- Location
- East of Home, West of the Rest
I posted this update in the sticky. But I know several people don't actually go back in their after reading it.
256 Arsenal is in Chongqing. I know several SKS have been imported by marstar and that the common consensus has generally been that the arsenal mark stands for "625". Arsenal /625\ is actually /256\
Courtesy of research conducted by a Running-man on the SKS-files forum, utilizing pics from a marstar shipment to support the decoding of the stamp.
256 Arsenal is in Chongqing. I know several SKS have been imported by marstar and that the common consensus has generally been that the arsenal mark stands for "625". Arsenal /625\ is actually /256\
Courtesy of research conducted by a Running-man on the SKS-files forum, utilizing pics from a marstar shipment to support the decoding of the stamp.
Running-man on SKS-files said:I was perusing other boards (*gasp* you mean we're free to do that here?) and found a tantalizing string. I pulled the string and I think this info needed to be posted. It's only a small piece of proof, but it falls 100% in line with our dating scheme. thumb1
I found this image:
Meh, nothing too impressive, the side of an olive green crate. You're probably saying: "RM, you're wasting my time here, get on with it!" Ok, let's take a step back and see how the Chinese marked some of their other crates. This is a crate of 7.62x54R ammo with Albanian (yes Albanian!) script on the outside. Notice the three sets of numbers in the bottom left of each crate:
And open the 0007 marked crate, and take a look at the two tins inside. Ah ha, we see some familiar Chinese markings, a very clear 53式 (type) as this 7.62x54R was fabricated for a Type 53 carbine. We also see the same three numbers 0007, 71, and 68, but this time, arranged a bit differently: 0007-71 and then 3-68:
Unfortunately, this is where info from this particular crate simply stops. The poster put up some photos of the ammo inside, but neglected to show the headstamps, darn:
Too bad, I could have put a bow on this post right off the bat, but instead you'll have to simply bear with me through another couple examples. The following is a different tin of ammo from a different poster. This is 7.62x39 ammo, but the general markings are somewhat similar. I see a 0030 & 101 kind of grouped together and a 6-71 also grouped together among all the Chinese:
The headstamp of these rounds reads 101 over 71:
Common consensus around the net is that the top number in a chinese headstamp is the factory, and the bottom number is the year, in this case factory 101 ammo produced in 1971. Interesting, those numbers sure are prominent on the outside of the tins. Is this somewhat consistent with other ammo tins?
This is other 7.62x39 ammo and the general markings are different, though it's a bit hard to tell as the tin is in horrible shape with heavy oxidation. Three numbers stand out, like what was marked on the crate from the 7.62x54R ammo. These numbers are 0049-69-61:
Opening the tin yields boxes of ammo, and opening the boxes yields this:
Interesting! The headstamp says that this ammo is from factory 61, produced in 1969.
So what can I conclude from these simple examples when you see a ###X-XX-XX(Y) number set on a crate or tin?So what does any of this this have to do with the first green crate photo from above?
[li]The first number in the three number chain appears to be perhaps a crate number (or maybe a batch number, lot number, or other identifying number that seems to be different on each individual crate) as both tins in my 7.62x54R example from above had identical 0007 markings as the crate holding them did.[/li]
[li]The second number corresponds to the year of manufacture. (Incidentally, the X-YEAR code seen grouped together on the tin appears to me to be a month code as I've seen no number greater than 12 as the prefix. This is assumed by many other collectors that I've seen as well.)[/li]
[li]The third number corresponds to the factory number.[/li]
Hmm, 0004-70-256. Crate #0004, built in 1970, from factory 256.
But what's inside that crate?
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Interesting. These guns are pristine in the original grease! I'd go so far as to say unissued, and anyone who knows me knows that I never use that term! I'd be surprised if theres a gouge or ding in the whole lot.
Crate #0004, built in 1970, from factory 256.
Rifle 1509796 (among other 1.5 mils in the crate, I also have a picture of rifle 1510971), we've always called that mark factory "625"
15 S/N prefix corresponds to the 15th year of production (1970) from our dating hypothesis. It would appear it matches exceptionally well with the crate markings. The 256 arsenal is another interesting nugget in there as well. Very interesting indeed!
