Thought I would post a little info on the Jianshe Machine Tool Factory, AKA /26\ and the Type 56 Rifle.
The first national arms factory in China was located in Hanyang and produced the Type 88 copy of the Gew. 88. Around 1933, it was moved to Chongqing and remamed the #1 National Arms Factory. #1 factory produced a copy of the Mauser "Standard" model as the "Chiang Kai Shek" Mauser.
In 1949, the facory was again renamed Jinashe Machine Tool Factory (Factory 296) and began building the Type 50 copy of the PPSh. This was followed up by the Type 51 TT33 copy, the Type 53 Mosin M44 copy and finally, in 1956 with the Type 56 SKS copy.
Initially, machinery was moved from Tula to Chongqing in 1956 and with the help of Soviet technicians, SKS parts kits from Russia were assembled to produce the first carbines. Not long after, the first Chinese made carbines began production. Many of these early "Sino Soviet" models contain Russian made parts as well.
Factory 26 Type 56 chronology and design changes.
1) 1956 The Sino Soviet model
-Identical with late Tula production. Identified by the /26\ factory symbol and the 1 letter, 4 digit serial number. No "56 Type" markings.
An example serial would be "A0001" for the first carbine. I've seen as high has "W" series.
2) 1957 Type 56, early model. Identical with the late Tula carbines. 7 digit serial number and the marking, in Chinese, "56 Type".
As a rule, military Type 56 rifles are numbered according to the model type year. The Type 56 indicates a 1956 introduction. In 1957, million place serials were introduced. Taking the million place digit and adding the model year will indicate the year the carbine was made. for instance, the first T56 carbine of 1957 would have been numbered "1,000,001" and so forth. This would allow serialling of up to 999,999 carbines in any given year. The actual numbers made for each year are not known, however it was the aim of the PLA to arm a 6 million man army with the T56, the People's Militia of perhaps 10 million and also export models.
Some T56 carbines from /26\ have been documented with less than 7 digit numbers but outside of the Sino-Soviet number range. It's held that such carbines are of late 1956 production.
3) The 1957 model became the standard production type and remained unchanged until the end of 1965 production (9 million serial range). In 1966 with the 10 million serial range, the barrel knox form was shortened about 1/4 inch. Sometime between the end of the 10 miliion seres and the 11 million series, the first major design change took place. This was the introduction of the spike bayonet. Most likely this was done to increase the reach of the bayonet. As well, the cruciform section of the spike was more resistant to bending than the blade type.
4) In the 11 million series (1967) the next change was introduced. The trigger mechanism became a stamped, rather than milled, assembly and the oblong milling on the bolt carrier side was eliminated.
5) The final design changes are introduced. in 1968 with the 12 million series, the two piece stamped gas tube was introduced and the body cover latch was changed to put the tab on the bottom of the arm along with a cut out on the stock to facilitate operation of the latch.
These last design changes remained standard until the end of /26\ SKS production in 1970 with the 14 million serial range.
T56 rifles remained in production for People's Militia and later, People's Armed Police use. These are often seen with markings from the 2nd and 3rd wave factories spread throughout China. These factories probably produced T56 carbines until the mid to late 80s.
In 1970, /26\ was assigned production of the Type 63/68 rifle. By 1978 over 6 million had been produced but the T63/68 never lived up to it's promise as an accurate select fire rifle. As well, quality control was poor in the aftermath of the cultural revolution and breakages were common.
Type 63/58 production was suspended in 1978 and the rifles were withdrawn from service with many sold abroad (African rebel movements and Albania were large purchasers). Type 56 production was reinstated at Jianshe for 2 years until the new Type 81 production was up to speed.
In 1980, Jianshe Machine Tool Factory was converted for production of motorbikes with help from Yamaha. Vehicles are still the primary product made at Jianshe.
Type 56 rifle vs Type 56 SMG
China refers to the T56 AK as a "sub-machinegun". It's scale of issue in the PLA was usually limited to officers and infantry squad leaders. The Type 56 SKS was the primary infantry rifle.
Selection of the T56 rifle over the T56 AK was based on PLA battle doctrine.
PLA doctrine dictated a "people's war" requiring an entire nation under arms in time of war. This doctrine was primarily defensive with an emphasis on long range engagement of opfors using aimed fire. The SKS was ideally suited for this, being considerably more accurate than the AK and better suited for bayonet fighting (early on, the Type 56 AK stopped being equipped with a bayonet at all). Another consideration was ammunition logistics. Supplying enough ammunition for a 16 million man fighting force with select fire assault rifles was not practical.
The PLA attempted a stamped production SKS (from factory 0138) but it was not durable in use and was withdrawn after large scale field trials. From this research, 0138 went on to design and produce the the type 3 receiver (pinned barrel, milled, square front receiver) often seen on late 3rd wave factory carbines and the SKS-D
The Type 81 became the first general issue select fire arm of the PLA, reflecting the doctrine changes which have accompanied PLA restructuring over the last 20 years and which is still ongoing.
