Have I missed something (Norinco SKS prices)?

[Snowdog]

I'm aware the prices of the Norinco SKS have skyrocketed in the past 20 years. I bought mine, NIB covered in cosmoline, for $90 at a local department store. I believe this was in the late 90's and they had a large amount of these carbines that were initially slow to sell it seemed.

I've always tended to buy two and sometimes (but rarely) three of the same firearm if inexpensive and if I liked it enough. I almost did this with the Chicom Type 56 but figured, with the vast number imported, I could surely purchase another later on.

Worse yet, I sold my SKS around 2010 when someone offered to buy it for $400 or so, which I believed at the time was a swell deal.

Now I'm seeing surplus/issued Norinco SKS carbines in comparatively horrific condition selling for about that same price.

Today... I see this: A Norinco SKS (in unissued condition) being auctioned on GB with 99 bids currently with the highest bid at $1,175 and 11 days left! https://www.gunbroker.com/item/875414011

I know the Chinese SKS sports a nice chrome-lined chamber and bore (unlike my Yugo SKS), but is there something about this firearm that I don't know about that makes them so highly sought after?

And yes... I certainly should have purchased a couple more at the time and made something north of 1,200% profit today.

 

[daniel craig]

Nah. They’re $400 all day at classic and PSA. People are getting played by fear scarcity. But also, some people just have nothing better to do than spend money, that’s what keeps capitalism alive.

 

[troy fairweather]

Just cuz people have money don't mean they got brains. I like a sks tho.

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

Sold one of my, issued,two last year for 350. The guy was happy and so was I. (Think I'd bought it 79 or 89 bucks back in the 90's..?)
Still got the other one. They have only showed up on the market again after a long import haitus.

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

Sold one of my, issued,two last year for 350. The guy was happy and so was I. (Think I'd bought it 79 or 89 bucks back in the 90's..?)
Still got the other one. They have only showed up on the market again after a long import haitus.

I believe Canada has been getting them nonstop since '91 or so, though Trudeau and his leftist pals may have finally cut off that pipeline with their latest round of bans.

Once and awhile Ill see brand spankin new Canadian-market SKS at gunshows here (in FL!), but I have no idea what the legality of their importation here is, so I stay away from those tables- too reminiscent of when the ATF was "selling" 4-pin AK receivers a few years ago......

 

[.455_Hunter]

Wow! $1175?!?!

My NIB Norinco with sling and oil bottle was right around $100 when I bought it at a now defunct Boulder LGS in the spring of '94 when I was a HS Senior.

 

[Alaskan Ironworker]

I just picked up a norinco in good to excellent condition for $350.

 

[CapnMac]

Yeah, a significant number walked across the Canadian border after the WJC ban on PRC imports.
So. "Norinco" rates a boost in price over other manufacturers.
The supply of cheap surplus SKSs pretty much has dried up.
Which means most of the stock is from the secondary market, which, by definition, is more expensive.
The days of $79 for an SKS and $79 for a case of ammo are long gone and not coming back anytime soon.
Much like the $25 Moisins, those were all bought up.

 

[TEKoken813]

I had a nice numbers matching Chinese SKS that was bought new for $125. 2 years ago someone offered me $450 for it. I could not sell it fast enough.

 

[chicharrones]

Today... I see this: A Norinco SKS (in unissued condition) being auctioned on GB with 99 bids currently with the highest bid at $1,175 and 11 days left! https://www.gunbroker.com/item/875414011

I know the Chinese SKS sports a nice chrome-lined chamber and bore (unlike my Yugo SKS), but is there something about this firearm that I don't know about that makes them so highly sought after?

That unissued condition is probably as pristine as a Norinco SKS gets in the 21st century.

Sure my unissued Norinco SKS was only 1/10th the price of the one being auctioned, but I bought it in 1993 and all the SKSs at that sporting goods store that day were unissued.

