Hakan
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Chinese SKS Type 56 ID FAQ
1. INTRODUCTION:
China has been manufacturing SKS for over 50 years producing more SKS than any other nation. During this period, we've seen how it has evolved from the original design to the many variations. The main driving force for the changes was purely economics, a need to produce more at a lower cost. Faced with an over supply in a saturated North American market, several new variants were created and marketed.
Writing this sticky was a daunting task because the amount of information was overwhelming. Just the factory codes alone numbered in 150. Some of the codes were difficult to decipher because they were like jig-saw puzzles fitted within a triangle. I've decided to cover two of the most common Chinese SKS in Canada
, the standard and a variant. The SKS-D is a distant second.
As with the Russian SKS sticky, information on how to operate a SKS is at the bottom of the report.
I don't pretend to be an expert and this report isn't chiselled in stone. There is alot more information yet to be gathered. Should you have information that is different or relevant to this report, then please post it. There is one thing I have learnt with the Chinese SKS is to never to say never because anything is possible, there are plenty of anomalies.
Please use this report as a guide only.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
2.HISTORY
China was embroiled in a bitter civil war that began in 1927. The fighting continued in spite of the Japanese invasion during WWII, it finally ended in 1949 when the Communist defeated the Nationalist who fled to the island of Taiwan.
October 1st, 1949 was the birth of a new nation, the People's Republic of China (PRC). It had little time to rebuild when they were drawn into another war the following year. When China entered the Korean War in support of her communist neighbour, her army was still equipped with captured WWII Japanese, American and Nationalist built rifles along with donated Russian small arms. The huge stockpile quickly dwindled by the end of the war and they were resupplied with Russian surplus.
In 1956, when Russia ended production of the SKS at the Tula Arsenal, they shipped the toolings, spare parts and specification to China along with technical advisors, who helped set up the manufacturing and training of the Chinese workers at Jianshe Arsenal (aka factory 26).
While the SKS no longer met Russia's new standard of modern warfare, China on the other hand embraced it, China liked it for its simplicity, ruggedness and ease of operation by its newest recruits.
China felt the SKS had a role to play alongside of the AK47. In battle, it didn't use as much ammo, it was faster to charge 10 rounds and it could provide cover fire while the AK 30 round mags were being reloaded. The SKS having a longer barrel was more likely to hit the target than the shorter barrel AK.
China adopted both the SKS and the AK47 in 1956.
The spirit of cooperation between the two Communist superpowers didn't last, it ended a few years later in 1960.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
3. VIETNAM WAR.
China was an ally of North Vietnam, another Communist neighbour. Unlike the Korean War she did not send troops to fight but she did supply food, equipment and weapons. China was the leading provider of small arms to North Vietnam and the war had a big impact on her production.
If there was ever a major war that the Chinese SKS was recognized to have played a significant supporting role, this would be the war.
The American public first encountered the Chinese SKS when the soldiers brought them back from the jungles of Vietnam. It soon became a popular war souvenir. The bringbacks as they were called, could fetch as much as $1000 with proper documentation. The majority of all the bringbacks were from China and most were built in Jianshe Arsenal.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
4. JIANSHE ARSENAL. Aka factory 26.
China did not have a long history of firearms manufacturing. The oldest factory was Jianshe and it was built in 1889 during the Imperial Dynasty in the city of Chongqing.
Prior to the arrival of the SKS in 1956, Jianshe was producing bolt action rifles.
By the 60s, Jianshe became the largest SKS producer. China decided to further expand production by adding more factories. The majority of these factories were small and they were scattered throughout the country to aid the local economies. I'm not quite sure how many factories were actually built but probably far less than the 150 known factory codes. Most of these factories used more than one code.
eg: factory 26=126=136=296, factory 36=386, factory 96=9616.
The late 70s to early 80s was a period of uncertainty for Jianshe. The Vietnam war ended several years earlier, Chairman Mao had passed away, New leadership was more focussed on economic reform than with building bigger armies.
The writing was on the wall for this nearly 100 year old factory. Its fate was decided when the Army dropped the SKS and the AK from its front line. It was replaced by the newly designed Type 81 rifle. However, other branches of the military: the militia, border guards, honour guards and security police continued to use them as second line weapons.
Today, the SKS is mainly used by the honour guards, troops on parade and for training by militias and cadets.
Chairman Mao takes a closer look at Jianshe in 1964.
If Chairman Mao were alive today, he would not recognize the factory that began as an Imperial arms manufacturer because it is now one of the top motorcycle, ATV and moped manufacturers in China. With joint venture partner Yamaha, they sold over 14 million units since converting in 1982.
I bet Mao never imagined the factory he once toured would one day be producing consumer products that are shipped around the world, would be in partnership with a Japanese corporation, no longer wholely owned by the state and listed on a stock exchange. Times sure have changed.
