifle is not as common. There appears to be modest damage to the wood on the right side, by the bolt carrier. Regardless, you got a very nice example. Congratulations!

 

[running-man]

Very well could be the lighting.  Here are a few of the more reddish 'as-issued' '54 examples we've seen:





Not to say that darker brown as-issued examples aren't out there:







or lighter red & lighter brown for that matter:




And then, some of the Izhevsks are straight up blonde    ...but that is something for another post.

[ybrik]

Welcome to the ranks of SKS ownership!

Looks like a nice Russian SKS-45!  1954 is the most common year typically found out there.  AB is a known prefix for '54 and the metal parts all look as they should.  Bayo lacks the gold chromate coating, but in my book that is not a huge deal on one of these.  A definite plus is that this carbine is pinned internal to the magazine and not riveted externally or even worse Frankenpinned. 

You'll get different opinions on the stock.  I have no doubt it is the original stock to the carbine though some will say it is as-issued, others will say it's likely been lightly refinished.  The double struck cartouche on the right side of the stock is certainly not something commonly seen, so that is certainly interesting. The sans serif 1 in the S/N matches other as-issued stocks from the '54 AB series I have in my files.  The "A" seems a bit short on the bottom legs, in fact it almost looks like a Д.  Some of the other "A's" from '54 are a bit similar though so it may have just been a worn stamp or stamped poorly.  The color in some of the photos seems a bit more brown than I'd expect for an original finish, but it may just be your lighting not popping the ruby red I'd expect. 

Make sure to pull the firing pin out of the bolt and clean the channel thoroughly before you fire it. 

Thanks running-man for the comments.
I still have a lot to learn on russian SKS. Do you mean the gold chromate on the blade for these ones was removed, was worn out or the blade was refinished? I initially thought it was a sign of corrosion and never knew about gold chromate.
I really liked how the magazine was internally blocked on this one when I inspected it.

Regarding the stock, those pics are from indoor lighting and was taken at night. I can assure you the color is reddish.
I will try to take some pics under natural lighting.
It looks more like the left side of the stock with inspection markings and that is a photo with a flash.

That A in its serials all looked consistent but not same as Д, could be really poorly stamped.

Are there other online resource with lots of pics for Russian SKS-45 just like from that of https://chinesesks.weebly.com/ ?

[ybrik]

Nice looking rifle.

It has the hallmarks of an unissued, straight-to-long-term storage rifle, and no wear that might indicate issued use.

The darker stock color that RM comments on could be a trick of the lighting in the photos. But stored rifles were subject to regular inspection and maintenance of the wood and metal to prevent corrosion and correct cracking or flaking wood finish. The Soviets used VK-1 nitrocellulose lacquer on the sks45 stock. VK-1 has a natural reddish-brown tint. So any lacquer added during storage maintenance would have the effect of darkening the stock finish.

As RM stated, 1954 is the most common year. But the high condition of your rifle is not as common. There appears to be modest damage to the wood on the right side, by the bolt carrier. Regardless, you got a very nice example. Congratulations!

 

Thanks for these info BB.
I really believed that at some point the the stock was refinished, and yes that right side portion of stock by the bolt carrier has some scratch on the edge that would somehow would have shown the wood's natural color and it has been refinished, probably that VK-1 lacquer you had mentioned.

[Boris Badinov]

Nice looking rifle.

It has the hallmarks of an unissued, straight-to-long-term storage rifle, and no wear that might indicate issued use.

The darker stock color that RM comments on could be a trick of the lighting in the photos. But stored rifles were subject to regular inspection and maintenance of the wood and metal to prevent corrosion and correct cracking or flaking wood finish. The Soviets used VK-1 nitrocellulose lacquer on the sks45 stock. VK-1 has a natural reddish-brown tint. So any lacquer added during storage maintenance would have the effect of darkening the stock finish.

As RM stated, 1954 is the most common year. But the high condition of your rifle is not as common. There appears to be modest damage to the wood on the right side, by the bolt carrier. Regardless, you got a very nice example. Congratulations!

