Chinese or Norinco...how to tell?
- Thread starter berger
- Start date
You said, 'You know the quality stuff.' Yes, I do.
Daehanminkuk
Regular
- Location
- Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, ROK
look for marks
ALL SKSs from China are NORINCO made. They will have 56 stamped on them in Chinese characters 五十六 五六.
Actually Norinco does not make guns, they just sell them.
Daehanminkuk
Regular
- Location
- Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, ROK
95% I have seen in BC are model 56s .. they will have it stamped on the receiver, unless they are Russian.
Norinco sells them... right, but I was told that they did make them as a training rifle.
95% I have seen in BC are model 56s .. they will have it stamped on the receiver, unless they are Russian.
Norinco sells them... right, but I was told that they did make them as a training rifle.
There are several exceptions to the marking rule with T56 carbines. Those made for military contract export, non-PLA use in the PRC (PAP etc), those made in various factories during the turmoil of the cultural revolution etc.
The T56 carbine was the primary infantry arm of the PLA and people's militia from 1956 till 1981.
In about 1986 my first experience with "Norinco" was a Type 56-1 C/A AK imported by OGT and registered by make as "North China Industries". Arsenal marking was "66 in triangle"
The Chinese army, PLA, used varied weapons including rifles made by Japanese, US, and USSR in the history. The sks is the first rifle distributed to the PLA as a major rifle. And sks was made in China. When the army was finally armed with the type 56 (sks), it was considered to be a modern army. It was a good design and a good made. However in the war against Vietnam in 1978, it is found out that a simi (sks) is not a match with its auto brother AK 47, which was armed by the Vietnam army at that time. After that the PLA start to use automatic rifles. And the sks began to become a military surplus. Norinco is the company owned by the PLA. And all Chinese sks are military surplus. And that is why it was so cheap and is still one of the Cheapest one in the market.
I understand that problems with medium/long range accuracy of the AK is what prompted the design of the Type 81 (which was used with success in the later stages of the Sino-Vietnamese conflict).
PLA force modernisation in the early 80s reduced the size of the standing army and replaced the People's Militia with the PAP. Part of the modernisiation was to issue a standard assault class rifle. Likewise, strategy shifted from the defense in depth model to that of mechanised warfare (which also required a rifle of increased firepower to suit small unit fire and movement tactics).
During the 60s and 70s Chinese ground forces numbered some 6 million persons. There's going to be a lot of SKS available for a while.
sure could fool me , have not seen any in large number for a long while .
What are here and what still over are there are two different matters.
