Romanian SKS rare?

[deadcoyote]

I bought the worlds ugliest SKS from my local pawn shop for $75. It looks like someone dragged it behind a quad then left it in a wood shed for a couple of winters. A lot of surface rust, and "Daniella" carved into the stock in 1.5" letters.
I bought an unissued surplus SKS stock for $13, a new bolt carrier and dust cover for $26, and a peep sight to replace the rear sight for $20. Topped it all off with a cheap 2" extended rubber butt pad for $12. So for less than $150 I figured I'd have a nice SKS that actiually fits my 6'6" frame and has a decent site for hog hunting.
Unfortunately my co-worker, who is pretty knowledgable about firearms, states Romanian SKS's are rare and it should be preserved as a collectors piece. It's already pretty much shot but the bore looks good and it functions ok. What do you guys think.

PS, Sorry for starting an SKS thread on the C&R forum. I know technically its C&:DR but It doesn't exactly inspire me with beauty or old world elegance when i hold an SKS.

[XLT]

My feeling is "shoot it if you got it..."

doesn't sound like anything you did was permanent anyway, just keep the old stuff in case you decide to sell later.

I have a yugo 59/66 that I use as my hog gun, and a yugo m59 that stays in the gun cabinet as is.

[raftman]

I wouldn't worry about the rarity of a Romanian SKS whatsoever. They may not be as common as the Russian ones, but they're not as valuable either. I personally wouldn't pay $300 or more for a Romanian one. If you're worried about collector's value, just be sure to keep the parts you've swapped out and maybe try to clean them up in some way that's not destructive to their potential value. But anyways, yeah, I'd say shoot it and enjoy it.

[deadcoyote]

I pretty much felt an SKS couldnt be too special. Its already in horrible shape. I'm starting today, Hopefully will post some before and after pics in a bout two weeks.

[olyinaz]

Yes indeed, pictures a must! And I beg to differ with you - I think SKSs are very attractive as are SVT-40s and and early FALs and any semi-auto military arm with a wood stock set.

http://www.pbase.com/olyinaz/image/121113710/original.jpg

Cheers,
Oly

[OldShooter]

OLy,

That's pretty but where's the blade?

I have a nice 151 Tula, looks like yours but with a polished bayonnet.

[olyinaz]

The poker is still in the box in storage. Mine's a Norinco and I prefer the looks of it without it so I figured I'd just leave it off.

Keeping my eyes peeled for a nice Tula at a reasonable price (that ship may have sailed...).

Cheers,
Oly

[UtahHunting]

Rare is a relative term. I don't see as many Romanian's as the Yugo's or Chinese but I don't consider them rare, at least by my standards. Personally the Romanian is my 2nd favorite sks behind the Norinco. Mine is a great shooter. I have been told the Romanian's are milled receivers where the others are not, I do not know if there is any truth to that. It sounds like you got a heck of deal. I would shoot the hell out of it.

Here is a pic of my all matching numbers Romanian.

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii94/dtycoon2003/P2030379.jpg

[XLT]

never seen an sks that wasn't a milled receiver... think we're talking AK language here...

[raftman]

never seen an sks that wasn't a milled receiver... think we're talking AK language here...

You're right, so whoever passed on the given piece of "info" was far from correct... but oddly enough, even if we were talking AK's, the receiver on the Romanian AK's is stamped, isn't it?

In any case, there is not nearly as much disparity in terms of quality between the various versions of the SKS, when compared to the AK, but generally speaking Romania hasn't been known to produce the finest specimen of any of the Eastern Bloc guns.

[XLT]

Don't know if they ever had a milled AK variant, I don't think so. But I'm not informed on the issus... My Romanian AK is stamped

[raftman]

Don't know if they ever had a milled AK variant, I don't think so.

The Russians made a milled variant, as did the Bulgarians, and probably others too.

[deadcoyote]

Don't forget the Galil, produced by Israel. Some AK enthusiasts don't consider it an AK copy but I think it fits the bill. Had a milled receive too.:D

[gyvel]

The milled vs. stamped discussion on the SKS usually refers to the trigger guard assembly.

The Chinese also made some milled receiver AKs, as did Valmet. I shot a Chinese AK select fire that was confiscated from a Vietnam vet that was milled and it operated as smooth as glass.