I'll take the import stamp over the handi-capacity of the Frankenstein magazines every time.
Chinese Surplus SKS Quality
- Thread starter Dave.S
- Start date
I'll take the import stamp over the handi-capacity of the Frankenstein magazines every time.
This is true but that isn't just an SKS issue up here sadly lol.
True, but the subject here is the SKS, so it kinda is just an sks issue.
Actually, I lied. It isn't chinese either:
It's a Soviet Gun that snuck in with the recent Chinese guns from Albania. Fit, finish, and function are no different from any of the Chinese Type56s that accompanied it.
What sucks about threads like this is that we could learn so much from each other about rifles we all like but egos seem to get in the way , it’s unfortunate really. I like sharing info and pics , this is gun nuts after all.
I’ve learned a bit in this thread despite everything and had a chance to share a couple pics. That’s what it should be about. A reasonable discussion and exchange of ideas and info about the guns we like. I get that people will have differences of opinion and info but ego and being ignorant to each other shouldn’t be involved imho.
Also the pinning of sks mags up here does suck and we all hate it , thank our government for that. Hopefully some day that changes but unfortunately the damage to these beauties is already done.
I’ve learned a bit in this thread despite everything and had a chance to share a couple pics. That’s what it should be about. A reasonable discussion and exchange of ideas and info about the guns we like. I get that people will have differences of opinion and info but ego and being ignorant to each other shouldn’t be involved imho.
Also the pinning of sks mags up here does suck and we all hate it , thank our government for that. Hopefully some day that changes but unfortunately the damage to these beauties is already done.
Quoted for truth
On that note, and back in line with the original subject of the thread...
Here's a Chinese 'E' Letter gun (1959 or 1960). Also part of the recent Sino-Albanian US imports.
I've tried to limit the photos to those that demonstrate the quality of the machine work. Easily equal to (if not better) than many of the Soviet SKS 45's:
compare it with the soviet sneak in the photos i posted above-- literally no difference in the quality of the finished machine work.
The Chinese refined the produciton of the sks to an art. 11th year 1966 Type 56.
I have an identical gun to this one. Easily on par to the build quality of the soviet rifles. Weird eh? Its almost like the Russians and Chinese collaborated and made these guns in China under Russian supervision!
All Joking and opinions aside, I can dig up photos of old Unissued sks from Davidsons firearms in the 90's, along with the groups they shot. Almost the exact same groupings with many Chinese guns being smoother to shoot and more accurate in some cases! Imagine that!
I know its hard to fathom for some people, being made in China and all, but haters will be haters, in every brand make comparison even outside of firearms.
I didn't want to believe it myself at first, but the evidence doesn't lie!
The "Made in China = Crap" equation has some merit.
It can be attributed to what is known as the "throw away culture" production mindset that was a guiding principle (and in many ways still is) in Chinese manufacturing. Cheap quality products manufactured from low quality materials turned out in massive quanitities.
It broke down quickly. But since it's cheap to make, it's also cheap to buy. And when it breaks, it's then cheap to replace.
But the 'throw away' mindset was not part of the philosophy and culture behind the manufacture of military arms.
It can be attributed to what is known as the "throw away culture" production mindset that was a guiding principle (and in many ways still is) in Chinese manufacturing. Cheap quality products manufactured from low quality materials turned out in massive quanitities.
It broke down quickly. But since it's cheap to make, it's also cheap to buy. And when it breaks, it's then cheap to replace.
But the 'throw away' mindset was not part of the philosophy and culture behind the manufacture of military arms.
Well... it just so happens that many of us have placed an order on supposedly "milspec" Polytech Type 81 rifles not long ago and something like almost half of them are now arriving with crooked barrels (bent at receiver) because the trunnion was not riveted on proper. That means no way of mounting receiver optics for those "lucky" enough to have received a banana-shaped "Chinese improved AK". Price tag was $1000 a piece, so the same as 4 SKS's. Many of us also bought the Chinese Type 97 a few years ago (semi version of QBZ95) and there were some serious flaws with those too. Well, most of them.... some were actually ok. It was hit & miss.
