Anyone Have Any Russian or "ComBlock" Firearms to Share?

[Warren Sear]

Here is a Soviet .22LR bolt action rifle I got in the early 90's. I purchased it from Century Arms for $30 IIRC. It came with the cool cotton web and leather sling!

I have never seen another one like it. Any information that someone might have about it would be appreciated.

 

[les.b]

les.b I would be interested to know where/when you learned Russian.
I was a cryptographer with USAFSS and NSA back in the 50s and worked
around & with Russian linguists.

Phil:

It's hard for me to imagine that you could have been working back in the 50s!!!

As to my Russian, well, that's a long story in itself. I grew up next door to a family that spoke Russian, part of the time, anyway. The dad was Russian, and the mom was a Yugoslav, if I remember correctly. I ran around with the son, and was over at their house a lot, and so I suppose I was exposed to Russian at an early age, and on through my teens.

My mom's education was as a French teacher, although she worked as an accountant, first at the Treasury in DC, and later here in WV, plus she had learned Italian to a degree because she was an opera buff. She was always drilling me in languages when I was a little guy. When I went to college, I studied French, but then after I began teaching at the university, they were offering Russian language courses, and I began to audit them, just out of curiosity.

We also had exchange students from Russia, and I got to know them, and they would hang around my office, and they helped me practice what little I knew. I kept up with these lessons for several years. Then I met a Russian police official when he was visiting here with a delegation back in the mid nineties, and we hit it off, and exchanged presents back and forth via the exchange students, who were from his city.

In 1998, I had retired from police work, and was teaching full time, and he invited me to visit him in Russia for a few weeks. Well, that first visit was about three weeks, and I was on my own, with folks who spoke a very little English here and there, but this was a chance to practice my skills in Russian. I went back several more times, but my friend passed away, and although I still have friends over there, I haven't been back for awhile.

That's probably more than you wanted to know, but it's a really long story, and it wasn't something that just happened over night!!! Off and on, over the years, I would spend time trying to review my skills, but since I don't have anyone to practice with, I am forgetting more and more everyday.

Red Square, May, 1998... In front of St. Basil's Cathedral (Собор Василия Блаженного). Me on the left, then Slava, next a friend of ours, Nadia, who is an expert on the Kremlin history, and was giving all of us a history lesson that day... And Luba, Slava's wife. One of the dozens and dozens of things that we did together in Russia, that helped me with learning not only some of the language, but the history and culture do the country.



Best Regards, Les

 

[Art Doc]

les.b- It's a very short carbine. No bayonet because the barrel is too short for one. I think it's a 16" barrel and the regular SKS has a 20".

I forgot this one.

PS: Found a photo comparing the two. This short one has a short bayonet. Nine has no provision for one.

 

[les.b]

Here is a Soviet .22LR bolt action rifle I got in the early 90's. I purchased it from Century Arms for $30 IIRC. It came with the cool cotton web and leather sling!

I have never seen another one like it. Any information that someone might have about it would be appreciated.

Warren:

That is indeed a beauty!!! The TOZ is not just a rifle that they exported, but one that they use themselves. I had a chance to fire one while I was in Russia on one of my visits. I have a picture somewhere, and will post it if I can find it.

Thanks for sharing,

Best Regards, Les

 

[les.b]

les.b- It's a very short carbine. No bayonet because the barrel is too short for one. I think it's a 16" barrel and the regular SKS has a 20".

I forgot this one.

SP:

Thanks, to be honest, when I started this thread, I hadn't looked at some of my own guns for awhile, and I'm going to have to do some homework. I knew that your SKS looked a little different, but couldn't put my finger on it.


That Steyr is a little beauty!!! Thanks for posting it.

Best Regards, Les

 

[jack the toad]

Cool thread with some enjoyable pics. Brings back some memories from the good old days.
As for Comblock/Chicom stuff other than some AK kit builds, I currently only have one Mosin-Nagant (hex receiver from the 30's IIRC), one Viet Nam era SKS (milled chinese) and one dewat SG43 with wheeled mount. (I don't recall if Romanian or Polish)
Like a lot of folks from the 80's thru early 90's when everyone had beaucoup of the stuff cheap, I never got into the handguns as much as rifles, etc. but did have a few Toks and Maks. Until a few years ago, I had several of the demilled DSHK kits but when the price got crazy, I decided to liquidate. Wish I had some more.
ETA:
Sorry, no pics.

 

[BigBill]

I wish they made a cz75 pistol I'm 7.62 tokarev.

 

[joebiker]

I wish they made a cz75 pistol I'm 7.62 tokarev.

I'd buy one.