The past, girl training with a rifle built in Jianshe.
However, Jianshe Industry Ltd. hasn't quite completely abandoned its legacy as it still develops small arms in partnership with Norinco and the PLA.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
5. PRIMARY IDENTIFICATION. Left side of receiver.
This is what a left side of the receiver from factory 26 looks like, built in 1965.
Factory code, 3 Chinese characters and serial numbers (9 million).
a. Factory code.
Each factory was assigned a set of numbers (some had more than one), the older codes were within a triangle / \ while the newer codes were within a rectangle [ ] or an oblong ( ) . They eventually dropped the codes altogether and replaced them with the exporter's name.
-List of factory codes: The following codes are some of the 150 factory codes. I'm only listing the ones that I have seen pictures of and the pictures are from various sources. Some are from members of this and other forums and some are from various gun auction sites. This list will be updated when new information is received.
-Triangle codes:
-Square codes:
[0129],[0134],[0136],[0138],[0140],[0141],[0144],[0146],[0147],[0148],[0221],[0223],[0224],[0303],[0306],[6615].
-Oblong codes:
(23),(874),(965),(974),(9186),(9696).
-Diamond codes:
<0205>,<0216>
-Plain codes:
M8, M21 No, M21 0296, 416M21, DB, DP.
AT-M Ad
b. Location of the codes:
- Factory 26 1956-1961, the codes are located on the right side of the serial numbers.
eg:123456 /26\
- Factory 26 1962-1970, 1979-1980, the codes are on the far left side before the 3 Chinese character.
eg: /26\ *** 12345678
- Other factories
Triangle code, Most are located on the left, before the 3 Chinese character but a very few codes are located on the right.
Square code, can be found either before or after the 3 Chinese characters.
c. 3 Chinese characters ***.
Translates to Type 56 carbine, not to be confused with Type 56 rifle which was assigned to the AK47.
Location of the 3 Chinese characters:
- Factory 26, from 1956-1961, had no Chinese characters .
eg: 1234567 /26\ .
- Factory 26, from 1962-1970 and 1979-1980, located between the factory code and the serial numbers.
eg: /26\ *** 12,345,678 .
- Other factories. Most had the 3 Chinese characters are between the code and serial numbers (as above) but a few factories had only the codes and serial numbers, no Chinese character.
eg: /636\ 1,234,567
note: At factory 26 information on 1971-1978 are not available at this time.
d. The absent of date of production.
Jianshe used to mark dates on their rifles prior to the arrival of the SKS but for some reason they did not on the SKS.
e. Serial numbers.
Chinese serial numbers are generally numeric, except for the first year at factory 26 where two styles of serial numbering were used.
- Russian style (early 1956). While under Russian supervision, it was only natural the Russian advisors would implement the Russian style of serial numbering on the Chinese built SKS. They basically followed the Russian style but instead of using 2 cyrillic letters followed by 4 numbers, they used 1 alfa letter followed by 4 numbers. On a few rare occasions an unrecognizable symbol was observed in place of the alfa letter.
This early first year production is better known as Sino-Soviet SKS.
eg early 1956: A1234 /26\
- Chinese style. Sometime in the latter part of 1956, the style was switched to the Chinese. This led me to believe the Russian Advisors didn't stay in China for very long. The serial number contained 5 to 6 numbers. Every year thereafter it began at the next million, eventually to 24 million at factory 26. I have seen higher at other factories.
eg late 1956: 12345 /26\ or 123456 /26\
eg 1957 to 1980: 1234567 /26\ to /26\***24000000
- Partial serial numbers located on parts:
Early and mid production: On carrier, bolt, top cover, mag, trigger guard and buttstock.
Late production: On carrier and bolt.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
6. TRANSLATING THE SERIAL NUMBERS TO PRODUCTION DATE.
a. Production date in serial number- Commercial variant.
Some commercial production have the production year in the serial numbers. These ones have no factory codes (nfc) and serial numbers of 7 digits. Serial numbers began with 88 and later. The earlier serial numbers have no space while the later ones have a space between the first two and the last 5 digits.
eg: 8812345= 1988 , 02 12345= 2002
b. For factory 26.
Serial number in the millions plus the year of adoption (1956) equal the year of production.
eg:
(<1,000,000 = 0) 0+1956=1956
(2,000,000= 2) 2+1956=1958
(10,000,000 = 10) 10+1956=1966
(24,000,000 = 24) 24+1956=1980
c. For other factories.
The above formula will work on some other factory codes but not all of them. I cannot be certain that your result will be absolutely correct but it's better than not giving you a solution at all.
I would suggest that you try it on your SKS with a triangle, rectangle or oblong codes which has 8 digit serial numbers (ignore importer's prefix and suffix numbers). It will not work with 7 digit serial numbers. Use it in conjunction with the production classes below and see what you come up with.
