Type 53 Saved from Bubba

[Aragorn243]

Picked up a Type 53 today that was almost a victim of Bubba. I expect a few things went wrong in the transition and he gave up on it. One thing that ticks me off is that he took a photo of someone else's and posted it as the one he was selling. Said the two handguard bands were missing but they were showing in the photo. I assumed the photo was prior to the loss of the bands but this rifle is not the same based on comparing the stock dings. It was also missing it's cleaning rod which was shown in the photo. So I went expecting a cleaning rod but no handguard bands.

Rear sight also removed but there. Stock had minimal work done to it but it looks cleaned of cosmoline and then coated with something shiny. That is how the bands got lost. Left them laying in the grass as sun heating the stock to get cosmoline out.
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My biggest concern was the bore condition as I've heard a very mixed bag on these. He said it was the pick of three racks and after seeing it, I believe him. Bore is excellent. It's a 1955 26 and has three matching numbers but not the bolt. The bore is also why I didn't argue the missing cleaning rod. Wasn't worth risking the deal over $10.

Had to re-install the rear sight which wasn't exactly easy but didn't take long. Also had to adjust the firing pin which was way out of adjustment and was probably piercing primers when he fired it which may be why he sold it so cheap. I got a bargain on it despite the missing parts and they are already on order from Numrich.

I expect I'll clean the shiny stuff off the stock tomorrow and give it some BLO and get some photos posted shortly, will probably wait till parts arrive. It's not pretty but it's far from the worst I've seen. I have a leftover Soviet sling it inherits. Nice tiny import mark, very clear, small stamped CHINA, then an upside down 7.62mm and what looks like N A C on the rear of the receiver. No rust that I can see, exposed metal is probably only 50-60%, protected metal is near 100%. Was probably refurbished once as some of the stampings are thin and there is some slight pitting on the receiver.

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[WarPig1976]

he took a photo of someone else's and posted it as the one he was selling. i

Not cool. I trust you used this to your advantage if even in a small way?

[Aragorn243]

I didn't know for sure until I came home and compared the rifle to the photo. They looked to be in the same condition, the dings and dents just didn't match up. So it wasn't like I knew at the time of the deal. I knew the cleaning rod was in the photo and I let him know that. But like I said, the price was such that I wasn't going to quibble.

[WarPig1976]

Gotcha, What a scumbag.

[mbogo3]

At least the rifle will be restored as it was.

[Aragorn243]

Gotcha, What a scumbag.

A little harsh. I'm satisfied with the deal. I was able to inspect the rifle before purchase and other than the missing cleaning rod I am happy with the rifle. It's not like he posted a photo of a pristine example and delivered crap. They seriously look to be in the same condition. If anything this one is better than the one in the photo stock wise. It had some very distinct deep cuts and dings which the purchased one doesn't. He did however remove the photo from the listing before I got home which does prove he knew what he did. I had left the page up on my computer however so it was still there and I kept a copy of it. So while I'm happy with this one, I'll be very wary dealing with this fellow again. My wife went along and he just seemed shifty to me and I told her so after we left. Told her I had to go over this one with a fine tooth comb. It's a Nagant so not much that could be wrong with it and after resetting the firing pin, I don't think there is anything wrong with it. I seriously suspect that he put a scout scope on this, took it to the range and had gas exploding in his face from pierced primers and he was pawning it off on the first guy he could set up. Usually, I stand and talk with these guys for half an hour or so. This guy was in his car and gone within 20 seconds of me handing him the cash.

In any case, going to get the shine off today and maybe try to steam out some of the dings. Not many markings on this stock, just a couple of numbers here and there and a faint triangle.

I did take some photos of the stock before doing this so I can show a comparison to the one he listed. Maybe I'm wrong, I don't think so but maybe.

[WarPig1976]

Harsh?... With everything you described I think I'm being nice. Bubba was misleading regardless of price, shifty and tried pawning off what he thought was a defective rifle. Certainly not the way to conduct business in my book. Glad all worked out for the better.
Don't buy a used car off him!!!..

[Aragorn243]

I suppose you're right. I'm too easy going and forgiving I guess. Had it been someone with little knowledge, they would have been screwed. Whatever he put on this stock isn't coming off very easy. I'm guessing poly at this point. I was getting ready to set it out to dry and saw only about 2/3rds of it came off after citristrip and steaming. 2nd treatment undergoing now. Found two Elmer's glue repairs that I'll have to address. Why people use a water soluble glue to repair a rifle stock.....Bubba.

[Aragorn243]

Cleaning this thing was a bit more challenging than most. 2nd treatment didn't remove all the shiny stuff.

Here is the photo of the sale rifle:



Here is the rifle I purchased:



The dings do not match as far as I can tell but condition is almost identical. Note the cleaning rod in the sale photo.

Easiest difference to see in these photos is directly under the bolt. The sale photo shows a long horizontal ding, the purchased photo shows a long vertical ding. The butt stock dings are different also but you can't see them in my photo.

[WarPig1976]

You right, the recoil lugs are different too from what I can tell from here.