 

[les.b]

Cool thread with some enjoyable pics. Brings back some memories from the good old days.
As for Comblock/Chicom stuff other than some AK kit builds, I currently only have one Mosin-Nagant (hex receiver from the 30's IIRC), one Viet Nam era SKS (milled chinese) and one dewat SG43 with wheeled mount. (I don't recall if Romanian or Polish)
Like a lot of folks from the 80's thru early 90's when everyone had beaucoup of the stuff cheap, I never got into the handguns as much as rifles, etc. but did have a few Toks and Maks. Until a few years ago, I had several of the demilled DSHK kits but when the price got crazy, I decided to liquidate. Wish I had some more.
ETA:
Sorry, no pics.

Jack:

I know...it was crazy back then, the one thing I wish I had done more of was buy crates of ammo. Sealed in those spam cans, inside those cool wooden crates, it would last for a hundred years. I remember the motto back then was : "Buy 'em cheap, and stack 'em deep!!". Well, I did to a certain extent, but in retrospect, not as deep as I ought to have.

Best Regards, Les

 

[les.b]

I wish they made a cz75 pistol I'm 7.62 tokarev.

Bill, that would be awesome. But is be happy with one of those very first ones that are posted above, from back when it was still "Czechoslavia" instead of the "Czech Republic".

Somehow that just seems more like the way it was originally designed.

Best Regards, Les

 

[jack the toad]

Jack:

I know...it was crazy back then, the one thing I wish I had done more of was buy crates of ammo. Sealed in those spam cans, inside those cool wooden crates, it would last for a hundred years. I remember the motto back then was : "Buy 'em cheap, and stack 'em deep!!". Well, I did to a certain extent, but in retrospect, not as deep as I ought to have.

Best Regards, Les

Aw heck... I'd forgot about the ammo.
Some of the norinco and euro stuff was cheap. A class 3 shooters delight.

 

[les.b]

Aw heck... I'd forgot about the ammo.
Some of the norinco and euro stuff was cheap. A class 3 shooters delight.

I still have a couple of class 3 firearms, and back then we shot them a good bit. I had a very good buddy at the time who was a class 3 dealer, and he got in all kind of exotic guns to "demo", which mostly meant that we would go out and shoot thousands of rounds of that cheap ammo up.

Those were the days!!

Best Regards, Les

 

[Warren Sear]

Warren:

That is indeed a beauty!!! The TOZ is not just a rifle that they exported, but one that they use themselves. I had a chance to fire one while I was in Russia on one of my visits. I have a picture somewhere, and will post it if I can find it.

Thanks for sharing,

Best Regards, Les

I find it interesting and puzzling that they stamped "MADE IN USSR" in English rather than Russian on the receiver. Any Idea why they did this?

 

[les.b]

I find it interesting and puzzling that they stamped "MADE IN USSR" in English rather than Russian on the receiver. Any Idea why they did this?

Well, it's just speculation on my part, but I think that it was just simpler for them to do that to a rifle that they were going to use domestically, but for which there was also a foreign market, i.e., us. I have seen things, and things other than guns while I was in Russia, that were being sold to Russians, but that were also being exported to English speaking countries, but mainly the US.

For example: chinaware. I have bought China in Russia to bring home, and not in a tourist store, but in a department store catering to Russians. Some of it was labeled in English, "Made in Russia" (I was not there before the fall of the USSR), even though it was being sold to Russians.

Heck, I wanted something marked in Cyrillic lettering, .... I could buy the other stuff off the internet.... What fun would that be?

Don't know if that answered your question, just speculating anyway.

Here I am shooting with the Moscow Police in the Spring of 1998, with a TOZ .22 rifle. Unsure if it's the same model as yours:



Here is your rifle for comparison:



Hard to tell from the pictures... I'll bet they were the same or similar.

Best Regards, Les

 

[ditrina]

Pre Ban Norinco 56S factory " 66 "

 

[les.b]

Pre Ban Norinco 56S factory " 66 "

ditrina:

Whoa!!! That's a really nice one. And the drum mag is a great touch too...

Those items that came in in the 80s, were largely responsible for firing my enthusiasm for "ComBlock" and "Russian" firearms, ammo, accouterments and so forth. Not to mention that they were really cool in and of themselves. My generation had been in Vietnam and faced these firearms, and a few had made it back as war trophies, but not a lot. Some had come back from Korea in duffle bags, but again not a lot.

And then, one day, here we were, able to buy, at decent prices, brand new versions of these exotic firearms. And until 1986, we could have them converted to full auto, or avoid the $200 tax, and leave them as they were.

P.S.: somewhere I still have a pre-ban PolyTech, with the milled receiver.... I'll try to post a picture of it soon

Talk about kids in candy stores!!! What a time!!

Thanks for sharing with us!!

