传家宝 Norinco Type 56 SKS Carbine

**Emptymag** · March 30th, 2025, 09:38 PM

The Chinese SKS!

In June 1955, the Soviet Union hosted a military and civilian delegation from the People's Republic of China led by General Zhao Erlu.^[15] The Chinese delegation was given a tour of the Tula Arms Plant, where they observed the assembly of SKS carbines.^[15] General Erlu expressed an interest in acquiring the technology for the SKS, as China had previously only been granted a license to produce the Mosin*Nagant, which was by then a rather antiquated design.^[15] After negotiations between Mao Zedong and Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev, the Soviet Union agreed to transfer the technology for the SKS, as well as the AK-47 and the 7.62×39mm cartridge.^[20] Parallel production lines for the SKS and the AK-47 were set up in China the following year.^[15]Chinese production of the SKS continued for decades after it ceased in the Soviet Union, and over nine million had been manufactured as the Type 56 carbine in that country by the 1980s.^[21] Eighty Chinese factories eventually tooled up to produce the Type 56 carbine, although the primary production line was established at the Jianshe Machine Tool Factory, officially designated Factory 296. (Triangle 26)

This is rifle number "one hundred thirty-one thousand, six hundred sixty-three" out of 600,140 rifles produced at the Triangle 26 arsenal in 1966.
(the first two digits in the SN are the date code - the following six digits are the production number)

Another heirloom piece passed to me.
I'm thrilled to own one now - although I would rather have acquired it another way.
It has a home where it will be appreciated, for sure. I had a Yugoslavian SKS that I purchased on Black Friday 2006, but later sold to help pay bills.
It was one of a few rifles I deeply regretted selling - especially as the price to replace that $120 rifle was at around $350 and climbing at the time I sold it - I knew it was unlikely I would buy another one to replace it.

This specimen was purchased in the early 90s.
Based on the missing boxes from the wooden crate of ammo purchased around the same time, as well as the condition of the rifle (the lever to remove the top cover has barely scratched the finish), I'm confident that this rifle has seen no more than 20-80 rounds through it, cleaned thoroughly, and not fired again.

It's perfect in every way. Discounting the overall excellent condition, it is simply everything I could want in a milsurp rifle - from the feel of it in my hands, to the color of the stock and steel, to the minor dings/gouges in the wood that add character to a 59 year old rifle. I could not be any more thrilled to have this "crappy Chinese rifle" in my safe.

It's been a long time since I've thought about, or talked about the SKS rifle.
Feel free to share your thoughts and experiences with them. I'm pretty excited about it all - I joined the SKS Boards forum many years ago and I pretty much drifted away from all things SKS over the years - especially after selling off my Yugo.

More - many more - pics to follow.

**Emptymag** · March 30th, 2025, 10:22 PM

1,200 rd wooden case of Norinco 7.62x39 from CHI-nah.

**Emptymag** · March 30th, 2025, 10:30 PM

1992 production

**Bang** · March 30th, 2025, 11:22 PM

I love my SKS. Yugo (Serbia) model. Made in 1978. Wish I had grabbed two.

**Emptymag** · March 30th, 2025, 11:28 PM

The (from) address on the ammo case reads:

N.S.D
70 James Way
Southampton, PA 18966

Looking it up, I come up with "Nationwide Sports Distributors, Inc"

One link shows a bankruptcy hearing in 1998 - looks like a lot of shooting sports manufacturers were suing them.

The name sounds familiar, but I'm sure there are a lot of similarly names companies.
If I had to guess, they were a regular advertiser in Shotgun News publications.

It also says "Box 2 of 2" on the label.
It's a safe bet that box 1 was a rifle as I know he only ever bought the one case of ammo.

**eatmydust** · March 31st, 2025, 06:48 AM

Every thinking man should own atleast 1 SKS, IMO. They are almost foolproof, proven tech, built to last.
Congrats EM, sorry for your loss though.

**father-of-five** · March 31st, 2025, 07:30 AM

Originally Posted by Emptymag

The (from) address on the ammo case reads:

N.S.D
70 James Way
Southampton, PA 18966

Looking it up, I come up with "Nationwide Sports Distributors, Inc"

One link shows a bankruptcy hearing in 1998 - looks like a lot of shooting sports manufacturers were suing them.

The name sounds familiar, but I'm sure there are a lot of similarly names companies.
If I had to guess, they were a regular advertiser in Shotgun News publications.

It also says "Box 2 of 2" on the label.
It's a safe bet that box 1 was a rifle as I know he only ever bought the one case of ammo.

It's not too far from Classic Pistol, a range I went to a few times several years ago, not too far from County line road.

I have a Yugo and a Romanian sks, both purchased through classifieds here. I also have what appears to be a Chinese sks bandolier that holds 200 rounds that I got on ebay pretty chep..

**Ronin** · March 31st, 2025, 08:12 AM

Guess you can put it in an A-Team type stock, now - https://forum.pafoa.org/showthread.p...9691&p=4981174

J/K, that's too nice to put in a gimmicky stock.

**Emptymag** · March 31st, 2025, 11:50 AM

Originally Posted by eatmydust

Every thinking man should own atleast 1 SKS, IMO. They are almost foolproof, proven tech, built to last.
Congrats EM, sorry for your loss though.

Thank you.
And yes, great rifles that many people will miss out on due to their distaste for the fixed 10 round magazine. I mean, I get it - same reason I'll never buy another Hi-Point carbine (no real regrets selling that one off), but that's just the way things were when it was introduced - and stripper clips really DO work well.

Originally Posted by father-of-five

It's not too far from Classic Pistol, a range I went to a few times several years ago, not too far from County line road.

I have a Yugo and a Romanian sks, both purchased through classifieds here. I also have what appears to be a Chinese sks bandolier that holds 200 rounds that I got on ebay pretty chep..

Cool! I had the bandolier and a bunch of stripper clips, but I'm pretty sure I sold them all when I sold my Yugo.
Looking NOW, stripper clips are NOT inexpensive - ($2.50-$3.00 EACH!!!) at least not for the very few types still in existence that are deemed "proven/reliable".
Modern produced ones are easy to find and not TOO expensive, but don't seem to have a good reputation.

If anyone has some old, Chinese surplus "31" stamped, or Czech surplus "BXN" stamped stripper clips they would like to sell, let me know - I'd rather my money go to someone here than a random internet seller.

Originally Posted by Ronin

Guess you can put it in an A-Team type stock, now - https://forum.pafoa.org/showthread.p...9691&p=4981174

J/K, that's too nice to put in a gimmicky stock.

Ha! I forgot all about that stock! Gotta watch the update vid!
Yeah, no way I would destroy a piece of history to change it up like that - only if I had a beater gun, or broken wood stock.