SKS Bolt Markings?

[kingpin008]

So, I recently made a few posts to share about my first *serious* rifle, a Yugo SKS I picked up at a local fun show.

I field-stripped it the other day to inspect it and clean it up a bit, and in doing so I noticed some markings on the bolt that I couldn't identify. Hopefully you good folks can give me a hand.

Now, these were all on the actual bolt, not the bolt carrier or anywhere else. I haven't noticed any marks whatsoever on the exterior of the rifle itself, so at this point it's a mystery.

Now, there were three markings - On one section, there is a very clearly-struck uppercase T inside a square. To the right side of that marking, is what looks to be a poorly-struck lowercase L or backwards J inside a partial circle. I believe it would have been a complete circle, but it looks like it wasn't struck very well.

On another section of the bolt, is a slightly worn-looking mark consisting of an uppercase N or Z (depending on how you read it) inside a square.

These both have me stumped. I know that Yugo SKS's can be hard to date because there isn't a whole lot of surviving records from the time of their manufacture..but I'm curious to see if there is anything to be learned from these marks.

Anybody able to help?

Thanks!

 

[Mojo-jo-jo]

http://yugosks.net/

You may have already seen this site, but it seems to have the best info I have found on these rifles. If you go to the "Survey" section, there is a table with a breakdown of serial number prefix by production year.

Not much info on the marks you indicated, and I didn't see them mentioned at the site either. My guess is production line information such as inspector number, etc. Yugoslavia only had one arsenal, so there aren't proof marks to designate which arsenal like Russian or Chinese examples.

 

[kingpin008]

Yea, I think I've seen that site. I'll check it out again though. Seeing the T, I automatically thought "Tula", but I dunno if that would be correct or not.

I wonder about the serials too - I've heard that a fair number have faked/incorrect serials, or have a mismatch of parts from a number of different guns, so I'm unsure as to how accurate any serial info would be. The serials on my gun all match, but they look like they were applied with an electro-pen rather than stamped, which I assume they would be if they were original to the gun.

 

[Mojo-jo-jo]

Nope, not Tula. Tula is a Russian arsenal. The Yugos were all made at the Zastava arsenal in what is now Kragujevac, Serbia.

Most of these rifles have been rebuilt at least once, especially the ones in excellent condition. They are arsenal rebuilds, so the quality of workmanship on the rebuild is superb (as opposed to armorer or importer rebuilds). It is uncommon on these rifles to have mismatched parts (taken from other rifles), but it is rather common for them to have replaced parts (new parts installed by the arsenal). Also note that when rebuilt they generally didn't often do "full" rebuilds, so you will very frequently (usually?) find a rifle with a mixture of old-style and new-style parts, particularly concerning the night sights and grenade launcher--there were different styles.

Let me clarify a bit- Many military surplus weapons (semi-automatic ones anyway) currently being imported are imported as parts. They are disassembled, the receiver and barrel is discarded, and the remaining parts thrown in bins and shipped in. The importer reassembles the parts, along with a legally specified number of new U.S. made parts on new receivers and installs new barrels. What this means is that most foreign military surplus firearms available in the USA have been built from a hodge-podge of mismatched parts, often by importers with questionable (at at the very least) quality control. Some are downright awful. You can thank our esteemed congress and presidents past for this situation.

This is not the case with the Yugo M59/66. It is imported "as is" from Serbia (and maybe some other places) due to its special status as being classified by the BATFE as a "Curio and Relic." Notably, it has been estimated by some that this is very likely the last of the semi-automatic military surplus rifles that is eligible for importation under the current US laws.

As far as serial numbers: The "official" serial number will be the one stamped on the side of the receiver. On these it is prefixed by a letter. The letter indicates the year of production. There is a table with the prefixes and corresponding years at the yugosks.net.

Hope that helps some...

 

[kingpin008]

That definetly helps. I knew little bits about all of the things you mentioned, just not in-depth enough to answer any of my questions.

I was pretty sure the T wasn't from Tula, but it was the only thing I could come up with.

I'll have another look at the serials and the markings and check that site again.

Many thanks, Mojo. You've been a great help.