Best Regards, Les

 

[Warren Sear]

Well, it's just speculation on my part, but I think that it was just simpler for them to do that to a rifle that they were going to use domestically, but for which there was also a foreign market, i.e., us. I have seen things, and things other than guns while I was in Russia, that were being sold to Russians, but that were also being exported to English speaking countries, but mainly the US.

For example: chinaware. I have bought China in Russia to bring home, and not in a tourist store, but in a department store catering to Russians. Some of it was labeled in English, "Made in Russia" (I was not there before the fall of the USSR), even though it was being sold to Russians.

Heck, I wanted something marked in Cyrillic lettering, .... I could buy the other stuff off the internet.... What fun would that be?

Don't know if that answered your question, just speculating anyway.

Here I am shooting with the Moscow Police in the Spring of 1998, with a TOZ .22 rifle. Unsure if it's the same model as yours:



Here is your rifle for comparison:



Hard to tell from the pictures... I'll bet they were the same or similar.

Best Regards, Les

Yes, those rifle do look similar, especially the front sight, bolt handle, and the stock.

Take a look at the face of this wrist watch I bought at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. It is a Soviet military watch and was definitely not made for the tourist trade, because that didn't exist yet. That night after I got it and was examining it closely, I noticed "MADE IN USSR" printed in English along the bottom of the watch face. I was incredulous!

As an aside, the guy who sold me the watch had a bunch of other USSR stuff, and I bought a Soviet army shirt from the Afghanistan war, a cap, and a bunch of medals. The guy asked me if I wanted anything else, and said he could supply anything from a AK rifle, to a fully operational tank! I told him I was fine with what I had.

 

[les.b]

Yes, those rifle do look similar, especially the front sight, bolt handle, and the stock.

Take a look at the face of this wrist watch I bought at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. It is a Soviet military watch and was definitely not made for the tourist trade, because that didn't exist yet. That night after I got it and was examining it closely, I noticed "MADE IN USSR" printed in English along the bottom of the watch face. I was incredulous!

As an aside, the guy who sold me the watch had a bunch of other USSR stuff, and I bought a Soviet army shirt from the Afghanistan war, a cap, and a bunch of medals. The guy asked me if I wanted anything else, and said he could supply anything from a AK rifle, to a fully operational tank! I told him I was fine with what I had.

Warren:

Watches!!! You want watches??!!! Ho, boy, that was something that I brought home plenty of. Forgot all about it til you reminded me! I don't have any pictures here, but I'll take some. I still have about 8 or 10 of them. You could buy them all day long from vendors on the street in Moscow and Saint Petersburg. Or get a better quality in the department stores (Magazines) that catered to Russians and not tourists. $9 or $10 each, I brought them home for the boys, and as gifts for all my friends. Self winding with a rotor, similar to auto wind watches like a Rolex, but obviously not the same quality. But they worked, and I still have some.

On one of my trips, I took a river cruise (partly canal) from Moscow to St. Petersburg on a river boat. The trip lasted over a week, and one of the little towns we stopped at had one of the factories that made the watches!! We were there long enough for me to buy some more watches. They are small, don't take up much suitcase space, and make great gifts.

Military stuff was also big on the streets, and you could buy stuff like you were talking about in Germany.

Best Regards, Les

 

[Cyrano]

Cyrano:

Yet another rare bird!!! These just keep getting better and better. Keep them coming!!! That is yet another that I'm nut sure I've even heard of.

Best Regards, Les

For three years I towed that thing to every gun show I attended. Never got even a nibble on it. I don't think anyone knew what it was and how rare in that condition. finally gave it up, and put the rifle back on the rack.

 

[Warren Sear]

Warren:

Watches!!! You want watches??!!! Ho, boy, that was something that I brought home plenty of. Forgot all about it til you reminded me! I don't have any pictures here, but I'll take some. I still have about 8 or 10 of them. You could buy them all day long from vendors on the street in Moscow and Saint Petersburg. Or get a better quality in the department stores (Magazines) that catered to Russians and not tourists. $9 or $10 each, I brought them home for the boys, and as gifts for all my friends. Self winding with a rotor, similar to auto wind watches like a Rolex, but obviously not the same quality. But they worked, and I still have some.

On one of my trips, I took a river cruise (partly canal) from Moscow to St. Petersburg on a river boat. The trip lasted over a week, and one of the little towns we stopped at had one of the factories that made the watches!! We were there long enough for me to buy some more watches. They are small, don't take up much suitcase space, and make great gifts.

Military stuff was also big on the streets, and you could buy stuff like you were talking about in Germany.

Best Regards, Les

Hahahaha!!! Yes, I probably still have about 7 or 8.

Here are both sides of a self-winding "amphibious" KGB watch with only Russian Cyrillic (no English) text...