Gunboards Forums banner

VN Bringback SKS?

8K views 53 replies 33 participants last post by  howiebearse 
#1 ·
Hi guys...

I picked up an SKS at a local auction.

Appears to me to be a Chi-com .mil SKS - no import marks, lots of jungle-rot underneath cosmo-gone-to-varnish.

Pics are here - I'd welcome and appreciate any input you may have...
 
#3 ·
Not sure if I've ever seen a Vietnam bringback that is packed in cosmoline. Suggests that it was preserved and packed away, later imported, and missed the import stamped. Or check very carefully near the muzzle. CAI import marks can be extremely small, lightly struck, and discreet.

Well used and worn before it was greased up.
 
#4 ·
Look carefully at the shots of the inside receiver, bolt and bbl - it's got damn near ZERO wear...

There are no marks of any kind - I've gone over this thing in intimate detail.

All APPARENT wear is external - which makes me think "jungle rot"...

Also, the stock's not painted - it SEEMS to be burned. Note the shots on the forend - some significant wood appears to have been burned away...
 
#25 ·
Look carefully at the shots of the inside receiver, bolt and bbl - it's got damn near ZERO wear...

There are no marks of any kind - I've gone over this thing in intimate detail.

All APPARENT wear is external - which makes me think "jungle rot"...

Also, the stock's not painted - it SEEMS to be burned. Note the shots on the forend - some significant wood appears to have been burned away...
Something that I missed on the first time through the slideshow, the lack of wear inside the receiver, mag follower, bolt, and carrier. Yes, odds are that it could very well be a cache gun that received poor storage. My only cache gun (M21) is still in grease, but it is essentially new, and didn't get exposed to the elements like this one.

By the looks of the decay and staining in the cracks themselves, it appears that the enhanced cracking was going to be inevitable. The splits were already there, and it only took a slight bump to spread them out. The dark wood is oil and moisture impregnation into the fibers, as pointed out.

Thanks for asking me to take another look. I'll agree with Richard and others, it is a likely SE Asian bringback.

Is that not a Russian rear sight?

Also, is that stock broken in two?
While some of the major Russian parts were phased out in mid 1965 (i.e. long collar barrel replaced with Chinese short collar), there were some small parts still being employed. My 1969 dated bringback still has the Russian rear sight.
 
#6 ·
I have no doubt that this rifle is a Vietnam bring back. Please be gentle in cleaning it. Soak the metal parts in solvent and wipe it down with an oily rag. That's all you need to do. Congrats! Nice piece. I like it.
 
#9 ·
Would you please be so kind as to detail why you believe this? I'm trying to learn!

I also forgot to mention that the only markings I found in a thorough search of the rifle were:
* The "triangle 26"/3 Chinese Characters/SN#
* What appears to be a "Copyright" symbol
* A "N" or "Z" and a "dot" on front end of rec. in same pic
* A "6" (or "9"?) near a "stake" or "chisel" mark(?)

That's it - other than the other serial-number markings on Stock, Mag, bolt & carrier, & the FCG.

Note also the "ding" in the stock... I think it looks like a bullet-strike, will test with a .223 bullet next time I drag it out...

It also seems like it's been burned some... note the missing, burnt-looking wood on both ends of the stock - at the nose and butt-plate...

Basically... I soaked it in diesel and scrubbed with a nylon brush or (where necessary) with a soft brass/bronze fine-bristled one. SOME spots I had no choice but to use some "gumout" carb cleaner to get the funk out of spots even bamboo skewer-points couldn't reach, but afterward I soaked in diesel to get some oil back into the steel... I then saturated it with silicone spray ("Pro-long") as a rust-preventive, let it soak then wiped dry with blue "shop rag" paper towels.

I think my next steps will be to cut off the bayonet lug, front sight and a couple of inches of barrel. I can then thread it for a fake can, and drill and tap it for a scope before I do a tiger-stripe gun-coat job on it. Probably use bedliner paint on the stock until my shernic bullpup kit is ready-then I'll use my dremel-tool to hack out the receiver so it can use AK mags.

....

I kid, I kid...

DON'T HAVE A COW, MAN! ;)

I really DO want to do a shernic conversion, including milling off the bolt "ears" so the mags will drop free, but will sacrifice either a Yugo or Norinco (both run-o-the-mill junkers) to the project... Why? I LOVE the SKS for what it is - a surprisingly accurate, dead-nuts reliable, cheap firearm - but would LOVE to be able to do a good job of modernizing one to see what it's really capable of doing!

Plus - as a side-not o

As previously noted, I think this is a piece of history that deserves preservation. I'm going to TRY to have the stock repaired by a guy I know who considers such work a labor of love - and can usually make the repair invisible... If he won't volunteer to do it, I'll most likely leave it as-is...

I'm also going to TRY to find out the rifle's history, and document it as much as I can... I live in a VERY rural area, and the auction-house is right down the road from me... I'm pretty sure if they won't tell me who the seller was, they'll at least contact them for me and pass along my message asking them to contact ME.

I'm betting the rifle belonged to someone's Dad and they just saw it as something old and stinky (it sure was!) and not worth anything to them... Hopefully I'll be able to make them understand why I care, and if nothing else I'll get a letter saying "It was my Dad's rifle he brought home from VN" or similar...

Wish me luck!
 
#14 ·
+1., no real signs of wear or use. Looks like it may have been in a fire, accident or shipping damage incident. Still with cosmoline in the action etc. No internal wear pattern from use.
If it is a bringback it must be one from a cache that was still grease packed, then brought back to the USA and never cleaned or oiled or inspected for 40 years.
Dunno., I am more skeptical on the Vietnam provenance based on the condition, cosmoline, and other damage that does not appear in conjunction with wear or use. Interesting piece..
 
