40 caliber
NES Member
Well i finally found the holy grail about a month ago. Granted it was a refurb black bolt but it was a 53 Izzy with laminated stock. Of course I immediately find another 53 Izzy refurb with orginal imported box and in the orginal hardwood stock vs the laminate. (not that i care about boxes, it is just one more thing to stuff under the bed .
It was on Gunbroker and advertised as a plane russian SKS-45, not an Izzy. It had a picture of the 53 IZZY cover but it was the last pic. I doubt many people went that far. I held off as I had one already. I even pointed it out to one other guy on the board but he wouldn't help me and buy it. (you know who you are). The auction closed no one bought it. I sent the seller an email and asked him to sell it to me for a good amount below the Buy Now. I was really hoping he would say no.
Well as fate has it, he took the offer, I hit the buy now and I now own 2 53 izzys. granted they are both refurbs, but the 2 together are much less than a non refurb. (I probably could buy 3 of these). I have a friend who was watching and tracking the different Russians that sold on Gunbroker to figure out rarity. In the 18 month and 715 sales before i bought this rifle he had data. he had only seen only 3 53 Izzy refurbs out of 715 sales. That is less than 1/2 % of sales. (there was one $1400 non refurb by the way).
I think a pair of Izzys can be a full house (safe)-unless it is a safe of non refurbs!
It was on Gunbroker and advertised as a plane russian SKS-45, not an Izzy. It had a picture of the 53 IZZY cover but it was the last pic. I doubt many people went that far. I held off as I had one already. I even pointed it out to one other guy on the board but he wouldn't help me and buy it. (you know who you are). The auction closed no one bought it. I sent the seller an email and asked him to sell it to me for a good amount below the Buy Now. I was really hoping he would say no.
Well as fate has it, he took the offer, I hit the buy now and I now own 2 53 izzys. granted they are both refurbs, but the 2 together are much less than a non refurb. (I probably could buy 3 of these). I have a friend who was watching and tracking the different Russians that sold on Gunbroker to figure out rarity. In the 18 month and 715 sales before i bought this rifle he had data. he had only seen only 3 53 Izzy refurbs out of 715 sales. That is less than 1/2 % of sales. (there was one $1400 non refurb by the way).
I think a pair of Izzys can be a full house (safe)-unless it is a safe of non refurbs!
Last edited: