List of Chinese Type 56 Importers

[Loose}{Cannon]

Pretty cool...  Even lists Norinco as company MAKING commercial exports and Poly as not.   Also looks like norinco was/is exporting everything made at the two far right coloumns.   

[Greasemonkey]

Now things get wonky    

Two IDE import stamps    from two separate states.  But both are Polytech made weapons, the Mclean Va is a Polytech Hunter Ak, other is a Polytech Mak90.



So, lets make some brains smoke , maybe these are the same.





Is it not possible to have 2 IDE import/distributors in two different states, that handles Polytech, then under the same umbrella corp one that handles Norinco, CJA and C&A. I think the J and the & were done to break or hide this pattern, make it seem there was more importers than there were or C&A switched to Southfield Mich, became CJA. after the D.I.G. name change.     

Something is there.....something connects these....somewhere, somehow.   OH...my brain.. 

[Greasemonkey]

And the rabbit hole continues deeper, Wonderland sucks..    I now know I should have taken the blue pill  
this blibbit is from 2013...found here, http://www.mdshooters.com/showthread.php?t=141514&page=2

The importation stamp has been slightly misinterpreted in a lot of sources--most ending up on the internet--but this is why I don't mind import stamps. They can sometimes tell some pretty neat stories.

"CJA" was not, according to Sui Chan, its president, owned by China Jing An (also seen as China Jingan, China Jin An, China Jin'an, China Jing Ahn, and other variations). Chan insisted that they were separate, and China Jin An did not run his business, but that he was just a foreign importer who set up shop in America to make money. There were several such import companies set up throughout the U.S., bringing in arms and ammo. Chan did openly admit that he did a lot of business with China Jing An, but the Southfield,* MI business owner denied any direct link with the Chinese exporters. [*Not Smithfield, as is stated in one online source ... Southfield is a Detroit suburb.]

At least one of the Chinese importers of Norinco and other arms (can't recall his name now) was a major contributor to the Clinton campaign from Atlanta. He became close enough to be invited to "insider" events where he was able to talk with the president. It's my guess that, thinking the U.S. worked the way things did in China, these political payoffs would get the government to look the other way. If so, it didn't work.

Most of the firearms that CJA imported from China Jing An did originally come from China Northern Industrial Corporation ("Norinco") and from Polytech, the major supplier to the Chinese military. So we have CJA, the allegedly independent importer; China Jing An, the exporter; and two, or more, manufacturers. The majority of what CJA (and the other companies in the US) brought in were legal AK-47 and SKS rifles, plus various Norinco copies of Tokarevs, etc. They also brought in tons of ammo. The feds were more than a little alarmed that American citizens were able to by this many arms, of this sort, at affordable prices. In a later sting operation, they rounded up a number of principals from other importers and charged them with bringing in full-auto AKs and other weapons with the intention of selling them to gangs.

CJA does not seem to have been part of that sting (Operation Dragon Fire), but various sources claim they'd also tried to sell illegal weapons to gangs. By the time of that sting, CJA was not doing as well financially as its counterparts in California, New Jersey, Atlanta, and elsewhere--I'm guessing because the economy in that part of the country was not doing very well at all. In addition to claiming that China Jing An was exporting full-auto weapons to US importers (run by Chinese), the U.S. also claimed that China was selling materials to Iran that would further their ability to build nuclear weapons. The result was a shut down of arms exports from China. Most of the Chinese importers managed to flee the country and avoided arrest.

But why is China Jing An of interest, whether or not they ran CJA in Michigan? The answer is that they were a commercial arm set up by The People's Armed Police, under the umbrella of The People's Liberation Army. The PAP was, for example, charged with quelling riots, and it was they who were in the tanks at Tiananmen Square when the student protests were launched. The objective of China Jing An was to make enough money exporting arms that they could upgrade their own equipment--something that they did fairly well.

Most of what they exported and sold were new firearms manufactured by Norinco, Polytech, and ammo manufacturers, but a few of the arms that they shipped out came from their own stocks of outdated surplus. This SKS was most likely a rifle that came from their stores of police rifles that were obsolete, and that they wanted to upgrade. There were a few, but not many, of these Sino-Soviets that were in the mix. The overwhelming majority of the SKSs exported by them were later-manufacture Norincos.

Ok, here is info on Operation Dragonfire..
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1996-05-24/news/9605240246_1_nuclear-weapons-us-china-relationship-chinese-manufactured
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Operation-Dragon-Fire-3140868.php
http://www.conservapedia.com/Norinco

[running-man]

Found a second Compasseco stamp.  Still looking for Compasseco #1 stamped on both sides of the receiver, I know it exists as I have it in horribly blurry photos that aren't even worth posting into this list.

[Loose}{Cannon]

Never heard of it.   

[Power Surge]

Just noticed that my MO SKS-D has the #73 IACO stamp on it. Funny thing is, it's EXACTLY like the stamp in the picture... with the multiple strikes in the same pattern, lol.

[firstchoice]

RM, what are your thoughts on this DIG import stamp on a Type 56? I'm not understanding the 5 "L"s struck over the top line of the stamp, but the rest seems to be the same? (#53, 1st DIG stamp)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1W5Umw5mDyNdE5HOMsTyqI4DAdFnRv_5T/view

Just ran across it and was curious.

The link to the thread on this rifle is: http://www.the 'other' boards/smf/index.php?topic=146806.0

The other rifle listed on that thread has the early, (#84), 1st  KSI import stamp.

firstchoice

(Edit: RM edited this post to fix the URL)

[running-man]

RM, what are your thoughts on this DIG import stamp on a Type 56? I'm not understanding the 5 "L"s struck over the top line of the stamp, but the rest seems to be the same? (#53, 1st DIG stamp)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1W5Umw5mDyNdE5HOMsTyqI4DAdFnRv_5T/view

Just ran across it and was curious.

