| I have to
say at one time I was somewhat indifferent to the SKS carbine.
I think I may have been tainted by an experience with a Norinco
AK 47 repro that I cut my hand on and the wood kept on chipping
away every time it came in contact with any harder surface. Which
was pretty much about ANYTHING on the planet. I ended up trading
it for an M1 Carbine and never looked back.
Later a friend of mine introduced me to the fun of shooting the
SKS. Ever since, I have been hooked.
I now own at least one or more of each of the following SKS carbines:
- Albanian SKS
- Romanian SKS
- Yugoslavian 59/66 SKS
- Chinese SKS
- Russian SKS
I now even have a Norinco SKS and much to my surprise and pleasure,
it is a MUCH higher quality firearm than the AK that I described
above.
The Russian SKS is the most recent SKS that I have added to my
ever growing collection. I went to a friend's store and low and
behold he had two of the Russian beauties on display.
One was a presentation grade SKS that most likely was intended
for or was used by a Soviet Block color guard. It was without a
doubt the most pretty SKS I have ever seen. It had a laminate stock
that was finished and polished to a perfection. The bolt was black?
Yes, I said black. It had some sort of coating or finish on it that
made it look very different and dignified. The sling hardware on
the carbine as well as the metal parts of the sling had a gold finish
(kind of reminded me of something Saddam would have in his bunkers).
To say the least this was a very showy carbine. As I said before
it was probably a color guard's SKS (or I suppose it could have
been owned by a pimp from a 70's TV show).
The other SKS carbine (and the one I chose) was the atypical
Soviet SKS. He was manufactured in 1954. His stock has the ugly
and sloppily painted on dark, red (non-opaque) stain/finish.
I think he may have been arsenal refurbished, which to me is not
really a problem because I just wanted a nice looking shooter that
I could take out every once and awhile to admire and fondle (scary
but true). All metal parts are milled and not stamped. The metal's
finish overall the entire carbine is a strong 100% and appears to
be unissued (although probably is not, but one can always live
a lie). The bayonet has either had some sort of finish applied
over its surface or has just yellowed with age.
He is FATHER, the SKS that all the others in my collection were
designed and manufactured after.
He is simple, elegant, utilitarian, and deserving of my respect.
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