I admit it, I once Bubba’d an SKS. It was a Yugo, kinda Bubba’d to begin with, by the Yugoslavians, but I made matters worse with a TAPCO stock and quad rail, and all kinds of stuff. That rifle didn’t last for long. Had I returned it to its original stock I’d still have it today, grenade launcher and all.
After I recently scored an all matching 1959 Norinco I came across another SKS that had been Bubba’d in the ATI Ultralite stock, the gun shown below. As penance for the Yugo I decided to return the Bubba’d gun to as close to as original as possible. I've got nothing against those who alter their rifles following the School of Bubba, but it just isn't for me.
Until I got the ATI stock off (a worthless thing with a side folder as wobbly as could be, that I cut off) I thought the rifle was another Norinco, but with the stampings in full sight I realized that it was a 1958 Romanian. That was a nice surprise and a nice score. But, I had already ordered the Chinese wood stock for it based on the assumption that it was a Norinco. That wasn’t a big deal. But, as I was going from a blade bayonet rifle (screwed barrel) to a spike bayonet stock (for a pinned barrel) I knew that the crossbolt location would be wrong interfering with the barrel and lug not, allowing for a proper fit. Again, not a big deal as the crossbolt could be trimmed (maintaining integrity) to allow for the fit.
The stock cost me $25 on eBay and was Chinese unissued, and in near perfect condition. The only metal on it was the butt plate assembly. This left me to order the crossbolt and trigger guard spring. Once I had the stock I verified that the crossbolt would have to be trimmed, a bit on the top and back surface to allow the screwed barrel to fit. I went slowly using less aggressive tools (Dremel) than I had so as to take off a dead minimum to get the fit. After about a half hour of grinding and fitting I was good to go. So, if you end up with a stock for a pinned barrel and have a screwed barrel rifle, all is not lost with a little trimming of the crossbolt. On the other hand, if you have a stock for a screwed barrel rifle it will fit anything. I also noticed that many stocks will not fit on Yugos.
The final fit between action and stock was nice and tight, and so much so that the trigger guard spring wasn’t necessary, nor would the trigger guard lock down when used. I’ll keep an eye on there and will do some fitting there if issues arise.
Next, I had to install a new wood handguard, that I also ordered from eBay. The color was deeper brown so the varnish and stain was lightly sanded off and the wood was dyed/stained in a two steep process to match pretty closely. I still have to hit it with some varnish. The issue here was that the wood was just a tad long so I had to alter the fit of the metal end cap with the gas block of the rifle. This was accomplished by grinding off just a bit of material on the nipple (where the pin is located) that fits up against the gas block, maybe 1/64th of an inch.
I was told that the rifle originally had a bayonet but that it had been taken off when the rifle was Bubba’d. Although the gun was made for a blade, I acquired a spike as my Norinco has a blade. The spike itself required some fitting back by the elongated hole as it was a bit too tight to fit into the lug. Other than that the spike was a perfect fit.
So, the rifle is back to pretty much it’s original configuration except for a Chinese stock and spike bayonet. The cleaning rod is a shortened rod from one of my Saigas and it fits/looks just fine. I’m 100% happy with the results. Doing this kind of thing may require a bit of fitting depending on what nationality of rifle and parts that you are working with. Other than the issue of Yugos and stocks, it seems like just about anything can be made to fit with a little bit of rather easy fitting. This project will vary from rifle to rifle and part to part, but this might give you an idea of what might be involved, a bit more than I had expected. It’s important to sit down when you are putting everything together and figure exactly what you need based on what you have. In this case it was a stock, crossbolt, trigger guard spring, and wood handguard. Total cost was $56 (not including shipping).
After I recently scored an all matching 1959 Norinco I came across another SKS that had been Bubba’d in the ATI Ultralite stock, the gun shown below. As penance for the Yugo I decided to return the Bubba’d gun to as close to as original as possible. I've got nothing against those who alter their rifles following the School of Bubba, but it just isn't for me.
Until I got the ATI stock off (a worthless thing with a side folder as wobbly as could be, that I cut off) I thought the rifle was another Norinco, but with the stampings in full sight I realized that it was a 1958 Romanian. That was a nice surprise and a nice score. But, I had already ordered the Chinese wood stock for it based on the assumption that it was a Norinco. That wasn’t a big deal. But, as I was going from a blade bayonet rifle (screwed barrel) to a spike bayonet stock (for a pinned barrel) I knew that the crossbolt location would be wrong interfering with the barrel and lug not, allowing for a proper fit. Again, not a big deal as the crossbolt could be trimmed (maintaining integrity) to allow for the fit.
The stock cost me $25 on eBay and was Chinese unissued, and in near perfect condition. The only metal on it was the butt plate assembly. This left me to order the crossbolt and trigger guard spring. Once I had the stock I verified that the crossbolt would have to be trimmed, a bit on the top and back surface to allow the screwed barrel to fit. I went slowly using less aggressive tools (Dremel) than I had so as to take off a dead minimum to get the fit. After about a half hour of grinding and fitting I was good to go. So, if you end up with a stock for a pinned barrel and have a screwed barrel rifle, all is not lost with a little trimming of the crossbolt. On the other hand, if you have a stock for a screwed barrel rifle it will fit anything. I also noticed that many stocks will not fit on Yugos.
The final fit between action and stock was nice and tight, and so much so that the trigger guard spring wasn’t necessary, nor would the trigger guard lock down when used. I’ll keep an eye on there and will do some fitting there if issues arise.
Next, I had to install a new wood handguard, that I also ordered from eBay. The color was deeper brown so the varnish and stain was lightly sanded off and the wood was dyed/stained in a two steep process to match pretty closely. I still have to hit it with some varnish. The issue here was that the wood was just a tad long so I had to alter the fit of the metal end cap with the gas block of the rifle. This was accomplished by grinding off just a bit of material on the nipple (where the pin is located) that fits up against the gas block, maybe 1/64th of an inch.
I was told that the rifle originally had a bayonet but that it had been taken off when the rifle was Bubba’d. Although the gun was made for a blade, I acquired a spike as my Norinco has a blade. The spike itself required some fitting back by the elongated hole as it was a bit too tight to fit into the lug. Other than that the spike was a perfect fit.
So, the rifle is back to pretty much it’s original configuration except for a Chinese stock and spike bayonet. The cleaning rod is a shortened rod from one of my Saigas and it fits/looks just fine. I’m 100% happy with the results. Doing this kind of thing may require a bit of fitting depending on what nationality of rifle and parts that you are working with. Other than the issue of Yugos and stocks, it seems like just about anything can be made to fit with a little bit of rather easy fitting. This project will vary from rifle to rifle and part to part, but this might give you an idea of what might be involved, a bit more than I had expected. It’s important to sit down when you are putting everything together and figure exactly what you need based on what you have. In this case it was a stock, crossbolt, trigger guard spring, and wood handguard. Total cost was $56 (not including shipping).
Just as my bubba'd Swede 96 that I did in the 90s also burns - badly (matching parts). 
