[mmediaguy]

I picked this Russian SKS up at a pawn shop today, because it’s a low cost investment in this particular climate for Russkie and Chinese weapons.

I got this for $849 tax included. Numbers matching. The thing is I read so much conflicting info on the internet when it comes to identification. This unit is very different from my Norinco

who is the manufacturer? What year? The importer is on the side.

I am loving this site thanks in advance! Let me know if you need to see other pics!

 

[Boris Badinov]

You have a 1956 "D" Letter rifle refurb. The trigger, though matching, is a replacement that appears to have been scrubbed and re-stamped to match in a different serial font. For $849 it looks like a good deal in the current market.

Can you post more photos of the overall rifle-- stamps, EP serials, stock butt plate?

 

[mmediaguy]

Thanks for the information! I appreciate it. I have attached more pics fr you. Let me know if I forgot one.

 

[Boris Badinov]

Can you post a photo of the top of the butt plate?

 

[mmediaguy]

 

[Big Coulee]

mmed ----- You have a good looking Russian SKS there and it should serve you well for as long as you care to keep it. I have two Russian SKS rifles much like the one you have pictured in detail. Mine are dated 1952. I bought them about 25 years ago for about $125 as best I remember. I've only fired each of them to determine function and reliability, maybe one mag. through each one. Your SKS will only increase in value as time goes by since we'll never import any more of them from Russia or from China for that matter. Hang on to yours they are excellent rifles.

 

[mmediaguy]

mmed ----- You have a good looking Russian SKS there and it should serve you well for as long as you care to keep it. I have two Russian SKS rifles much like the one you have pictured in detail. Mine are dated 1952. I bought them about 25 years ago for about $125 as best I remember. I've only fired each of them to determine function and reliability, maybe one mag. through each one. Your SKS will only increase in value as time goes by since we'll never import any more of them from Russia or from China for that matter. Hang on to yours they are excellent rifles.

Thanks! I’ve got a Chinese Norinco that’s been a safe queen for the past 8 years, but I needed help/info on this Russkie unit because there are too many factors that is more than my little brain can process 😂😂

 

[Phosphorus32]

The D (Д) suffix indicates it’s a 1956, as Boris already pointed out. The star on the side of the receiver indicates that it’s a Tula, since they were the only small arms arsenal I’m aware of to use a star as their arsenal symbol. Therefore, it’s a Soviet 1956 Tula SKS-45, that underwent extensive refurbishment during its service history.

Some hypothesize that an arsenal other than Tula made the letter guns (1956-58). I’m not going to recount the arguments in favor, since I would probably miss some points, and certainly push the thread in another direction, but I’m simply acknowledging that hypothesis.

 

[Highpower3006]

I went on a SKS buying spree about ten years ago and picked up four Russian's over a period of three months. Three were Tula manufactured and one was an Izhevsk. Probably the nicest looking of the lot was a light refurb Tula in a Laminated stock that is a dead ringer for the one the OP has.

While prices have gone up significantly since they were first brought into the US, I think that they have yet to peak on them. A couple of months ago I bought a pristine Chinese Type 56 with the phenolic upper handguard (colloquially called the French Tickler) for $550 and was glad to get it for that price. They are quite pleasant to shoot and can be surprisingly accurate.