#10 ·
SURE IS...:mad Don't know how I missed it before, but when I pressed down to re-install the FCG, it came apart at what were - in hindsight - obvious pre-existing cracks... As mentioned above, I have hope for an invisible repair...
 
#13 ·
Those were common in the 70s even here in central flyover. I have owned three and still have two of them. I knew the vet that brought one of them home. He sold it at a local gunshop and I traded for it. But he died before I got to ask him if he still had the bring back papers. All of this was before 85 and there were no other SKSs imported yet. Most of them were not in the best of shape. After 1970 some like new ones started to show up at shows they were said to be brought back from Cambodia.
 
#46 ·
no, they were worth a good buck when the only ones were bring backs. then the market was flooded after '85 and they were cheap as chit.(even the VN bringbacks w/o import mark) then after the clinton ban even the cheap ones went through the roof.....post ban i saw a few crates at $169 i think....then the obama panic attack happened and they're back up again.
i have a genuine VN bringback from my father who served 68-69 in an Air Rifle Platoon of the 11th Armored. as he says, "the fellow i got it from was obviously done with it." he had gone through all the proper channels for paperwork so its all good....probably aint with a 1/10th of what it means to me.
 
#18 ·
I may have an explanation, possibly. On May 1, 1970 elements of the 2nd Brigade,including the 1-5 Battalion of the 1st Cavalry
Division invaded Cambodia to attack the NVA 7th Division. They found and captured a major and extremely large NVA support center
used to supply weapons into Viet Nam. There were many under ground storage bunkers and above ground warehouse type buildings.
Truck loads of brand new crated Chinese SKS were eventually loaded onto trucks and taken to some where back in VN. A lot of
brand new in grease SKS were pulled out for souvenirs.
I just compared these pics to pics I have from the vet who brought one of those from this capture back. It is totally like new
as it was out of the crate. He also has all three sets of original paperwork for proof. Here is what I find a bit interesting.

OP has Carbine S/N of 11,419,925, a rifle from this cache was 11,317,961. I under stand 1000's of SKS that were probably at one time
to go to the VC were in storage there in Cambodia. And they were all in grease. Makes me wonder a bit because of those S/N's.

On this gun, I think out side of it is because of neglect most likely. But, never the less it could be a bring back.
 
#21 ·
I have an imporrted SKS arsenal 26 serial 11,111,xxx., dunno.., but not a bringback. interresting story and investigatiion but that a rifle was captured , then left in cosmoline to rust for 49 years is possible but dunno..., and the damage is from??? I was in Operation COSVN alonside the 1/5th Mech in May 1970 with the 2/22nd Mech when we both crossed into Cambodis along the the 11th ACR and other units. We captured rifle, ordnance, uniforms and rice. None of the stored in cosmo rifle cache.., though I believe that did infact occur by all accounts. These captures were well used AK's, SKS and Mosin Nagants. Mainly after a massive B52 strike along the Cambodian border.
Maybe a bringback but still not sure it rings true to me. Never know I guess so one is as good as the other for a history.
 
#22 ·
The dark staining on the wood is not blackening from burning. It's black due to being deeply oil stained and exposed to the elements.

Check out the photo below of a Chinese SKS with some similar staining. Look near the tip of the bayonet near the metal stock reinforcing pin. This example is not a "bring back" however also lacks any import marks. So making assumptions due to a lack of import marks is not really a good idea. Many many many Chinese SKS rifles missed being marked.

Without any papers to prove it's origin it's kind of useless to speculate on it history.



More pic's showing deep black oil staining. This is a VN bring back.

 
#26 ·
first thing that pops into my mind seeing these photos and living on Cape Cod is that that gun came off a fishing boat. Does not look like any bring back I have seen But I cannot say its not one. But I have seen a few fishing boat guns that have had partial exposure to salt water that look like that. Bring backs unless from a long forgotten cashe do not usually look like that. Jimmy C posted pics look correct
 
#27 ·
My initial reaction upon seeing your pics, DedicatedDad, was that the stock - and possibly some of the metal bits - is blood stained.

Just shy about this coz I purchased a vet bring back from a local fun show that retained its original canvas carry strap that was encrusted by a prior owner's red stuff. This reaction vis-a-vis your axe is certainly wrong.
 
#42 ·
Hard to tell by just visual whether dark stain on a stock is oil, water, or blood stains as they all appear similar looking. Generally if blood there should be some other evidence to indicate blood like battle damage or blood pitting on the metal near the staining. Here's what is most likely blood staining on a stock which is located by the folding bayonet which the metal is blood pitted on a T53 documented bring back. That is were one would hold the rifle when opening/closing th bayonet. Here is the post and the story with a lot of photos about it I posted a while back when I first got the rifle. Ray.

http://forums.gunboards.com/showthr...w-documented-history&highlight=RayG_Wisconsin

 
#32 · (Edited)
I suspect that the black marks are from rust. Upon long exposure to moisture, the metal rusts, the iron migrates into the damp wood through osmosis. Lots of weapons were dumped into canals and rice paddies, to be picked up later. Many were buried. In Vietnam it is difficult to get away from moisture, especially in the jungle and especially during the rainy season. Rifle stocks will start to deteriorate around the recoil lug bolt especially and you will notice dark staining in that area. It seems that rain water runs down inside the stock and pools in the area of the recoil bolt. The black will show up anywhere there is steel. While it is possible that this is a cache gun, it could also be that it was kept in the rafters of a chicken house that developed a leaky roof. Remember, the Vietnam conflict was 40+ years ago, so even if it was a captured weapon in mint condition, it had plenty of time to develop the "patina" it has today.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top