27 years later my SKS is far from being unissued. It's in great shape, but it's been fired many times, has a little wear on it (especially the gas take down lever), and the silver colored bolt knob has turned a bit brown in the knurling from my hand pulling on it through the years.

So, what's the cost of time travel to go back and get the same gun I bought back then? Apparently at least 10 times what I paid back then. Probably cheaper than inventing a time machine.

 

[magyars4]

I bought two back in the early 90s...for some price under a hundred each.
One was a papatrooper model...16" barrel. It burnt up in my hunting cabin!
The other I sold close to 20 years ago for about double what I paid for it....
I wish I'd have bought a dozen of em!

 

[Dibbs]

Nah. They’re $400 all day at classic and PSA. People are getting played by fear scarcity. But also, some people just have nothing better to do than spend money, that’s what keeps capitalism alive.

There's nothing to stop a seller at gunbroker from having an associate shill up their firearm, in value. If nobody bites, the auction quietly goes away, and nobody is the wiser. WTTW, unless you are a serious milsurp collector, an SKS is just an SKS.

 

[Terry G]

I bough two NIB back in the 90's. One regular, one "Paratrooper'. (No Such thing) for $140 or $160, I can't remember exactly. I have been offered a lot more, but I hold onto stuff I like. The Yugoslavian ones are actually better, but they don't have the chromed barrels.

 

[Mullo98]

Because SKSs are not longer made, now I don't know if China are still making them or not, but they can't be imported even if they are brand new. So they're not many come in apart from Albanian surplus. SKSs were cheap back in day because at least 3 countries had 15 wherehouse full of them, now those are Ethier in the hands of gun owners or in service of 3rd militias.

 

[tubeshooter]

No - you haven't missed anything. $1175 is rather unusual, even in these strange times.

Just before the virus came along, I saw one in decent shape at my local shop for $450. That seems to be the going rate for a Norinco in my area. Or was...


I've seen a couple of Russians in very good condition at the last couple of gun shows, and the asking price was $750-$900 or thereabouts.

 

[chicharrones]

I've seen a couple of Russians in very good condition at the last couple of gun shows, and the asking price was $750-$900 or thereabouts.

Can one imagine if an unissued Soviet SKS was up for auction what it would go for?

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

I bough two NIB back in the 90's. One regular, one "Paratrooper'. (No Such thing) for $140 or $160, I can't remember exactly. I have been offered a lot more, but I hold onto stuff I like. The Yugoslavian ones are actually better, but they don't have the chromed barrels.View attachment 933814

Meh, the gas shutoff valves are a weak point to the Yugo guns. Even if you replace them with an aftermarket stainless part, it is still unnecessary complexity if youre not planning on launching any grenades.

Overall, though, ya, Id rate the Yugo guns as quite a bit better in the fit and finish dept. (much nicer wood for sure), than a Norinco- but even the cheapo commercial-market Chicom models with the pinned barrels are still pretty much bulletproof.

 

[Mars5l]

I bought one last month for $525. Yea probably a little high for most, but I wanted one. It was clean and numbers matching.

 

[Snowdog]

So, what's the cost of time travel to go back and get the same gun I bought back then?

I guess it's akin to the prices of some vehicles from the 80's and early 90's that were fairly inexpensive up until 2010 when they too began to be sought after. I love the full size Jeep, the pre '84 Wagoneers and post '84 Grand Wagoneers in particular. These could be bought, in great shape for under $3000 prior to 2010 quite often.

Now that all those kids whose parents drove them around in Wagoneers/Grand Wagoneers are now adults with money, they seek these things out of nostalgia and drive the prices into the stratosphere. The price for a restored Grand Wagoneer go anywhere from $25K to $75K. I kick myself for selling my last GW (my 3rd) in 2007. In the shape it was in, it could have fetched $15k or more on Ebay today. Needing the garage room, I practically gave it away.

 

[Kawamax]

I can’t speak to Chinese SKS prices, but I did sell two Russian SKSs about a month ago for $600 each. I’d had them for 25 years or so, and once I discovered AR’s the SKSs rarely got shot...