yugo 59/66 question

[cpt.bales]

how can i tell if my yugo was used in war or not ??

[Pistolenschutze]

It is unlikely that it was, Cpt., if it is a Yugo and remained in Yugoslavia. It's possible it was used in the civil conflicts that raged there in the 80s and 90s, however. More than likely though, especially if it seems relatively new and not badly dinged up, it was used as simply a general issue weapon to Yugoslav troops. The SKS generally is a very common weapon world-wide. I saw lots of them in Viet Nam, but those were usually Russian or Chinese built weapons.

[cpt.bales]

well look at these pictures and tell me what you think. it looks like it has seen some s**t .

[Pistolenschutze]

It looks to be about average for a "shooter" grade SKS Yugo from any of the major dealers out there, Classic, J&G, SOG, and the like. Obviously, the rifle was issued and used, but from what I can see, the stock is in fairly decent shape, though dinged up from field use and storage, and the bluing looks to be about 80% or so. The only real way to tell how much it has been "used" (by that I mean actually shot), is to take a close look at the bore. Are the lands and grooves in good shape or do they look well worn? Is there any sign of "fuzz" in the bore (very fine pitting, usually caused by the use of corrosive ammo and lack of proper cleaning after firing). The "proof of the pudding" so to speak will be when you take it to the range and see how it shoots. If the bore is not shot out, you should get very good accuracy from it out to 150 yards or so. These rifles are really, really fun to shoot, but you tend to go through ammo like it grows on trees.

So far as I am aware, Cpt., there is no way to tell for certain with these rifles if they were ever actually used in combat. The dealers buy them, usually rather cheaply in the case of the SKS, in huge lots after they have been declared "surplus" by their respective governments. Beware of anyone who tries to sell you any ex-military rifle at a high price by claiming it was "Hitler's personal weapon" or some such nonsense. Very rarely indeed is there any way to actually tell the specific history of a particular old military weapon.

For what it might be worth, Cpt., it looks to me like you potentially have a really great fun project on your hands if you like to restore old rifles. That stock, as I said earlier, looks to be in decent shape. Clean it up, sand it down, stain it, and apply a few coats of Tru Oil. You would be amazed at how good it will look afterward. You can touch up the worn bluing with any number of different products. My favorite is Brownell's Dichropan T-4, but Birchwood Casey and several others work nearly as well. Another option is to buy a synthetic stock for the rifle. ATI makes one and I believe there are several others who supply them as well. If you do that, however, you will need to get rid of the bayonet since most after-market stocks don't have slots for it. If you want to make the change permanent, you can entirely remove the lug the bayonet fits in with a Dremel tool and a little file work. The synthetic stocks make the rifle a great deal lighter, and I think, a lot more fun to shoot.

[southernshooter]

Hey CPT I lost the bayonet since I use it as a hunting rifle. Here is another alternative. Try one of ATI bi-pods

[inplanotx]

The only true way to tell if the rifle has had hard use is by throat erosion. For that you would need a chamber cast using cerrosafe (brownells) and then make the measurements. Just looking at the rifling is not a true indicator. DCM indicates throat erosion for every Garand they sell. The military has a guage they use to measure it and there is also a guage sold commercially. I do not know if they have one for the SKS.

[Pistolenschutze]

Originally Posted by inplanotx

The only true way to tell if the rifle has had hard use is by throat erosion.

You are quite correct, Inplano; throat erosion is the only fully accurate gage of excessive wear in a rifle barrel. The problem is, very few people outside of gunsmiths or military armorers have the tools around to check for that kind of problem. A careful look at the lands and grooves and an examination for pitting in the barrel with a good, lighted bore scope does, however, give a reasonably good indication of the rifle's basic condition. If the barrel is obviously "shot out," give that rifle a pass and look elsewhere. I've found that with military rifles, especially foreign-built ones, fine barrel pitting from use of corrosive ammo and haphazard cleaning is a fairly common problem.

[hoser1]

I bought a bipod for mine. Chinese I think, anyway, it mounts on the bayonette lug and it wobbles. I guess I'll have to run a bead on the top of it to take up the slack.

[1952Sniper]

From what I see there, that is actually a pretty good condition stock. I've seen much, much worse. Many of the "battle worn" rifles will have all manner of carvings in the stocks. This one looks like it may have been issued and seen some military use, but there's no way to tell if it saw actual battle of any sort. From the light damage to the stock, I tend to doubt it.

[R Gor]

how much would it be to get a synthetic stock with a biped?