The Anatomy of a Sino-Soviet SKS (photo heavy)

I'm going to post a series of photos, by component type, showing the markings that I've found on what appears to be a pretty typical, authentic, Sino-Soviet SKS. There's not a lot of hard data, backed up by records, about these. There are a lot of conclusions on the Internet about these rifles that are based on reasonable speculation, based on observation, and also a lot of pure BS. I'm hoping to sort some of this out.

For the purpose of this series of postings, I'm defining the Sino-Soviet SKS rifles literally -- as being those earliest Chinese SKS rifles that were made, using Russian machinery from the Tula arsenal, either by Russian advisors or by Chinese workers under the guidance of Russian advisors.

Sino-Soviet SKS rifles are also at times more broadly defined as those early ones made by the Chinese during the period of uneasy cooperation between the two nations--roughly, 1956-1965. I'll mention the differences between the two.

Let's begin with ...

THE STOCK

Authentic Sino-Soviet SKS stocks appear to either be made from Russian blanks (or finished stocks) identified by some as "arctic birch," or they may be made from a type of catalpa tree that grows in China.

Characteristics of authentic Sino-Soviet SKS stocks are usually:

• a side-mounted rear sling swivel
• a serial number with a letter prefix and 4-5 numbers stamped below the swivel (see note)
• a number (inspector?) in a circle stamped below the serial number
• a star, usually stamped on the lower-right side of the stock, near the butt (if you are lucky ... not all have the star)

[Note: while it was logically assumed that these prefix letters were from the Cyrillic alphabet, and some are, more recent characters have appeared that have yet to be identified as being any particular letter, and may just be a symbol. The "letter prefix" illustrated here is just such an example.]

In the case of the rifle being used to illustrate this article, the character prefix for the serial number also appears in the stock, just behind the back end of the trigger guard.

These stamps may not be distinct, may no longer be visible, or possibly were not ever been present ... but they probably were on most of the rifles in this earliest group. Once you know where to look, you might be able to find traces of them on even well-worn stocks.

Other stamped characters and numbers, most likely related to the inspection processes, can be found:

• In the barrel bed of the stock
• Under the butt plate (note spring mounted in the cleaning tool cavity)

Next, let's look at some markings ...

SERIAL NUMBERS ON THE METAL

The serial numbers for the early Sino-Soviet SKS rifles tend to be identified with a serial number consisting of one non-numeric character, followed by a four-digit number. There will be exceptions to these, of course, and some new exceptions were revealed in a recent shipment of these rifles, but this is the most typical configuration.

In addition to the stock (shown previously), the serial number will usually appear stamped on:

• The left side of the receiver, usually just before the appearance of the Jianshe arsenal mark (a stylized "26" inside a triangle)
• The bottom of the magazine
• The bottom of the trigger guard
• The back of the recoil spring cover
• On the bolt carrier
• On the bolt assemby

In addition, if the original finish is still sufficiently present and clean, the serial number might be visible as an electro-penciled number on:

• The gas tube
• The gas piston rod

Ready for just a couple more? Let's look at:

OTHER MARKS ON THE METAL

Most of the other markings that you are likely encounter are probably from inspections, or are placed there by various craftsmen.

In this case, it seems fairly likely that a craftsman identified as "No. 30" mounted the barrel to the receiver. You will see that number on the barrel, to the left of the alignment indexing line, and also on the receiver, to the right of the index. If the number on the barrel at this position does not match that on the receiver, it's probably a sign that the original barrel was traded out for some reason.

The barrel, in this example, also has the number "00" stamped on it. The meaning of this number is unclear as of this writing.

Other marks that appear on this particular rifle include what appears to be a double-struck "4" or two triangles toward the bottom right of this photo of the bolt.

In addition to the incremental range markings, the site on this rifle has an inverted "U" mark toward the bottom of the metric measurements and hash marks. This is often attributed to being a "Russian sight", and is also generally associated with the earliest Chinese-made rifles. This appears at the mark which indicates that the sight has a "battle sight setting" default. When the sight is set at this point, the rifle is (or once was) sighted in for 300 meters. Pushing the site one click forward adjusts it down to 100 meters, and it goes up by 100 meters for every "click" after that.

