Hornady 45-70 LEVERevolution brass is shorter than standard to accommodate the fancy shmancy pointed polymer tipped bullets in cycling in lever action rifles. Need to keep the correct oal...
Go over to Yoopers site and check out all the differences between the different year Russians. You may only have a 1950 bolt cover.
The gas block is later but that's all I can see from those pictures.
Russian SKS' are a lot of fun to research!
I'm thinking the OP must be talking about the area of the frame where the barrel presses into. That needs investigation. The seam in front of the trigger pin is normal..
I have a Gen 3 Universal I bought new in 1977. Never knew it was such a POS until the Al Gore invented the interwebs...
I have read that there could be an out of battery issue but I checked mine and the firing pin is blocked until just before full lock just like my GI.
The Gen 3 also has the...
Maybe, but an RG14 worked good enough for John Hinckley, Jr.
And look at all the trouble that caused!
Hence the reason I have this one in my "infamous guns" collection...