Did not buy any guns today but picked up my Chinese Military Type 56 SKS from my local FFL today. I had the high bid on this in the BrandUsedWorks.com auction on November 26th. It looks new. The only two minor faults I found with it, on first glance, are that the bayonet looks rusted but then again on closer inspection it seems it may be a dried protective coating and not any rust at all. I will find out when I clean it. The other thing is a small amount of finish wear at a spot on the right side of the barrel where a rivet in the front leather sling strap rubbed against the metal. Otherwise, like I said it looks new, like it just came out of the factory (and who knows, with all the sneaky stuff the Chinese have reportedly been doing in our country as of late and with the borders wide open - maybe a Chinaman brought in a few thousand of them recently).

Sadly - gone are the days when one of these went for $155.95 shipped, that was the price I paid for each of the first three SKS rifles I bought, they were Yugoslavian SKS rifles with a grenade launcher. I purchased them back in November 2002. I paid considerably more for this one than I paid for all three of those Yugos combined but yet, I guess it was a decent price relative to how much they sell for now.

 

I've not really given it more that a cursory look. I still need to take a good look down the bore, field strip it, clean it and remove any cosomoline if I find any, put it back together and shoot it. That may not be until January as I am going t be very busy over the next few days getting ready for a trip to FL to visit my uncle in West Palm Beach. So, I may not have the time to make a range trip. That's okay though, it gets me back into my comfort zone as THE Great Procrastinator.

All the best,

Glenn B