Russian SKS

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I have a Russian SKS that has no import or makers marks.
The left side of the receiver only has a very small proof mark behind where the barrel is attached to the receiver, and what looks like an op stamped above what looks like an on and 3 numbers which I assume is the serial number. The same stamping is on the bolt, dust cover, trigger guard and stock. The dust cover and stock also have a star with an arrow pointed towards the muzzle and 1953r stamped on them.
The stock also has a stamp on the right side that I can't make out. The breech area of the barrel also has 5 small proof marks. It seems to be all matching except the magazine.
The magazine has been replaced with an AK type mag that is American made.

My question is, did someone import Russian SKS rifles and not mark them, was this common?
Could this be a Viet Nam Bring back?

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[wiscoaster]

An arrow inside of a triangle is Izhevsk arsenal; a star is Tula arsenal.

Importer's marks weren't required before 1968.

If you could take some pics and post them here, someone here could probably help you out with a lot of information based on those marks.

 

[BigBlue 94]

Likely a wartime bring-back.

My 1957 Romanian SKS has zero import markings as well. No roll stamp listing a maker or patents either.

Check for serial numbers stamped on different major pieces like the bolt, receiver, etc. Romanian serials were a pair of Letters followed by four numbers. If they all match, you have quite a desired rifle.

 

[SC45-70]

Likely a wartime bring-back.

My 1957 Romanian SKS has zero import markings as well. No roll stamp listing a maker or patents either.

Check for serial numbers stamped on different major pieces like the bolt, receiver, etc. Romanian serials were a pair of Letters followed by four numbers. If they all match, you have quite a desired rifle.

All the numbers match except the magazine (that's missing).
Mine has what looks like o n then a three digit number (under 250) stamped on the receiver, bolt, cover, trigger guard and stock.

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[BigBlue 94]

Shame about the box mag, but otherwise it sounds like a great example of a wartime bring-back. Find a (box) mag and let er eat! They are the highest quality SKS out there, and the SKS is built like a tank. The only SKS that is a better find is an East German one.

Edit: I see you have a mag already. Is it AK style or the duckbill SKS style?

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

All the numbers match except the magazine (that's missing).
Mine has what looks like o n then a three digit number (under 250) stamped on the receiver, bolt, cover, trigger guard and stock.

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Pics or its not real!

 

[SC45-70]

Maybe these will help.

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[SC45-70]

Proof marks
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[wiscoaster]

The two characters that look like "o" and "n" to you are the Cyrillic characters for the equivalent Latin "o" and "p". Yes, they are the first two characters of the serial number.

You will know you have a genuine Russian SKS if the serial number consists of two Cyrillic characters and a four-digit number.

The four digit number followed by a character that looks like a lower-case "r" is the year of manufacture. (the character is simply an abbreviation for "year") I can't make out the final digit, but it's definitely 1950's something. Might have been overstamped on a replacement stock.

If the receiver stamp shows a star enclosing an upward-pointing arrow, the SKS was manufactured in Tula, Russia, probably before 1956.

Quotes from this website: https://www.ehow.co.uk

 

[wiscoaster]

Looks like you have some fun with Cosmoline coming up in the near future.

 

[SC45-70]

Shame about the box mag, but otherwise it sounds like a great example of a wartime bring-back. Find a (box) mag and let er eat! They are the highest quality SKS out there, and the SKS is built like a tank. The only SKS that is a better find is an East German one.

Edit: I see you have a mag already. Is it AK style or the duckbill SKS style?

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[SC45-70]

The two characters that look like "o" and "n" to you are the Cyrillic characters for the equivalent Latin "o" and "p". Yes, they are the first two characters of the serial number.


The four digit number followed by a character that looks like a lower-case "r" is the year of manufacture. (the character is simply an abbreviation for "year") I can't make out the final digit, but it's definitely 1950's something. Might have been overstamped on a replacement stock.


Quotes from this website: https://www.ehow.co.uk

The dust cover is stamped 1953r so is the stock (just hard to see)

The serial number consists of 2 Cyrillic characters and a 3 digit number on this rifle.

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[Derek Wildstar]

OP, your rifle is not a Vietnam trophy rifle.

Your rifle is in fact import stamped...in a way: The Latinized translation of the serial prefix to "OP" is the telltale indication that the rifle was an import from the early 1990's. Importers did this on the Soviet imports for their records. The US military didn't do that on any of the Vietnam bringbacks.

Some of the early import stamps were so faint that they could be rubbed off-- the ATF very quickly put an end to that stamping practice. And some other import stamps are very tiny, almost imperceptibly stamped inside the receiver or on the barrel fore end.

The curved gas port and the single-eared/single-tabbed gas tube release lever narrows date of manufacture to mid-1952 to mid-1954.

 

[wiscoaster]

...Your rifle is in fact import stamped...in a way: The Latinized translation of the serial prefix to "OP" is the telltale indication that the rifle was an import from the early 1990's. Importers did this on the Soviet imports for their records. ....

Yes, and it's kind of funny sometimes what they come up with. For example, I've got a pistol with a serial number that contains the Cyrillic character they call "zhe" and has no Latin equivalent, and was "translated" to a Latin "X" by the importer, which of course it isn't anywhere near as a phoneme, but I suppose maybe kind of looks like as a graphic.

 

[Derek Wildstar]

Ha.

Ive got a trio of soviet Sneaks from Albania-- Soviet sks45's "accidentally" imported from the recent Albanian caches of Chinese Type56's, and import stamped as "M56. MADE IN CHINA"

When we recently moved to California I had to register all of my firearms with Cali DOJ.
On these three rifles: none of the cyrillc prefixes had been Latinized by the importers. Which made for a lot of confusion trying register their serial numbers.

In the end the DOJ simply ignored the cyrillic prefixes on two of the rifles, and accepted the cyrillic prefix on the third rifle which was "3K". Technically its Latinized translation would be "ZK". But DOJ recorded it as: 3K.(Number 3 letter K).

 

[Derek Wildstar]

Now that I think about it, Century International Arms, (CAI) was the only importer that used the Latin Translations for the the Soviet serial prefixes. All of the other importers stamped their rifles with their own, unique serial number progressions.

So the OP rifle is one of the early CAI imports.

 

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Thanks guys
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