1. INTRODUCTION:
China has been manufacturing SKS for over 50 years producing more SKS than any other nation. During this period, we've seen how it has evolved from the original design to the many variations. The main driving force for the changes was purely economics, a need to produce more at a lower cost. Faced with an over supply in a saturated North American market, several new variants were created and marketed.
Writing this sticky was a daunting task because the amount of information was overwhelming. Just the factory codes alone numbered in 150. Some of the codes were difficult to decipher because they were like jig-saw puzzles fitted within a triangle. I've decided to cover two of the most common Chinese SKS in Canada
As with the Russian SKS sticky, information on how to operate a SKS is at the bottom of the report.
I don't pretend to be an expert and this report isn't chiselled in stone. There is alot more information yet to be gathered. Should you have information that is different or relevant to this report, then please post it. There is one thing I have learnt with the Chinese SKS is to never to say never because anything is possible, there are plenty of anomalies.
Please use this report as a guide only.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
2.HISTORY
China was embroiled in a bitter civil war that began in 1927. The fighting continued in spite of the Japanese invasion during WWII, it finally ended in 1949 when the Communist defeated the Nationalist who fled to the island of Taiwan.
October 1st, 1949 was the birth of a new nation, the People's Republic of China (PRC). It had little time to rebuild when they were drawn into another war the following year. When China entered the Korean War in support of her communist neighbour, her army was still equipped with captured WWII Japanese, American and Nationalist built rifles along with donated Russian small arms. The huge stockpile quickly dwindled by the end of the war and they were resupplied with Russian surplus.
In 1956, when Russia ended production of the SKS at the Tula Arsenal, they shipped the toolings, spare parts and specification to China along with technical advisors, who helped set up the manufacturing and training of the Chinese workers at Jianshe Arsenal (aka factory 26).
While the SKS no longer met Russia's new standard of modern warfare, China on the other hand embraced it, China liked it for its simplicity, ruggedness and ease of operation by its newest recruits.
China felt the SKS had a role to play alongside of the AK47. In battle, it didn't use as much ammo, it was faster to charge 10 rounds and it could provide cover fire while the AK 30 round mags were being reloaded. The SKS having a longer barrel was more likely to hit the target than the shorter barrel AK.
China adopted both the SKS and the AK47 in 1956.
The spirit of cooperation between the two Communist superpowers didn't last, it ended a few years later in 1960.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
3. VIETNAM WAR.
China was an ally of North Vietnam, another Communist neighbour. Unlike the Korean War she did not send troops to fight but she did supply food, equipment and weapons. China was the leading provider of small arms to North Vietnam and the war had a big impact on her production.
If there was ever a major war that the Chinese SKS was recognized to have played a significant supporting role, this would be the war.
The American public first encountered the Chinese SKS when the soldiers brought them back from the jungles of Vietnam. It soon became a popular war souvenir. The bringbacks as they were called, could fetch as much as $1000 with proper documentation. The majority of all the bringbacks were from China and most were built in Jianshe Arsenal.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
4. JIANSHE ARSENAL. Aka factory 26.
China did not have a long history of firearms manufacturing. The oldest factory was Jianshe and it was built in 1889 during the Imperial Dynasty in the city of Chongqing.
Prior to the arrival of the SKS in 1956, Jianshe was producing bolt action rifles.
By the 60s, Jianshe became the largest SKS producer. China decided to further expand production by adding more factories. The majority of these factories were small and they were scattered throughout the country to aid the local economies. I'm not quite sure how many factories were actually built but probably far less than the 150 known factory codes. Most of these factories used more than one code.
eg: factory 26=126=136=296, factory 36=386, factory 96=9616.
The late 70s to early 80s was a period of uncertainty for Jianshe. The Vietnam war ended several years earlier, Chairman Mao had passed away, New leadership was more focussed on economic reform than with building bigger armies.
The writing was on the wall for this nearly 100 year old factory. Its fate was decided when the Army dropped the SKS and the AK from its front line. It was replaced by the newly designed Type 81 rifle. However, other branches of the military: the militia, border guards, honour guards and security police continued to use them as second line weapons.
Today, the SKS is mainly used by the honour guards, troops on parade and for training by militias and cadets.
Chairman Mao takes a closer look at Jianshe in 1964.
If Chairman Mao were alive today, he would not recognize the factory that began as an Imperial arms manufacturer because it is now one of the top motorcycle, ATV and moped manufacturers in China. With joint venture partner Yamaha, they sold over 14 million units since converting in 1982.
I bet Mao never imagined the factory he once toured would one day be producing consumer products that are shipped around the world, would be in partnership with a Japanese corporation, no longer wholely owned by the state and listed on a stock exchange. Times sure have changed.
The past, girl training with a rifle built in Jianshe.
