11 million with no import marks. opriginal (?) cleaning kit.

[santaroga]

So I picked this up on a lark. It was a little bit high (GB) but shipping was good and it seller accepted C&R, so in net it cost a few dollars less than the last classic sale.

I've been through this from front to back. no dragon snot (chinese import cosmo) - a little bit of aged grease in the bolt. No import marks anywehre I can find, including inside the receive,r under the receiver, or anywhere on the barrel. (photos don't show, but I check both inside sides of the receiver)

barrel and receiver both have a "17" stamp and receiver and bolt both have a "N" stamp.

what appears to be the original (incomplete) cleaning kit is there.

did I get lucky?

(full album on imgur)
https://imgur.com/a/5jrcoRz

[santaroga]

[running-man]

So I picked this up on a lark. It was a little bit high (GB) but shipping was good and it seller accepted C&R, so in net it cost a few dollars less than the last classic sale.

I've been through this from front to back. no dragon snot (chinese import cosmo) - a little bit of aged grease in the bolt. No import marks anywehre I can find, including inside the receive,r under the receiver, or anywhere on the barrel. (photos don't show, but I check both inside sides of the receiver)

barrel and receiver both have a "17" stamp and receiver and bolt both have a "N" stamp.

what appears to be the original (incomplete) cleaning kit is there.

did I get lucky?

In a nutshell yes absolutely a good deal.  An as-issued gun that is maybe a bit well used, but in darn good condition for what it is.  It very well could be a bringback but it's not something you'll ever be able to prove.  Bringback possibility is just icing on the cake though, the gun itself is well worth what you paid for it IMO.  Nice one! 

[Boris Badinov]

Definitely a good deal.

Echoing what RM has already said, you'll never know for certain if it's a VN bringback. But given the serial range and arsenal stamp, it makes a decent argument in favor of VN potential. The 11th year (11mil) guns are possibly the  most commonly seen VN sks bringbacks with documents, and there are tons more like yours without papers and sans import stamp that are very likely VN bringbacks. Supposedly, it was the highest production year for the type 56. I have one, too.


And the apparent absence of an import stamp is a good thing, too. Imho, that alone should command a small premium over the standard market prices.

I have zero input or insight on the non-standard finish on the cleaning capsule. Is it parkerized? Or is it stripped with naval jelly or something similar? Is there any bluing evident inside of the capsule?


In any case...
Nice catch, for a great price.

[Larry D.]

Ditto what RM & Boris said.

Nice find!

[Phosphorus32]

Do the numbers match?

No import marks, the year of production and "the look" are all consistent with it being a likely Vietnam bringback. It's nice to have a papered bringback but with papers adding $800 or more to the purchase price of a Type 56 currently, the $350-450 "likely bringbacks" are a good deal.

[santaroga]

Do the numbers match?

No import marks, the year of production and "the look" are all consistent with it being a likely Vietnam bringback. It's nice to have a papered bringback but with papers adding $800 or more to the purchase price of a Type 56 currently, the $350-450 "likely bringbacks" are a good deal.

all numbers match, yeah. the wear pattern is "right" if that makes sense. the numbers match all around, so ... nice.

[carls sks]

very nice.  ------>   put the ball peen hammer away and step back.