Cabelas just called me, they want the SKS I bought back.

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I wonder who thought up the idea of "demilitarizing" them by making them dangerous? Couldnt they have plugged the chamber with JB weld instead of drilling holes in them?
 
"There was also a case several years back of Norinco SKS's slamfiring due to free-floating firing pins."

All SKS's have free floating firing pins, which is the only real design flaw in my opinion but that is easily remedied by sending the bolt to Murray's Guns in Bowie Texas which I highly recommend.
 
I wonder who thought up the idea of "demilitarizing" them by making them dangerous? Couldnt they have plugged the chamber with JB weld instead of drilling holes in them?

I don't think either makes them demiled. Demilled would be cutting the receiver into 3 big pieces. Gunshop lore, so take it with a bucket of salt: I've been told firearms were imported (many moons ago) that would have been iligal weapons, except the bores/chamber were filled with lead. They were sold as demilled or something similar. Upon purchase, people would heat the barrels to remove the lead or replace the barrels. I do know that others have imported firearms that without properly demilling them; Real-Deal AK's with the bore welded.
 
"There was also a case several years back of Norinco SKS's slamfiring due to free-floating firing pins."

All SKS's have free floating firing pins, which is the only real design flaw in my opinion but that is easily remedied by sending the bolt to Murray's Guns in Bowie Texas which I highly recommend.
THEY WERE NEVER INTENDED TO USE SOFT PRIMED AMMO. this issue never came about until domestic companies got in on the 7.62x39 market.

until 1951 soviet design had a spring loaded FP but it was stopped due to being unnecessary. since then a gazillion of simonov's carbines were produced without the spring loaded FB and no issue until american companies provide soft primed ammo and now all of a sudden sks are dangerous???? no it is because manufacturers pay no attention to details
 
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Demilled means something very specific to the ATF (and various other entities who define such things). Drilling a large hole through the chamber is one of the ways used to create a "DEWAT" (De-activated WAr Trophy) that is officially no longer a firearm.

Cableas got a shipment of these that had been deactivated by their former owner (or whomever) and did not realize what they had. Calling and contacting everyone that MIGHT have gotten a dangerous gun is the very least they could do.

It's exactly the same situation as if they'd sold you a camp stove and a few months later they found out that there could be a defect with some of them that would cause an explosion or fire. They'd go through their sales records and contact every owner who'd bought one and get them back right away.

As for tracking you -- well, stores keep records! No surprise there. And this is one of the many reasons why. Doubly so when it is a FFL dealer, who's required by federal law to keep those records for 20 years.

Be glad they "care" enough (are corporately afraid of lawsuits enough) to protect you this way.

As for this...

*** does that mean? Will this bad boy go full auto? If so, I dam sure am not taking it back.

That would be an incredibly poor choice. Every moment you had a firearm that would "go full auto" in your possession (whether you knew it or not) you'd be guilty of a crime the punishment for which is 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. And, you'd be on record as having one of a group of weapons (that Cabelas would certainly have reported to the ATF as having this problem in an attempt to keep themselves out of trouble), and of being notified of it and willfully keeping it, and then would have announced it on a public forum. None of these are good things.
 
I am sure that Cabelas has a computer server loaded with every sale and the info of who purchased it unless it was a cash sale for items which do not have any background checks just for advertising purposes. any large company would do that now a days to target advertise their customers
 
In fairness, I believe the guy at Cabela's corporate WAS doing his job.

The recall of an item is not something to be done lightly. This whole mess likely cost Cabela's a ton of money.

Cabela's acted proactively and expeditiously by contacting BY PHONE the customers that had a possibility of being adversely affected by an item that was potentially dangerous to the user. I think that this was a case of trying to protect the customers as quickly as they could while they were also trying to figure out the extent of the damage.

Look at it this way: Would you rather get a call saying "It's our fault. We may have sold you something that might blow up, so don't use it until we have a chance to check it out."

Or, would you rather get a letter to read while you are recovering from reconstructive surgery that that says "After an exhaustive search of our records we have determined that your gun was one that was sold to you despite being unsafe to shoot. Don't use it and return it for a refund."

Think about it.
 
I've never heard of a Norinco SKS recall.
The Chinese SKS always had a floating firing pin, never came with the spring, to the best of my knowledge. None were recalled for a retro fit.
I got my first Norinco in '88 (genuine government surplus), subsequently bought two more ("tourist" models) in the '90s.

Since Norinco is a huge conglomerate & they were producing the later "tourist" SKS at more than one plant, and Norinco didn't sell directly or import them into the US themselves, it would have been extremely difficult to do any kind of a recall, and extremely expensive, considering the numbers of Chinese SKS rifles that were coming in to this country.
Denis
 
I've never heard of a Norinco SKS recall.
The Chinese SKS always had a floating firing pin, never came with the spring, to the best of my knowledge. None were recalled for a retro fit.
I got my first Norinco in '88 (genuine government surplus), subsequently bought two more ("tourist" models) in the '90s.

Since Norinco is a huge conglomerate & they were producing the later "tourist" SKS at more than one plant, and Norinco didn't sell directly or import them into the US themselves, it would have been extremely difficult to do any kind of a recall, and extremely expensive, considering the numbers of Chinese SKS rifles that were coming in to this country.
Denis
I couldn't imagine the cost totaled by recalling the chicom for retro-fit of a part they don't need and were not designed for. it is not the guns fault for slam fires so spending $60 to fix what ain't broke is stupid, the fault is it the American made 3 cent primer. to recall a million rifles and spend billions to "fix" them is retarded, the focus should be on the American manufacturers who failed to do their research and upgrade from a 3 cent primer to a 4 cent primer.
 
