Chinese Arsenal Identification

[pcke2000]

Anyone here knows anything about the Chinese arsenal with the arsenal mark as '56 inside a triangle'? (similar to Factory 26 (296)'s mark, but has 56 inside the triangle, instead of 26).

Thank you very much.

[Loose}{Cannon]

There isn't a /56\ that I know of....  have a pic?

[Power Surge]

There's a 156....maybe hard to see the 1 since it's at the same angle as the triangle leg?

[pcke2000]

There isn't a /56\ that I know of....  have a pic?

Thank you, LC. So far I am tracking it may not be one of Chinese SKS manufacturers. The mark can be found on some commercial Type 59 (Makarov) pistols though. I was asked to find some info about this specific arsenal, but no luck so far.

Please feel free to delete my posts if it's not an SKS related topic. Thanks again.

[Loose}{Cannon]

Nah....  its all relevant.

Im guessing we just havent seen the /56\ on an sks. I do see what your referring to on the Maks   

 

[armedhippie]

My fav LGS has a /56\ SKS that I've been eyeballing for a couple years now cuz its all matching but has a light brown paint on it and is WAY over priced ( why its not here right now) I've fondled the thing many, many times so I'm 99.9% on it being a /56\ ( there's always the chance the 1 could be light struck but I'm fairly ocd) I'll check again tuesday but with my luck it was 1 of about 4 that got sold off at auction a while back  )  If its still there I'll get a pic.

[running-man]

I'd be awfully surprised if it was a /56\ and not a /156\ or possibly a /136\ hippie. I've been looking for a /56\ sks since 2012 with zero luck.  Anything is possible though. 

[Greasemonkey]

Somewhere I "read"  Factory 56 and 66 were the same like 296 and 26..   Now I can't confirm or deny this.. I have also seen mention of a /262 Type 59 Makarov.

A /66 stamped Type 59 Makarov



On Aks.. you gotta watch, the actual triangle could be a 66 with 56s or 56-1 next to it. Aks are typically /26, /66, /416 or (386), there are a few other oval factories, but those were the 3 most commonly seen triangle factories.

[Loose}{Cannon]

Omg... It says norinco. 

[Greasemonkey]

Omg... It says norinco. 

It's just an export company  

[Loose}{Cannon]

Right....  Cuz export companies stamp, and then re-blue the whole gun again.   

[gregsthe1]

This is an AK kit I sold on Gunbroker last year. It was a domestic used rifle for the first part of it's life, as seen by the Chinese characters for selector marks and Chinese character in front of the serial number. A few months ago I received back the re-welded completed rifle I decided to keep, a /56\ 26 mil export variant with no Chinese characters and "L" and "D" for selector marks, I just haven't taken any pics of it yet. Definitely a different factory than /66\.

Never seen the /56\ mark on an SKS before...





*added:
As far as info on that particular factory there is none because China never releases info about the arsenals or state-run factories. There are a few AK's that made it here from that factory, the preban Norinco 86S bullpups were /56\ marked and a handful of /56\ marked postban NHM-90's were brought in too.

[running-man]

It's been said that /66\ indicated Factory 626 (Qinghua Machinery Factory, Bei'an later possibly moved to Henan) and we know that /26\ indicates Factory 296 (Construction Industry (Group) Co., Ltd., Chongqing)

I wonder if /56\ had a similar story and it was really Factory 526.  The only 5*6 stamp I've ever been able to find in the SKS world is /526\, produced in years 15 through 18:



Would not be the first time that different weapons from different build years sported different stamps despite coming from the same factory (such as some of the type 53s).

[Greasemonkey]

As far as info on that particular factory there is none because China never releases info about the arsenals or state-run factories. There are a few AK's that made it here from that factory, the preban Norinco 86S bullpups were /56 marked and a handful of /56 marked postban NHM-90's were brought in too.

Uhmm.. ok, we know they never released factory info. Why do you think we have been trying to figure factories out?  As far as /56Aks..I never said they dont exist here, but kits/home builds are all I have seen in person, I think B-West brought a bunch in way back when, none were complete unless rewelded and completed by someone here. I don't constitute a piece and part kit as an out of the box, ready to fire, complete as imported rifle.

As for a /56SKS I've seen babblings and ramblings about one but no actual pictures to substantiate one.

[gregsthe1]

As far as /56Aks..I never said they dont exist here, but kits/home builds are all I have seen in person, I think B-West brought a bunch in way back when, none were complete unless rewelded and completed by someone here. I don't constitute a piece and part kit as an out of the box, ready to fire, complete as imported rifle.

I'm saying they did exist here, that is all. Factory /56\ examples were imported pre-'89 in the 86S bullpup and post-'89 in the NHM-90 flavor... right out of the box/ready to fire/complete. My parts kit photo was just an example to prove the factory /56\ mark exists, because no one else has yet to produce one for this thread.

The op wanted to know information about that specific factory so I gave him all I had

[Bunker]

As stated for reference...close up of /56\ stigma from 86 Bullpup complete rifle - produced in F/A and S/A sporter variants. Never seen a /56\ SKS.

[gregsthe1]

Snapped a few pics of the keeper: