New 2019 type 56 imports at Classic tracking thread

[TFLOW]

This is my Classic Firearms 56 purchase on March 25th serial number 1124747*. All numbers match. The blueing is about 90% and the stock is solid but in ruff shape. I have a few questions on the gun if anyone has awnsers or can point me in the right direction that would be great. 1st are the serial numbers normally scribed on the underside of the gas tube and on the piston rod? What/where is the cartouche/2\ from? I haven’t seen it on any forums.

[running-man]

I realize that, it's a true '78 Albanian.  I was asking where you guys were collecting info. for your files, it's not clear where that was at.  Didn't mean to offend you.

No worries, you didn't. I'm sorry if my reply sounded annoyed, trying to keep track of everything in this thread stretches my mental capacity to its limits.

I guarantee that everyone here would love to see a nice alby!  Post her up in the Albanian section. When you get to rifleman level, the serial data boards where we catalogue and sort all this information will be open to you.   

[running-man]

This is my Classic Firearms 56 purchase on March 25th serial number 1124747*. All numbers match. The blueing is about 90% and the stock is solid but in ruff shape. I have a few questions on the gun if anyone has awnsers or can point me in the right direction that would be great. 1st are the serial numbers normally scribed on the underside of the gas tube and on the piston rod? What/where is the cartouche/2\ from? I haven’t seen it on any forums.

She's a beauty Tflow. The /2\ on the stock is very likely an acceptance stamp or sone kind of indication of the line it was made on. There are various /#\ stamps you'll find on arsenal /26\ guns

[Phosphorus32]

Electropenciled (EP) serial number markings on the gas tube and gas piston are normal TFlow. A matching rifle out of this batch is like winning $100 on a scratch-off, nice score! 

Looks like yours has some Albanian’s initials on there too. More interesting character. Love it!

[wpasks]

Thanks for the info. about the 56, I'll pass on posting info. about my Albanian.  Not much into the country club thing, got to pay to play.  I'd like to see data about the Albians but if I guess if I'm not in the club I'll take my ball and go home...

[Boris Badinov]

You don't have to "pay to play".

All the data threads are available once  you've passed 100 forum posts or replies.

[running-man]

Thanks for the info. about the 56, I'll pass on posting info. about my Albanian.  Not much into the country club thing, got to pay to play.  I'd like to see data about the Albians but if I guess if I'm not in the club I'll take my ball and go home...

It's your choice to do as you wish.  This board has never required any "pay to play" and it never will as long as I'm involved with it.  It does, however, require a member to demonstrate that they want to be an active member who shares knowledge, asks questions, promotes discussion, and is a good standing member of the community (i.e. Rifleman level) before the data archives are opened up to them.

[Loose}{Cannon]

Thanks for the info. about the 56, I'll pass on posting info. about my Albanian.  Not much into the country club thing, got to pay to play.  I'd like to see data about the Albians but if I guess if I'm not in the club I'll take my ball and go home...

(Thanks for the info, Ill pass on giving you any..... I'd like to see your data though, or I'll leave.)


 

[wpasks]

(Thanks for the info., I'll share mine but can't see what I'm sharing until I meet the requirements)

[Phosphorus32]

(Thanks for the info., I'll share mine my single data point but can't see what I'm sharing all of the accumulated data until I meet the minimal participation requirements)

...I'll take my ball and go home...

You're still here? Did you forget your ball

If being a moderately active participant in the forum for a short period of time before you see the 1000s of serial number data points on various SKSs painstakingly collected by others on the forum is too high of a bar for you to reach (without getting offended and making snarky remarks) then this is not the right place for you, as you've already decided and announced days ago 

You display this surprising attitude of entitlement, despite the open availability of volumes of information on The SKS Files, without any requirement for data input or even any participation. Read the history of the Albanian SKS if you want to see the roll up numbers from the serial number data collection. Participate respectfully if you want to see all of the collected numbers and dates. It's that simple.

You've decided to complain openly on the forum rather than simply asking for an explanation of the requirements, or taking your complaint to an admin privately via PM. Therefore, we are responding openly. My apologies to the other forum participants for the minor unpleasantness.

[Greasemonkey]

To piggy back what the rest of the admin have said, we have spent our time, I want you to think in terms of years... not a day or a month.. but years, and quite a few of them..like maybe 10 years, collecting all of this information, data mining, collecting serials, photos and even running this forum. This does not include side information mining on importers and other projects we undertake from time to time. This is time we could have been doing other things with friends or family, shooting, or even just drinking beer and watching tv.............but no..  we do it, better yet... we sacrifice our time for other enthusiasts and collectors, and in reality, it's a pretty thankless job, especially when people think they are entitled to something we have right off the bat. So pardon us if we get a little offended when someone wants to play the I'll show you mine if you show me yours game...what, are we 8 years old here... And just so you know, we don't make a dime off of doing any of this, not a red cent, any donations we get get poured back into hosting fees and software upgrades, (which is not free and our server host deson't take EBT) to make the end user experience better.

So your ball is now in your court.. either welcome, no harm, no foul, hope you enjoy it, or pick your ball up and kick rocks down the road, your ball, your choice.

[echo83]

Well, I'll play.