 

Thanks for these info BB.
I really believed that at some point the the stock was refinished, and yes that right side portion of stock by the bolt carrier has some scratch on the edge that would somehow would have shown the wood's natural color and it has been refinished, probably that VK-1 lacquer you had mentioned.

On high condition, unissued sks45s there is very often evidence of the lacquer refinishing: i.e. remnants of lacquer along the edges of the butt plate, and accumulated in the crossbolt recesses.

I would almost expect a rifle in this good of condition to have a gold or black chromate coating on the bayonet.

Do you have any photos of the staking marks on the bayonet retaining screw?

[running-man]

Thanks running-man for the comments.
I still have a lot to learn on russian SKS. Do you mean the gold chromate on the blade for these ones was removed, was worn out or the blade was refinished? I initially thought it was a sign of corrosion and never knew about gold chromate.
I really liked how the magazine was internally blocked on this one when I inspected it.

Regarding the stock, those pics are from indoor lighting and was taken at night. I can assure you the color is reddish.
I will try to take some pics under natural lighting.
It looks more like the left side of the stock with inspection markings and that is a photo with a flash.

That A in its serials all looked consistent but not same as Д, could be really poorly stamped.

Are there other online resource with lots of pics for Russian SKS-45 just like from that of https://chinesesks.weebly.com/ ?

Would love to see some outdoor photos of that stock in natural light for sure!  As Boris has mentioned and I'll certainly affirm: your carbine is quite nice.



The chromate coating is one of the unknowable and oftentimes hotly debated traits we see on SKS-45 carbines.  Some say that the coating is original from the factory, others say that it is something applied prior to long term storage, others that it was applied after a light refurbishment. Stake marks on the bayo screw can tell you some things, but they cannot tell you that a bayonet has not been removed/replaced and the original screw replaced and clocked exactly back to where it was.  The uncertainty in the collecting community is one of the reasons I don't consider a gold bayo to be a make or break feature when assessing a nice Russian SKS.  Many nice what I'd consider 'as-issued' guns have it, many nice 'as-issued' carbines don't have it, I've seen a full spectrum of different bayos turn up on clearly light refurbished guns, I'd say essentially zero heavy refurbished carbines have golden bayos.  Take that anecdotal info for what it's worth.  It is known that the gold coating can and has been removed by collectors. (initially many thought it was dried Cosmolene/preservative) so there is that too.

The Weebly pages are all maintained by us here at SKS-Files.  There is a set of guides for all nationalities, though some guides are more complete than others.  Goto www.SKSGuide.com and there you will find the Russian pages.  Not as comprehensive as the Chinese guide perhaps, but a good resource nonetheless (in fact now that I look through it there's a good chunk that was never populated...I need to add that to my list to get to at some point in time!) 

[ybrik]

That's interesting after reading your message and I learned something new today.
Here are more pics that will give a much clearer idea on the color of its stock.












...and that stupid mag pin regulation that we have here.


Here's the front end half of the blade bayo.
Could this be a sign of gold chromate applied previously?
It's only apparent on the left side of the blade, none on the right.


...with flash




with flash


right side of bayo blade


with flash


Bayo screw stake marks


Another inspection stamp by the barrel

How does the SKS-45 differ from AK-47 in terms of these inspection/cartouche markings?

I will definitely check www.sksguide.com and please let me know when you had updated it.

[ybrik]

Which is the correct oil bottle that was issued with this carbine?
A double-neck round bottle or the rectangular one?

[running-man]

Double neck round is what fits best into the leather belt pouches as far as I know.

[ybrik]

Thanks r-m. Google's Gemini has inconsistent info regarding this ...says one answer for the round and another for rectangular.

[echo1]

Very nice rig PAX

[ybrik]

What is the deal with grey-painted metal buckle straps on slings?

I thought what I got was only a one-off, but I had seen another same one on youtube SKS vid.




Was this during re-arsenal and why?