SKS and New to GB Forums

hoveywan

Hi All,
I am new to the forums. Thought I would share some pics of the SKS that I recently purchased. It appears to have never been fired. I would be greatful for any info you can share about it. I have spent hours reading about the SKS on the various websites,e.g.: sksboards, yooperj, surplusrifle, etc. The factory code is obscure(0402)- I only found one reference, and nothing meaningful.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the pics!

All parts matching Serial # 25001379 there is an "E" after the serial, not sure what it means.
Factory Code: (0402)
Norinco imported by Poly U.S.A. Atl. Ga.

Riomouse911

Welcome to the boards. That is a very clean SKS! I had a 1992 era-imported Chinese SKS (The one with the brown fiberglass stock) for a bit. It shot everything I fed it, but it didn't light my fire so I sold it off in 1994.

I read somewhere that the 0402 in an oval meant it was for civilian sale, but I don't know if that's true. I read that the Chinese writing is supposed to mean "Type 56 light rifle". (But I also read that "Type 56" is what the Chinese also called their Ak-47, so go figure). Again, I'm not a chinese speaker, so I have to rely on what was written for them.

One of the SKS sites had this design difference having an indication of when it was produced, but no real dates:

You cant date a chinese SKS that isnt from factory 26 , all other chinese SKS falls into a production classification .

long barrel lug : early production

short barrel lug : mid production

pinned barrel : late production

Since the Chinese are rarely forthcoming with information (especially military or arms related info), I have no idea if you'll ever be able to nail the actual production specifics for your gun down.

Have fun with it!

machine gun moran

The English 'E' suffix on the serial number indicates a gun that was made on an export contract. There were always over-runs, and frequently the contract guns were never delivered because of changes in government of the contracting countries. The Chinese absorbed a fairly large number of contract weapons, and as they progressively converted to AK's, they started commercially exporting the SKS' which had been relegated to their reserve arsenals. Yooper John has an extensive array of photos which includes arsenal 26 guns made in successive years from 1956 onwards. But as Riomouse911 says, dating other guns by their serial numbers, is guesswork, and the best key to actual vintage is by the type of manufacturing variations.