However, Jianshe Industry Ltd. hasn't quite completely abandoned its legacy as it still develops small arms in partnership with Norinco and the PLA.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
5. PRIMARY IDENTIFICATION. Left side of receiver.
This is what a left side of the receiver from factory 26 looks like, built in 1965.
Factory code, 3 Chinese characters and serial numbers (9 million).
a. Factory code.
Each factory was assigned a set of numbers (some had more than one), the older codes were within a triangle / \ while the newer codes were within a rectangle [ ] or an oblong ( ) . They eventually dropped the codes altogether and replaced them with the exporter's name.
-List of factory codes: The following codes are some of the 150 factory codes. I'm only listing the ones that I have seen pictures of and the pictures are from various sources. Some are from members of this and other forums and some are from various gun auction sites. This list will be updated when new information is received.
-Triangle codes:
-Square codes:
[0129],[0134],[0136],[0138],[0140],[0141],[0144],[0146],[0147],[0148],[0221],[0223],[0224],[0303],[0306],[6615].
-Oblong codes:
(23),(874),(965),(974),(9186),(9696).
-Diamond codes:
<0205>,<0216>
-Plain codes:
M8, M21 No, M21 0296, 416M21, DB, DP.
AT-M Ad
b. Location of the codes:
- Factory 26 1956-1961, the codes are located on the right side of the serial numbers.
eg:123456 /26\
- Factory 26 1962-1970, 1979-1980, the codes are on the far left side before the 3 Chinese character.
eg: /26\ *** 12345678
- Other factories
Triangle code, Most are located on the left, before the 3 Chinese character but a very few codes are located on the right.
Square code, can be found either before or after the 3 Chinese characters.
c. 3 Chinese characters ***.
Translates to Type 56 carbine, not to be confused with Type 56 rifle which was assigned to the AK47.
Location of the 3 Chinese characters:
- Factory 26, from 1956-1961, had no Chinese characters .
eg: 1234567 /26\ .
- Factory 26, from 1962-1970 and 1979-1980, located between the factory code and the serial numbers.
eg: /26\ *** 12,345,678 .
- Other factories. Most had the 3 Chinese characters are between the code and serial numbers (as above) but a few factories had only the codes and serial numbers, no Chinese character.
eg: /636\ 1,234,567
note: At factory 26 information on 1971-1978 are not available at this time.
d. The absent of date of production.
Jianshe used to mark dates on their rifles prior to the arrival of the SKS but for some reason they did not on the SKS.
e. Serial numbers.
Chinese serial numbers are generally numeric, except for the first year at factory 26 where two styles of serial numbering were used.
- Russian style (early 1956). While under Russian supervision, it was only natural the Russian advisors would implement the Russian style of serial numbering on the Chinese built SKS. They basically followed the Russian style but instead of using 2 cyrillic letters followed by 4 numbers, they used 1 alfa letter followed by 4 numbers. On a few rare occasions an unrecognizable symbol was observed in place of the alfa letter.
This early first year production is better known as Sino-Soviet SKS.
eg early 1956: A1234 /26\
- Chinese style. Sometime in the latter part of 1956, the style was switched to the Chinese. This led me to believe the Russian Advisors didn't stay in China for very long. The serial number contained 5 to 6 numbers. Every year thereafter it began at the next million, eventually to 24 million at factory 26. I have seen higher at other factories.
eg late 1956: 12345 /26\ or 123456 /26\
eg 1957 to 1980: 1234567 /26\ to /26\***24000000
- Partial serial numbers located on parts:
Early and mid production: On carrier, bolt, top cover, mag, trigger guard and buttstock.
Late production: On carrier and bolt.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
6. TRANSLATING THE SERIAL NUMBERS TO PRODUCTION DATE.
a. Production date in serial number- Commercial variant.
Some commercial production have the production year in the serial numbers. These ones have no factory codes (nfc) and serial numbers of 7 digits. Serial numbers began with 88 and later. The earlier serial numbers have no space while the later ones have a space between the first two and the last 5 digits.
eg: 8812345= 1988 , 02 12345= 2002
b. For factory 26.
Serial number in the millions plus the year of adoption (1956) equal the year of production.
eg:
(<1,000,000 = 0) 0+1956=1956
(2,000,000= 2) 2+1956=1958
(10,000,000 = 10) 10+1956=1966
(24,000,000 = 24) 24+1956=1980
c. For other factories.
The above formula will work on some other factory codes but not all of them. I cannot be certain that your result will be absolutely correct but it's better than not giving you a solution at all.
I would suggest that you try it on your SKS with a triangle, rectangle or oblong codes which has 8 digit serial numbers (ignore importer's prefix and suffix numbers). It will not work with 7 digit serial numbers. Use it in conjunction with the production classes below and see what you come up with.
