1951 Russian SKS value

[highpower]

That is easily a $500 dollar rifle. Anyone that thinks that you can commonly buy one for under $400 is living in a dream world or trying to snake you out of yours for a fraction of it's real value.

Laminated stocks will typically bring a premium over solid wood stocks and there is nothing about it that suggests anything other than it is a factory refurbished rifle. Forced matched stocks are common on factory rebuilds and IMO, does not detract from it's value. I bought a '52 Tula last year in similar condition for $480 and I feel that I got it for a very fair price.

Russian SKS's are the cream of the crop, I have both a '52 and a '53 Tula and a '54 Ishvek and am always on the lookout for more.

[glennsche]

and if it didnt have the "bbq" finish but the original blue?

[Bobby Ricigliano]

$500 is a bit generous for an arsenal refurbished gun and non-original stock. I would place it in the $300-$350ish category.

I think you are confusing what you would be willing to pay for it with the actual market value, which is higher than $350 easily.

The rifle probably has not been bubba refinished. The Russian lammies usually have a somewhat shiny finish on them. You wouldn't have any difficulty selling your rifle for $500. The rifle might take small hit on value since the serial number is xxx'd out. Most of the laminates I've seen only had the original stamped number in the stock, even though they are definitely refurbished.

It is not possible to tell from your photos if the rifle is completely free of BBQ. Some Russians have a mix of blued and bbq'd parts. As SVT-40 said, the nicely blued finish commands a premium over BBQ.

Finally, yours being a KBI import is a good thing. Of the handful of Russian importers, KBI's are usually the nicest and don't have the silly 'CCCP' importer mark on them.

They are great rifles, and worth keeping unless you absolutely have to sell it. I have one similar to yours. Even though it has an obvious refurb mark, the stock is stamped original with no force matching.