The link to the thread on this rifle is: http://www.the 'other' boards/smf/index.php?topic=146806.0

The other rifle listed on that thread has the early, (#84), 1st  KSI import stamp.

firstchoice

(Edit: RM edited this post to fix the URL)

Looks like the L's are an anomaly.  They aren't covering anything that needs deleted as far as I can see.  The GLNIC imports...those ones have ****'s covering inaccurate city names.  This is a wet hot mess of an import stamp though, this one looks terrible.

[Greasemonkey]

Looks like those "L"s were done later, after the DIG stamp was done, they show bare metal.

[Loose}{Cannon]

 

[firstchoice]

RM, what are your thoughts on this DIG import stamp on a Type 56? I'm not understanding the 5 "L"s struck over the top line of the stamp, but the rest seems to be the same? (#53, 1st DIG stamp)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1W5Umw5mDyNdE5HOMsTyqI4DAdFnRv_5T/view

Just ran across it and was curious.

The link to the thread on this rifle is: http://www.the 'other' boards/smf/index.php?topic=146806.0

The other rifle listed on that thread has the early, (#84), 1st  KSI import stamp.

firstchoice

(Edit: RM edited this post to fix the URL)

Looks like the L's are an anomaly.  They aren't covering anything that needs deleted as far as I can see.  The GLNIC imports...those ones have ****'s covering inaccurate city names.  This is a wet hot mess of an import stamp though, this one looks terrible.

Yeah, no doubt it's a mess. No idea when the other letters were added. Possibly an early stamp that the stamp monkey was just learning? But that doesn't make any sense, either. The use of a 5 instead of a 6 on "7.62", the additional "C" in front of the VA, and the "C" or "G" at the end of BHC, along with the added 5 "L"s. I tried to find the secret code, but all I got was more confused.   

Looks like those "L"s were done later, after the DIG stamp was done, they show bare metal.

Yep, although the "C" and "5" mentioned above look original? Hard to say without having the gun in hand. Definitely a mess.

I second that!    

firstchoice

[TheWalkingDead]

I have a Chinese SKS with an importer nam I have not seen on any other Chinese SKS before.
Maybe someone here has seen one or has one.
It is an all milled spike bayonet well used carbine that I purchased in 1988 from a local gun shop.
It looks like it is stamped STEGLES OKLD CA
I will try to get pictures posted of the marking along with Arsenal number.
I did not see this name on the list 
The stamping is small and very light so makes it hard to read.
I am new to this forum but started buying SKS's back in 1987 and boy do I wish I had kept every one I bought. I only own 3 now.
Thanks

[Phosphorus32]

I’m guessing it’s Siegle’s gun shop mentioned in the link below.  They were probably also a small importer, back when that was common.

https://m.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Last-Gun-Shop-in-Oakland-Closing-Steep-tax-2713836.php

Welcome aboard!

[TheWalkingDead]

Thanks for that information. I had looked at the post on the but failed to see his name mentioned but I do see it now.
Makes sense.  Most of the SKS I was seeing in those early days were well used and this was in the Texas area.

[running-man]

Added about 6 new importers.  Still have another handful to get through including the Siegles stamp. 

[STRANGERRANGER]

Here is the compilation of all the import stamps I can find on the Chinese type 56 SKS.  The photos are all clickable thumbnails that will grow to full size when you click them.  There are 100's of them out there, so this list is by no means exhaustive.  The main batch of these were brought in from 1984 through 1994, though recently a secondary batch has been imported from 2012 through 2015. 

If you have a Chinese import stamp that isn't shown here, please post up a photo and I'll add it here. 

Ming Long Co, ?? out of Napa, California:
MING LONG CO, NAPA, CA
Type: Unknown
Location: Unknown
Notes: I have no photo of this stamp.  Appears to be a very early import.

I just recently picked up a 56 that had "HING LONG CO NAPA CA" on the barrel. This was the only reference I could find remotely close to hing long co. Not sure if you've got a typo or if there were two very similarly named importers out of Napa, but doubtful. See the picture of my stamp below.

[Matchka]

RM, I'll go thru my paperwork as soon as I get back to the states. - I'll un-sock any 56 that's a suspect. Recall a Compasseco - might still be in my Chinese grabs.

[running-man]

Awesome. I need to update this thread anyhow. I have several updates to make and photos to add.

[Soulstar2100]

AAI #2, American Arms Inc. out of North Kansas City, Missouri:
AAI-NKC-MO
Type: Stamp
Location: Right Rear Receiver
Notes: There simply has to be other information on one of these guns such as model designator, country of origin, and caliber *somewhere* on one of these.  Hopefully a better photo will show up someday.

How long ya waiting for pics?

Sino-Soviet E550x Lightly stamped Arsenal 26. Barrel marked SKS 7.62x39 mm MADE IN CHINA

Has a Chinese PU mount that other AAI-NKC-MO have from Google image searches. Google-fu showed this from sksboards about AAI-NKC-MO and having the PU mounts:

...one of two companies that installed the Chinese copy of the Mosin Nagant scope mount after import. The other was Kengs Firearms Specialties. -xxxsksakjoe

[firstchoice]

Hey RM,

  After looking at the previous post about the Importer out of North Kansas City;


AAI #1, American Arms Inc. out of North Kansas City, Missouri:

NORINCO 7.62 X 39 SKS
MADE IN CHINA, AAI NKC-MO


Type: Stamp
Location: Unknown Receiver
Notes:

That is a picture of a barreled receiver that I still own, if you need more pics or info on it?   Let me know...

firstchoice