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What did I just buy?
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you have a 1992 or 1993 cut down sks rifle, imported by the thousands. it is a very nice rifle, what you have is not a cowboy companion,( it is what is commonly called a sks para) it did use the early sks scope and mount. the scopes are rare and are running around $400 to $500 for one. good find.
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you bought a handy SKS Navy Arms Cowboys Companion.Pretty decent condition-how much?Some were imported and cut down and some were done overseas.usually military SKS just cut down to this config.came in different flavours and the companion was one of them.Pretty much a commercial marketing ploy by val forgett of Navy Arms.but fun to use...
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I have the NAVY ARMS imported one. I lucked out and found the scope (cheapie RED STAR) and the mount at a gun show a year later, at a junk table. I suspect a lot of folks who came across the scoped mounts didn't know what they went to, and they seperated the scope from the mounts and chuck the mounts in the trash, and kept the scope
the SKS I have, has the barrel screwed into the receiver, not pinned in, has a russian rear sight on it, and stamped trigger housing. They filled in the recess in the stock, where the spike bayonet folds into, with wood. no bayonet of course, but it does has the cleaning rod, they put a clip with a small screw on the cleaning rod guide, so the cleaning rod stay put.
the SKS I have, has the barrel screwed into the receiver, not pinned in, has a russian rear sight on it, and stamped trigger housing. They filled in the recess in the stock, where the spike bayonet folds into, with wood. no bayonet of course, but it does has the cleaning rod, they put a clip with a small screw on the cleaning rod guide, so the cleaning rod stay put.
SfcRet..., nice rifle.., Yes, you see those mounts around once in a while. Not very common and not many were imported evidently. There is the type with the thumbscrew and the type 89 with a lever and also several types of scopes. The Red Star 4X20 as in your pic being the most often seen.
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Thanks, it would be a much better rifle, if they hadn't butcher the thing to a "cowboy companion" as this one is a SINO-SOVIET SKS. But what is done is done.
The rumor I have heard is that they sold the scopes at a additional price, that they didn't come automatically with the rifle. Like I said, rumor I just heard.
I came across a few Amercian market made "SKS SNIPER" rifles for sale, at high prices naturally. they were the regular size SKS in a wood case, with yellow star on the the lid, has scoped mount in a box, cover, and few more accesories.
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here are pictures of a few i have left. i had hundreds of them. i have posted else where about the history of these. these are not for sale.
note: they were all imported with a bayonet on them.
some sks information
i found some of the sks para's in the safe that were built as para's. these were assembled from parts, new receivers, original barrels were new rifle barrels cut down ( all 300 were screwed barrels) most of the barrels were long lug, the trigger housing were all milled, all have matching numbers, about 1/2 were blade bayonet and the other half were the crosifix ( spelling is wrong). all came with a bayonet mounted on them. all have the lighting cult bolts. the stocks were new and most were the chu wood light blonde. ( some of these were changed out to an older stock. the second and third from the top are the original stocks) no factory code, no china symbles stamped on the side, 5 diget serial numbers, ( some starting with "0"). these are very rare.
all the barrels are the heavy barrel. i think i got these at the end of 1993 or early 1994. ( not sure). these have never been fired. as far as i know this was the only batch of sks para's that were made as para's and not cut down rifles. when the china import ban hit that stopped it all.
a litle more sks information:
back in 1991 or 1992 ( i am not real sure the year it was) a couple of friends and i were going to build a sks that would take a ak mag . we bought almost 1000 of the china ska para's. we stripped them down, removed the wood stock, mag release, handguard, took off the bayonet. got them ready to install a mag catch, it was a small metal catch that a hole was drilled into the bottom of the receiver,taped and the catch was mounted. a oversize mag realease was installed, black metal perferated handguard installed, installed a pinned on muzzle brake, dyed the slings black ( ritz dye) in a wash tub, we used the black composite folding stock made for the sks-m. there was a little milling on the receiver to be done, but i don't remember what it was.
it would have turned out to be a really nice looking rifle. then the ban hit and some other problems with the atfe, so we abandoned the idea. divided up the para's. one of the guys sold all his, the other guy and i put them in storage until the end of 2006.
