Sino Soviet Christmas

[fintowin]

My wife got me a really col Christmas present. I couldn't believe it. What is more unbelievable is the story. She went to a gun store looking for something resembling a military weapon to get me for Christmas, not really knowing what she would get. The guy behind the counter showed her this SKS, but told her it was (no kidding) "A 30-40 Kraag used in the Spanish American War in 1773." She at least knew what an SKS looked like, so she asked "isn't this a Chinese SKS?" He said "No, this is a Kraag, the first smokeless cartridge weapon ever used" (???). She insisted it was an SKS, and showed him the import mark that said China in it. He said the mark was wrong, and someone put it there wrongly. After much dispute, and the guy telling her much more inaccurate history that I wont detail, another employee came over and looked up the serial # in their system and told the dumb guy that my wife was right.

She bought the gun, and was still unsure if she should have bought such an "Ugly gun" until I opened it this morning and loved it.
Who has a cooler wife that this, to know more than the gun store guy, even if he is an idiotic one, and buy a gift like this.

Also, are there any historians out there that can decipher the meaning of the trench art. This SKS is covered in grease, and is an import freshly opened by the chain store that sold it to my wife, so I'm pretty sure it's not Bubba.

[BubbaDX]

That's a very cool SKS! And I commend your wife for standing her ground and not believing what that moron was telling her. Kudos, you got a great wife and an excellent piece of history.

[Junk Yard Dog]

Balkan used SKS, nice . Question is what kind of gun store, or pawn shop hires that big of an idiot to work behind the counter?

[fintowin]

Balkan used SKS, nice . Question is what kind of gun store, or pawn shop hires that big of an idiot to work behind the counter?

It was at Ace Hardware. I don't know if this is a national chain, or local. There are a few Ace's around here, two of which carry firearms. They always have very reasonable prices, and I have made a lot of purchases at one of the locations. That's why my wife figured Ace was a good bet. She went to the other location, that I have never been to.

[Greasemonkey]

Nice and greasy Krag rifle, sorry thats funny Tell the wife she done good

[Junk Yard Dog]

Ace is a franchise, but it sems franchise owners have some wiggle room as to what they carry other than hardware. Our Ace has no guns or ammo, but did back in the 1970's.

[Titanium Hammer]

That's a very cool SKS! And I commend your wife for standing her ground and not believing what that moron was telling her. Kudos, you got a great wife and an excellent piece of history.

+1 That is just awesome, congrats!

[VelocityKnives]

Hey,

Awesome Wife you have, shes a keeper for sure,,,,, the wife i mean,,,,, the sks isnt bad either,,,lol,... Mine bought me a Taurus pt-92 AF and to go along with it a rail mount tac lite with integrated lazer. I think Ill keep my wife to,,, lol

Regards,
AL

[fintowin]

Hey,

Awesome Wife you have, shes a keeper for sure,,,,, the wife i mean,,,,, the sks isnt bad either,,,lol,... Mine bought me a Taurus pt-92 AF and to go along with it a rail mount tac lite with integrated lazer. I think Ill keep my wife to,,, lol

Regards,
AL

Cool. That Taurus is a really well built gun. Just as good as the new Beretta. BTW, Ive had the wife for almost 20 years, and 7 children. She had better be a keeper! Today is my birthday, and she got me a new Buck 119 with the brass bolster and wood grip.

[Sonny]

Congrats to your wife...kudos..

[Judi and her Mosins]

Your wife did great . That is a very nice SKS . Why do places treat women like this. They think we do not know nothing. I just ask a question and they want to steer me to nosense. Then you get the rude ones who try to mock or make fun of you. The ones that say "once it goes Bang , you'll drop it honey" I put more then one jerk in their place. They won't see my money either.

One place had a crate of Mosins, I started to look thru them, not even taking one out yet and the guy yells " Missy they are all the same". I do not know why, seems that the males get super stupid and chase business away. Then the larger stores have help who have no idea what they are selling. I sold two Mosins at a store, I was shopping at because the clerk had no idea they were right behind him. He kept telling the women they had no more. Now I am mad

Your wife did great See it pays to keep the wife in the loop. Judi and her Mosin's

[Junk Yard Dog]

Must be a regional thing, in this part of NY it's a brave man who would use that kind of attitude with a female customer. It would start off with "look shithead" and rapidly degenerate from there until he ends up with some important parts of his anatomy floating in a jar.

[bunkysdad]

Ok, it's time to change your name to milsurptowin. You are branching out. And in a good way. That rifle way exceeds cool in my book. The art work is crucial to elevating it's coolness by a factor of 10! The date on the stock was some rough times in Sarajevo, and there was a lot of bad stuff going on in Bosnia, most likely where the caretaker of that one carved that stock. The most intersting thing is thinking about what it went through for the next 2 decades and ended up as surplus to be sold on the shelf of a Ace hardware Store in the US.

[bunkysdad]

I keep thinking about this carbine, and just how all the stars had to align just for your wife to find it, get past all the bs from the clerk, and deliver it to you for Christmas. Good Lord man, talk about destiny. Too many other people would have trashed the stock in favor of Tapco Plastic, such a terrible ending that would be.

[fintowin]

Ok, it's time to change your name to milsurptowin. You are branching out. And in a good way. That rifle way exceeds cool in my book. The art work is crucial to elevating it's coolness by a factor of 10! The date on the stock was some rough times in Sarajevo, and there was a lot of bad stuff going on in Bosnia, most likely where the caretaker of that one carved that stock. The most intersting thing is thinking about what it went through for the next 2 decades and ended up as surplus to be sold on the shelf of a Ace hardware Store in the US.

I was wondering if the date carved in the stock corresponded with what was happening in that part of the world. My knowledge of weapons used in that conflict is very limited. I figured it was all ak47 variants used there.

I am going to show my wife this post. She was really worried that she spent good money on a boat anchor. I assured her that she did really good, but she might just think I am being nice. Not that it happens much. lol

[fintowin]

I keep thinking about this carbine, and just how all the stars had to align just for your wife to find it, get past all the bs from the clerk, and deliver it to you for Christmas. Good Lord man, talk about destiny. Too many other people would have trashed the stock in favor of Tapco Plastic, such a terrible ending that would be.

I can't think of a worse thing to do to an sks. I cant stand the tapco or ati stuff on an sks. I wonder what goes on in the mind. "I think I will remove this nice wood stock, spend $75, and make my gun stupid looking"

[Sirex]

Awesome rifle from the 1700's. Maybe used in the revolutionary war. Seriously, cool rifle. I like trench art.

[fintowin]

This one has all matching #'s, except for the receiver cover, which is Russian. Anyone know if this is common on early Chinese, or was this done later.

[bunkysdad]

Awesome rifle from the 1700's. Maybe used in the revolutionary war. Seriously, cool rifle. I like trench art.

Sirex, was it your word correction that put the 1700's on your post?:P
That happens to me all the time.

[Dan4good]

I keep thinking about this carbine, and just how all the stars had to align just for your wife to find it, get past all the bs from the clerk, and deliver it to you for Christmas. Good Lord man, talk about destiny. Too many other people would have trashed the stock in favor of Tapco Plastic, such a terrible ending that would be.

I can't think of a worse thing to do to an sks. I cant stand the tapco or ati stuff on an sks. I wonder what goes on in the mind. "I think I will remove this nice wood stock, spend $75, and make my gun stupid looking"

That's how I feel also