Like I said before, to each their own. Personally, I believe that Chinese SKS's can either be as good as the Russians (the originals!) or worse, from what I have seen myself. If you're buying (ordering) via internet, whatever the supplier will send you is what you'll be stuck with, so there's less chances of a nasty surprise with Russian units - although it can still happen that you'll be sent a beater rifle, especially now that there's few left. Plus there's the question of supply & demand, where Russian ones are getting harder to find (no more coming in) and there seems to be no shortage of Chinese ones - we've had a steady supply of them since the early 1990's, it seems.
How many sources of Chinese SKS's vs. Russian SKS's are left in the World? Who knows... but I'd be willing to bet there's 10 Chinese to every Russian in existence, same as with AK47's. Excact production numbers are of course shrouded in mystery, but serial number tracking seems to suggest there are 24,000,000+ Chinese SKS's in existence... and that's excluding the "ghost guns" the Chinese produced.
http://chinesesks.weebly.com/dating-the-chinese-sks.html
From the Wikipedia SKS page :
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That was the highlight of Chinese small arms manufacturing...late 50's/early 60's under direct Soviet supervision. After that, when the relationship was not as good and China went at it on it's own, QC dropped considerably. Even to this day the T81's and T97's are a mixed bag of ####.
Yes the early, mid and late production Mil Spec Type 56's are very well made. They made modifications to the SKS far beyond what the Russians did, but then they made them for Decades longer than the Russians. I always hold that had the Russians continued to produce the SKS they likely would have continued to make modifications, ending up not unlike what the Chinese found worked or at least something close. It was only when the Chinese started to pander to Western demand in cheap trade goods, that the quality tanked as they cranked out lower cost/quality items for the Western market.
Its a consumer driven market. Consumers want cheap, thats what they get. The Chicoms are FULLY capable of making a very high quality product.
Im not here to bicker with a few bad apples. I enjoy conversing with like minded individuals sharing the same enthusiasm for the sks. I also like sharing information which is why I posted the thread regarding the barrel/receiver indexing numbers. I don't even mind helping a bro out which is why I started the chinese sks dating thread.
FWIW, I have all nations of sks minus an EG and I like all of them equally. It just gets old when the same three anti-American juveniles follow you around trolling you just for for the sake of baiting for spite. Thanks ljones, I have them all muted now, and thanks to all the 'fine' members of CGN that have contacted me regarding the issue.
Im not here to bicker with a few bad apples. I enjoy conversing with like minded individuals sharing the same enthusiasm for the sks. I also like sharing information which is why I posted the thread regarding the barrel/receiver indexing numbers. I don't even mind helping a bro out which is why I started the chinese sks dating thread.
FWIW, I have all nations of sks minus an EG and I like all of them equally. It just gets old when the same three anti-American juveniles follow you around trolling you just for for the sake of baiting for spite. Thanks ljones, I have them all muted now, and thanks to all the 'fine' members of CGN that have contacted me regarding the issue.
Really? Did you receive any more homo-erotic PM's from 7.62mm though???
(you poor, poor victim....)
So what's stopping them? Why are Chinese firearms still piss poor in fit/finish, with low level QC we can only compare to Kyhber Pass?
For the last 25 years you haven't seen what we have been getting from China...1911's, CZ clones, Tok's, BHP abortion types, CF98's, rimfires of all varieties, shotguns of many different varieties, M14's and other centerfire rifles, some Mauser abortions, the list is very long and not one of them is comparable to North American/European or the rest of Asia for that matter. You know a Chinese gun instantly just by picking it up. I've seen Turkish guns, Philippines guns, hell even Japan pumps out Howa rifles that retail for $350US that are nearly perfect. So why can't China pull that off?
And who buys military small arms from China? Even poorer 3rd world ####dumps.
This thread isn't about anything other than the quality of the Chinese SKS.
To be more specific, it's about the current batch of beat to ####, mismatched late model Chinese SKS we can get, vs the Molot Russian refurbs which are in better shape, all matching, force matching, or possiby mismatch mag for the same price...