Some guy just called and said that they wanted all people that bought an SKS from them, (the one I got for $199) back. They said do not fire it, as it is a demilitarized firearm. *** does that mean? Will this bad boy go full auto? If so, I dam sure am not taking it back. I already put 200 rounds through it.

He said that I would get a letter in the mail, and he could not go into great details, but I needed to get it back to them ASAP. Anyone else get a phone call? When I get the letter, I will post it up on here. This is strange to say the least.

I would think the guy who 'dam sure' (sic) wants to keep the 'bad boy' if he thinks it is capable of fully automatic fire is the real jack wagon in the equation. They call you because of a legit safety concern and you are excited you may have a full auto and pissed they called. Strange.
 
It is funny how you guys blame the "domestic" munitions makers when all I ever shot in my Yugo's was the imported commie stuff. I experienced one full auto episode and that is when I discovered Murray's. No, the BATF will not come haul you off if your gun malfunctions and causes a full auto condition, although I wouldn't give them any ideas.....
 
Yup, I got my call this morning about my Yugo. I am not driving the 2 hours to Sidney to have them tell me something I already know, that being my SKS is not one of the ones in question.
I think this should serve as a learning experience in that when you buy any gun in general and a used or Milsurp in particular, detail stripping and cleaning to inspect the parts for anything broken, missing or worn is the way to go. When I got my Yugo, it was covered in cosmo so I had to detail strip it to get it all out. I can't help but think that such detail stripping in this case would have revealed this problem in the first place and have prevented the minor injury that resulted from it. I'm not trying to do the Monday morning quarterback routine here since I wasn't there to see just what he did or did not do. It's entirely possible that hardened cosmoline filled that hole to the point it was missed during his inspection for all I know. In any case, I'm glad the shooter is alright and only suffered minor injuries.
 
Cabela's does not want your gun back. They want to avoid being sued if you suffer an injury from a product that they knew, or should have known was likely to cause harm.

Be thankful for that.
 
I think if somebody sold me a hairdryer that might unintentionally shoot out a three foot jet of fire I would be happy if they called to warn me about it.

I think if somebody sold me a rifle with a hole drilled in the chamber I would be happy if they called to warn me about it...but it would have been nice if the first caller knew why he/she was calling me to ask for my rifle back. Had that been the case it would have eliminated this entire thread because post #1 would never have happened.
 
...but it would have been nice if the first caller knew why he/she was calling me to ask for my rifle back. Had that been the case it would have eliminated this entire thread because post #1 would never have happened
Seems to me the caller DID know. Or at least had been told the right thing to say. See?

They said do not fire it, as it is a demilitarized firearm.
Now, the OP didn't know what that meant, and it seems didn't ask.

But it really doesn't matter. The critical information there is DO NOT FIRE IT. Not, "hey, I wonder if it goes full-auto, heh heh?" :rolleyes:
 
Does it have the grenade launcher thing removed from the barrel? If so it might be cut slightly shorter than the legal 16". I have heard that this has been a problem. If it measures the legal 16" I would tell Cabelas that they can have it back when they give you a replacement and not until.
 
Regarding the Norinco SKS recall, Century, the main importer, recalled them and did the modifications. From what I've read, the early Russian SKS's actually did have a firing pin return spring, but they removed this in later production. All foreign clones are copies of the later version.
 
I just missed buying one of these guns, when the Lacey, WA store sold out. The gun counter guy said groups of guys were coming in and buying 5 at a time. Can't help but think a lot of those guns were for resale. Scary stuff.
 
What bothers me the most is, they still have all my info from a gun I bought 5 months ago. What else are they tracking? Should I pull out my tinfoil hat?
Actually, they, and every other FFL you ever deal with, will have all the info about what you bought for at least the next 20 years (by law).
 
It could be one that they intended to sell for $450 as a collector item that got mixed in with the batch of beaters they were going yo sell for $199, and they want their moneythey lost!
 
A few of you guys need to read at least some of the thread before posting. At least ONE of these rifles had holes drilled in the receiver and was not safe to shoot.:banghead:
 
Husker Fan said:
You own it. Tell them if they want to buy it back from you, you'd be happy to sell it to them for $350.

Oh, VERY good idea. And when they tell you, "Fine,then you keep your treasured DEMILITARIZED, unsafe-to-fire, blow a hole in your hand, useless NON firearm that we sold you by accident and which mistake we are trying to rectify at our expense..." -- well, you'll feel real smug won't you?

HKGuns is right...read before you post.
 
A deactivated Enfield drill purpose rifle was sold as a wall hanger by an importer. The buyer had a gunsmith restore the welded bolt and put the Enfield up for sale at a local gun store.

The young man who bought this Enfield rifle blew the end of his thumb off the first time he fired this "re-activated" drill purpose Enfield rifle.

A new firing pin and bolt head were installed on the deactivated bolt.

L59A1_unidentified_bolt.jpg

A half inch hole had been drilled through both sides of the chamber and the rifle was still restored and fired.

DPvent.jpg


And you wonder "WHY" you were contacted by Cabela's?????

As a side note the M1 Garand has a floating firing pin, I guess some gun enthusiasts keep their bolts clean. :rolleyes:
 
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