Mine came in a month ago, and while I haven't posted any pics just yet, I'd love to tell you a little about it.

Serial # is 59XXX, and ALL numbers match. I paid for a milled receiver and got one, I didn't pay for the hand select. There are no Chinese characters or arsenal markings whatsoever. This makes me think that I got one manufactured in 1956/early 1957?

It was COVERED in Cosmoline. Once I field stripped it, and washed off all the Cosmoline with mineral spirits, I found that bluing is pretty much nonexistent, with minor surface wear. It looks like someone took a Brillo pad to a few spots here and there with no rhyme or reason to it.

Bore is chromed, clean and bright with no pitting. Gas tube is clean as well with no pitting. I'm not thrilled with the condition of the firing pin, but it is clean and rattles freely. I took apart the bolt carrier, soaked everything down, dried it off and gave it a blast of Hoppes.

Stock is chewed up, but intact with no cracks. Lots of trench art and what appears to be the name of a prior owner...Simon? Cleaning rod, but no cleaning kit. 

Spike bayonet, but stock has cut for blade bayonet. Pretty sure the stock is not the original. Lighter colored wood, no serial numbers. Head scratcher here: did I get a replacement stock, or a replacement bayonet?

Sling swivel is on the underside of the stock and is solid.

I've purchased surplus stripper clips, 100 rounds of Wolf, and a sling. Brought it by my local gun store for a once over, they said it looks solid, and that "If this rifle could talk, it would tell stories. You wouldn't understand them though, because you don't speak Chinese."

Looking forward to taking it out to the range. Planning on loading one round and firing, then loading two rounds and firing to ensure there's no risk of slamfire or cycling issues before I load a full stripper clip.

Pics to follow...how did I do?

[running-man]

Welcome to the boards!

Sounds like you got what is commonly called a 'ghost' gun.  1956 vintage, one of the first produced at Jianshe.  Stock should have a S/N, so the fact that it doesn't leads me to believe that it is a replacement.  Bayo should be a blade, so the fact that you have a spike on yours leads me to believe it's also a replacement.  All this is just an educated guess by me w/o pics though, but it would make sense that it's a ghost in this late import batch if the spike bayonet was on it.  The guys sorting the early imports likely passed over anything that had a spike on it.  Sounds like it will be a solid shooter, good plan on the building up to a full stripper clip, I do that on mine as well.   

[Phosphorus32]

They're back!  The price is now down $20 to $400. Bonus feature: another video featuring Ben moonwalking across a crate of Type 56s to MJ's Thriller JK

https://www.classicfirearms.com/chinese-sks-rifle-762x39/

[Loose}{Cannon]

"Better quality"

Yeah...  thats why you took $20 off.   

The ones he tries to show off having a 'nice stock' are light color Albanian replacements with super dark original handguards.     

[running-man]

Nice P32! 

I've updated the original post with a direct link to the video and some quotes from the website. 

While watching the video, I heard a few, let's say interesting, assertions from Ben:

"Earlier in this year, 2019, we made an agreement to purchase an entire exclusive lot of Chinese SKSs that had been stored in a neutral country for over 20 years, therefore timing out of the Chinese exclusions on importation."

"These are Chinese, Vietnam-era, turn-in guns, just like they came back to the arsenals after they were turned in."

"The early bird always gets the worm on that particular one (hand select), because we have more to sort through of course."

"Chinese SKSs are a rarity!"

"As I said before, for these rifles to even qualify to be imported, they must have been stored in a neutral county for 20 years and they must also have a serial number date range that goes back at least 50 years therefore meeting C&R eligibility requirements."

I also have to say, that it absolutely ROTS me how he handles these things.  I cringe with ever drop, flip, & toss.  It's like it just cordwood meant to be tossed about instead of a 50 year old piece of history...

[firstchoice]

That man should not be allowed within 100ft. of any "collectable" firearm. I can't watch much of that SKS abuse. 

firstchoice

[Loose}{Cannon]

I particularly liked it when he jams the butt into another rifles stock to pull the bolt back.   

[echo83]

Unreal. I bought from the first batch, so I get a rebate, right?

I thought he was rough on the rifles in the first unboxing until I saw the most recent video.

When the "third" batch arrives, I'll bet they use a wrecking ball to open the crates. SKS pinata.

[Greasemonkey]

So..... Aim Surplus, Century Arms, SOG/Samco(when they were around), TGI, J&G and every other importer/vendor used museum quality handling and little dainty white cotton gloves to uncrate and repack these little precious nuggets all these years.. 

  I bet not. It ain't the fricken Smithsonian.

It's uncrate it and rebox it....get it in and get it out... as fast as possible, that bank note is coming due at the end of the month, time is money and space is limited, and who is going to notice an extra nick or dent or two on an already well loved nicked and dented rifle when you never saw it before hand.

Seriously....think about it... Hand picks have nothing to do with how they came out the shipping crate.... They are simply the ones that didn't get dropped, fall off the pile, get run over by the forklift, get dropped of the dock, kicked across the floor, used to pry the next crate open, get thrown cause someone got pissed off or dropped down the stairs. Thats why there are usually so few compared to the non-handpicks