There are doubtless other markings on parts of this rifle, but these are the more typical, obvious, and identifiable of the lot.

You can never have too much cosmoline on a military rifle, but sometimes you begin to wonder. This one looks like it was dipped into a barrel of melted cosmo, then stored in a hay loft.

Great Info..
I have the Sino-soviet #L 1735 but I am missing the recoil spring cover.

If anyone has a recoil spring cover number (L 1735) I would like to buy it..

excellent post.
nice to see a dissection.

great job on this post. ironically I was having a conversation yesterday with someone on the sino soviets and the origin of them. this was helpful

Nice to see this thread bumped up; very informative

Machodoc said:

You can never have too much cosmoline on a military rifle, but sometimes you begin to wonder. This one looks like it was dipped into a barrel of melted cosmo, then stored in a hay loft.

Click to expand...

Does it preserve the hay equally well just in case you get the urge for a snack while de-cosmolining the rifle?

China did not date the SKS so it's hard to determine the actual date but the Sino-Soviet Rifle is easy because In 1956, when Russia ended production of the SKS at the Tula Arsenal, they shipped the tooling, spare parts and specification to China along with technical advisers, who helped set up the manufacturing and training of the Chinese workers at Jianshe Arsenal (aka factory 26). Jianshe Arsenal was the First to manufacturer the Type 56 Rifle (SKS) and Jianshe was the only one to make the Sino-Soviet SKS.

Here is my Sino-Soviet.










The Stock is a bit rough but you know those North Vietcong were hard on their firearms..

Where did you guys get these? Are these from Classic? I might have to spring for a numbers matching one.

Alphabrew said:

Where did you guys get these? Are these from Classic? I might have to spring for a numbers matching one.

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Nvm, they're out of stock

I believe both SOG and Firearmsforsale.com have them, in stock. Neither place selects for matching numbers, though. I got my Ghost sks from SOG , not a matching number job by any means, but it's in fine shape.

This batch of Sino-Soviet SKS's imported, by IO, is somewhat different then the bunch that Century brought in a year or so ago. The IO's are generally earlier production then Century guns which have serial numbers into the 3 million range. But there is a substantial overlap both in features and serials numbers between the two. Do the Century imports also meet your definition of "Sino-Soviet"?

Insider info on another board says that IO recently received yet another batch. Wonder what they will be like.

Alphabrew said:

Where did you guys get these? Are these from Classic? I might have to spring for a numbers matching one.

Click to expand...

I picked up mine at the Chantilly, VA Gun Show last Friday.
the Dealer only had 5 of them, there were 3 left on Sunday, they were real rough, no bluing on the metal, large chunks carved out of the stocks
so no one would pay 299.00 for them. They are IO imports

2k05gt said:

Here is my Sino-Soviet.

Click to expand...

How cool is that?!! Yours has the same prefix as mine, and mine is 1753 and yours is 1735.

Alphabrew said:

Where did you guys get these? Are these from Classic? I might have to spring for a numbers matching one.

Click to expand...

PM me ... I know a shop that recently had some numbers-matching rifles in stock. I can check for you to see what's left.

Thanks for taking the time to do this and posting it - it is very helpful

Shazam said:

This batch of Sino-Soviet SKS's imported, by IO, is somewhat different then the bunch that Century brought in a year or so ago. The IO's are generally earlier production then Century guns which have serial numbers into the 3 million range. But there is a substantial overlap both in features and serials numbers between the two. Do the Century imports also meet your definition of "Sino-Soviet"?

Click to expand...

It's hard to answer this last question because the Century imports included some early, and some later, Jianshe rifles. It's also hard because there's a more literal definition of "Sino-Soviet SKS" and one that's more general. The literal definition requires the rifle to have a serial number with a Cyrillic prefix. The more general includes all of the Jianshe rifles made during the period of cooperation between the USSR and China ... generally those with the Jianshe triangle 26 mark, but without the three Chinese characters that stand for Type 56.