Marko Kloos
Moderator Emeritus
I recently picked up a Yugo SKS from the shop, and there was actually a gorgeous little rifle underneath all that Cosmoline. (For easy, sweat-and-odor-free Cosmo removal, submerge the metal parts in boiling water, let them sun-dry for an hour or two, and work off what little grease remains with Powder Blast.)
The wood stock is not plywood like my old Norinco Para, but rather a nicely-grained hardwood stock of indetermined provenance. I've heard that the Yugos used teakwood, but my wife says the grain is all wrong for teak. Also, teak is relatively expensive South American wood, and I doubt that the Yugoslavs would have spent valuable hard currency to import teak just for rifle stocks. I think they would have used someting somestically available, which would make the stock birch, poplar, or something similarly common in the Balkans. From my limited wood-working knowledge, it looks most like streaked walnut to me.
Does anyone know for sure what kind of wood they used on the Yugo M59/66 SKS rifles?
The wood stock is not plywood like my old Norinco Para, but rather a nicely-grained hardwood stock of indetermined provenance. I've heard that the Yugos used teakwood, but my wife says the grain is all wrong for teak. Also, teak is relatively expensive South American wood, and I doubt that the Yugoslavs would have spent valuable hard currency to import teak just for rifle stocks. I think they would have used someting somestically available, which would make the stock birch, poplar, or something similarly common in the Balkans. From my limited wood-working knowledge, it looks most like streaked walnut to me.
Does anyone know for sure what kind of wood they used on the Yugo M59/66 SKS rifles?