Chinese SKS Dating Thread
- Thread starter Loose-Cannon
- Start date
found_fish
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Vancouver Island, BC
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He, he.... What a coincidence! I have a factory /306\ with a SN 1609509! To the best of my understanding the production year is 1971. But let's confirm with LC.
By any chance did you buy yours from a vendor whose name cannot be spoken on this forum?
Neat... only 1,141 apart!
Both are 16th year of the T56 1971
These are real nice guns from what I have seen. http://sks-files.com/index.php?topic=43.0
We have serials recorded in the database ranging from 1968 to 1978
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found_fish
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Vancouver Island, BC
...
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i got one more for you to check if possible. i got one more because it was the last one they had in stock. it turned out to be the best one. only the stock and magazine do not match. one of the other guns had a magazine that had no numbers on it so i think i will put that one on this gun.
also one feature is has i have not seen is the safety is slotted and grooved. the others are smooth. is that early or late feature?
also one feature is has i have not seen is the safety is slotted and grooved. the others are smooth. is that early or late feature?
Thats a 1964 Jianshe /26\... very nice. 26s do exist in CA!!!
The safety lever is normal for /26\ guns up to the 9/10m era. The lever is one component that can break easily, so even if its a smooth version and found on an gun like this or older, I wouldn't think to much about it.
1964 was a major component change year.... blade to spike, long barrel lug to short.. Is this a short lug spike gun?
The safety lever is normal for /26\ guns up to the 9/10m era. The lever is one component that can break easily, so even if its a smooth version and found on an gun like this or older, I wouldn't think to much about it.
1964 was a major component change year.... blade to spike, long barrel lug to short.. Is this a short lug spike gun?
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The Dom rules for serial number are only confirmed to work with factory 26. Might be a fools errend for other codes.
Where's the research for this claim?
(hint: this is a rhetorical question. There is no research for the "only-confirmed-to-work-with-factoty-26" chorus)
Somebody has some reading to do. RunningMan and I broke the dating code for 99% of chinese sks years ago. http://sks-files.com/index.php?topic=360.0
May also wanna read what I put up here. http://chinesesks.weebly.com/1970-15mil.html
Would love to hear the old 'millionths place dating' BS explain that one!
Would love to hear the old 'millionths place dating' BS explain that one!
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The current crop of well used Chinese SKS's are from Albania, if internet wisdom is to be believed. The USA is getting the same guns currently.
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These arrived mixed in with factory 625 guns, all new in the crates, and mixed in with the same serial ranges. The thinking is they are Factory 625 guns that missed the 625 roll stamp. They share serial font, features, etc. with the 625's. Marstar, at that time, was only selling 625 and 306 guns - all from the same storage depot in China.
EDIT: I should mention the 625 number is what people have been calling these guns, but the crates were marked 256.
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Is there any research to 'the thinking'? Or is it just thinking?
#1 the '625' guns you are referring to are actually /256\.
I know, I know..... how the hell do we know that?!?!?
Also proves we actually know what we are talking about when it comes to dating the Chinese T56.
I know, I know..... how the hell do we know that?!?!?
[quote author=running-man link=topic=360.msg10495#msg10495 date=1423721268]
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 (image courtesy Marstar in Canada):
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 taken by Stevo @ Milsurp.com. 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 (Aeromech @ Calguns). 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 from Stevo @ Milsurps.com again, 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 there’s 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!
Also proves we actually know what we are talking about when it comes to dating the Chinese T56.
