Russian Service Numbers.

[AmeliaJordan]

Hi,

I'm new here and trying to gather information on who may have previously owned my SKS. There was a number scratched into the barrel: BU3597.

I thought it might be a service number, but I can't find any way of searching how service numbers were assigned, or even how the numbers themselves were arranged. Was hoping someone here could help me.

[StefanSiverud]

Ex-military rifles rarely have any kind of permanent markings made by the soldiers that used them in service (especially peace-time), and when they do, it's almost never their service number. After all, it's government property, and it's generally meant to be passed from one man to another over time. Even when a name is carved into a rifle, odds are it was done by a post-military owner.

What you can see is probably the serial number of the rifle the stock was built with. It may or may not match the other serial numbers.
See for example the '53 Tula photos here: http://imageevent.com/willyp/russiansov ... inov762x39