then we sold off most of them. he kept a few and i kept some. we had never put them back together with the wood stocks, so the stock didn't match nor did the 10 round mags, but they sold as fast as we could put them back together (the drive way and the garage was full of sks parts). most of them still had the metal handguards and the extended mag release on them when we sold them. if i can remember which safe they are in i will dig out a couple of them out and take a few pictures.
for the most part they were all milled rifles, some were the SINO-SOVIET SKS rifles, most had the early scope mounts, some had the heavy barrels on them, all still had the bayonet lugs ( they had bayonets when we got them.) these are still full of cosmolene ( i wiped off the outside some.)
bottom line was they would have made a great little rifle, but there were some problem with the building of them with the atfe at the time, so none were ever made.
i only kept 20 or 30 of the para's for me, wish i had kept a couple of hundred of them now.
note: they were all imported with a bayonet on them.
some sks information
i found some of the sks para's in the safe that were built as para's. these were assembled from parts, new receivers, original barrels were new rifle barrels cut down ( all 300 were screwed barrels) most of the barrels were long lug, the trigger housing were all milled, all have matching numbers, about 1/2 were blade bayonet and the other half were the crosifix ( spelling is wrong). all came with a bayonet mounted on them. all have the lighting cult bolts. the stocks were new and most were the chu wood light blonde. ( some of these were changed out to an older stock. the second and third from the top are the original stocks) no factory code, no china symbles stamped on the side, 5 diget serial numbers, ( some starting with "0"). these are very rare.
all the barrels are the heavy barrel. i think i got these at the end of 1993 or early 1994. ( not sure). these have never been fired. as far as i know this was the only batch of sks para's that were made as para's and not cut down rifles. when the china import ban hit that stopped it all.
a litle more sks information:
back in 1991 or 1992 ( i am not real sure the year it was) a couple of friends and i were going to build a sks that would take a ak mag . we bought almost 1000 of the china ska para's. we stripped them down, removed the wood stock, mag release, handguard, took off the bayonet. got them ready to install a mag catch, it was a small metal catch that a hole was drilled into the bottom of the receiver,taped and the catch was mounted. a oversize mag realease was installed, black metal perferated handguard installed, installed a pinned on muzzle brake, dyed the slings black ( ritz dye) in a wash tub, we used the black composite folding stock made for the sks-m. there was a little milling on the receiver to be done, but i don't remember what it was.
it would have turned out to be a really nice looking rifle. then the ban hit and some other problems with the atfe, so we abandoned the idea. divided up the para's. one of the guys sold all his, the other guy and i put them in storage until the end of 2006.
then we sold off most of them. he kept a few and i kept some. we had never put them back together with the wood stocks, so the stock didn't match nor did the 10 round mags, but they sold as fast as we could put them back together (the drive way and the garage was full of sks parts). most of them still had the metal handguards and the extended mag release on them when we sold them. if i can remember which safe they are in i will dig out a couple of them out and take a few pictures.
for the most part they were all milled rifles, some were the SINO-SOVIET SKS rifles, most had the early scope mounts, some had the heavy barrels on them, all still had the bayonet lugs ( they had bayonets when we got them.) these are still full of cosmolene ( i wiped off the outside some.)
bottom line was they would have made a great little rifle, but there were some problem with the building of them with the atfe at the time, so none were ever made.
i only kept 20 or 30 of the para's for me, wish i had kept a couple of hundred of them now.
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At the time these were imported distributors did try new things to make a sale, and copying other distributors successful designs it wouldn't surprise me but the earlier posters are correct, the cowboys companion was a navy arms import only. K Sports was known for importing some of the better SKS's though and I'm sure it's of the same quality as the cowboy's companion. Any idea on what scope mount would fit it?
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when i bought the sks para's, i didn't know that there was going to be a scope mount on some of them. later i tried to get some and the wholesale price, with scope was as much as the rifle, so i did not buy any. hind site is very clear now. seems like there were 2 different sizes of scope mounts on the rifles. then the ban hit and that was it, no one was importing anything gun related ( not just guns) any more from china for fear they could not sell it.
there were a lot of importers of the sks rifle at the time. i delt with maybe 8 or 10 different ones and there were more of them. 2 in texas, 3-4 in calif, 1 in .nj., i don't remember the rest.
the 300 para's (all parts made rifles) i got was a 1 time deal, the guys that bought them got a bank loan and by the time the rifles got past customs, etc. the loan was due. i bought them at there cost so they could pay the loan.
lots of wheeling and dealing in those times.
Over time I have bought sold and collected a few of the scoped Chinese SKS rifles. The so called "west coast" rail as displayed in the original post is not the same as a Navy Arms style rail. I am not aware of what scope mount fits that rail.
The Chinese rifles were produced with several variations of receiver mounted scopes and mounts.
The rear mounted Navy Arms rail designed for small scopes came in at least two types of mounts and three types of scopes.
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The type 89 clamp style mount and the thumbscrew style mount. The top scope is the 2.75X18 and the bottom is a variable 1.5X5X20 scope (seldom seen)
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The top rifle is a paratrooper (Cowboy Companion) by Navy Arms with a type 89 mount and a less common 2.75X18 scope.
Middle rifle is a full size Navy Arms "Sharpshooter" with type 89 mount and 2.75X18 scope
Bottom rifle is a Chinese copy of the Russian PU style mount with 4X20 Red Star most common scope. This base includes a windage adjustment screw not found on the Russian base and a flat rear for SKS and AK mounting.
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The Chinese copy of a Russian PU mount was used on AK and SKS rifles. It featured an additional windage screw not seen on a Russian base. Here pictured a couple of varieties with 4X20 Chinese Red Star scope.
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Other scoped variations included the Farmers Friend by Navy Arms which included a forward set rail and larger scope and a wooden transit chest. Also a paratroopper with a large scope as well.
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The Chinese rifles were produced with several variations of receiver mounted scopes and mounts.
The rear mounted Navy Arms rail designed for small scopes came in at least two types of mounts and three types of scopes.
The type 89 clamp style mount and the thumbscrew style mount. The top scope is the 2.75X18 and the bottom is a variable 1.5X5X20 scope (seldom seen)
The top rifle is a paratrooper (Cowboy Companion) by Navy Arms with a type 89 mount and a less common 2.75X18 scope.
Middle rifle is a full size Navy Arms "Sharpshooter" with type 89 mount and 2.75X18 scope
Bottom rifle is a Chinese copy of the Russian PU style mount with 4X20 Red Star most common scope. This base includes a windage adjustment screw not found on the Russian base and a flat rear for SKS and AK mounting.
The Chinese copy of a Russian PU mount was used on AK and SKS rifles. It featured an additional windage screw not seen on a Russian base. Here pictured a couple of varieties with 4X20 Chinese Red Star scope.
Other scoped variations included the Farmers Friend by Navy Arms which included a forward set rail and larger scope and a wooden transit chest. Also a paratroopper with a large scope as well.
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doc 540-yes it is-sorry to mislead you-I should have looked at the import marks more closely.for some reason I was thinking you said Navy Arms was tattooed somewhere on it 
.enjoyed all the pictures everyone posted.makes me wish the Chinese stuff could be imported again.
.enjoyed all the pictures everyone posted.makes me wish the Chinese stuff could be imported again.
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223 Posts
Hi fellows new guy here, I was googling trying to find some info on my newest SKS purchase and I brought up this thread. First of all I would like to say hi and commend the ones in this thread on your guns & pictures. Some of the nicest I have seen anywhere.
Now getting down to mine like capt ron said it has no Chinese symbols and no armory mark, but has a milled trigger gaurd with a theaded barrel and all matching numbers. Also set up for a blade bayo.
The serial 09900. It's hard to read the importer but looks like BTC Sle Monte Ca? (any help there?) and did I finnally run across a good one?
ps.. I should have cleaned it up first but just couldn't wait.
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Now getting down to mine
like capt ron said it has no Chinese symbols and no armory mark, but has a milled trigger gaurd with a theaded barrel and all matching numbers. Also set up for a blade bayo.The serial 09900. It's hard to read the importer but looks like BTC Sle Monte Ca? (any help there?) and did I finnally run across a good one?
ps.. I should have cleaned it up first but just couldn't wait.
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