Arsenal [6615]

[Matchka]

Okay, folks. First time I've seen this one!
  (Correction: 6615 is shown as a known arsenal on the 2018 list, but I've never seen one til now.)

[Phosphorus32]

Cool, that’s a peculiar new one to me 

With that arsenal marking between the year and serial number I’d like to see one of the old “you can’t date anything but a /26\” adherents explain how that one isn’t obviously a 1970 

[Greasemonkey]

RM probably has 30 of them in his super secret RM folder.  He'll be back soon and whoop his knowledge upon us.

[Phosphorus32]

RM probably has 30 of them in his super secret RM folder.  He'll be back soon and whoop his knowledge upon us.

True Story!

[Boris Badinov]

Very interesting! I like the uncommon serial font.

I will add that this particular date-arsenal-quantity counters the claim that each arsenal had it's own separate, distinct serial number formula. The backward logic of that claim being that a single serial formula used by all arsenals somehow implies that serial numbers can be repeated many times in any given year.

The reason that this claim makes no sense is that the arsenal number functioned (for the Chinese not the BATF) as part of the serial number. Sure, the same date-serial sequence might occur various times in one year. But the arsenal number would always make the difference obvious.

[carls sks]

neat, thanks for sharing.

[BMont]

First one Ive seen.  Cool rifle.  How many arsenals are known again?

[Boris Badinov]

First one Ive seen.  Cool rifle.  How many arsenals are known again?

>100
<150

[Phosphorus32]

First one Ive seen.  Cool rifle.  How many arsenals are known again?

About 110 at the moment

[running-man]

RM probably has 30 of them in his super secret RM folder.  He'll be back soon and whoop his knowledge upon us.

True Story!

Why I outta! 



I don't have this one at all.  Totally new arsenal #, highest rectangle we have is [6603].

[Matchka]

RM probably has 30 of them in his super secret RM folder.  He'll be back soon and whoop his knowledge upon us.

Definitely looking forward to RM's info. 

[Justin Hell]

Very interesting! I like the uncommon serial font.

I will add that this particular date-arsenal-quantity counters the claim that each arsenal had it's own separate, distinct serial number formula. The backward logic of that claim being that a single serial formula used by all arsenals somehow implies that serial numbers can be repeated many times in any given year.

The reason that this claim makes no sense is that the arsenal number functioned (for the Chinese not the BATF) as part of the serial number. Sure, the same date-serial sequence might occur various times in one year. But the arsenal number would always make the difference obvious.

I was thinking about this the other day....and how it makes perfect sense to apply the prefix and suffix letters to differentiate identical serialed, but different arsenaled SKSs being imported.  I had heard it described as different TYPES of firearms with identical serials causing the addition of the letters, which made little sense to me...then it dawned upon me that we likely didn't pay the least bit of attention to the arsenal numbers.

I guess the nice thing about this is that one could be considerably more likely to someday find a 'matching' part for a mismatched gun, by a factor based on the number of arsenals that used the same number.  This also is likely why the true numbers of Chinese SKSs will never be known, without starting and ending numbers for each arsenal.  It also explains why you don't see the addition of prefix/suffix letters on other nationalities. (poor translations of Cyrillic don't count. )

I am gonna have to write down a list of 'needed' serials for several guns...and start paying better attention to auction listing serial numbers.
Just when I was starting to get bored scouring the internet for parts...now I have a whole new reason.

[Matchka]

RM probably has 30 of them in his super secret RM folder.  He'll be back soon and whoop his knowledge upon us.

True Story!

Why I outta! 



I don't have this one at all.  Totally new arsenal #, highest rectangle we have is [6603].

Yessir. The 6614 I found was in a <sorta> 

[firstchoice]

Cool, that’s a peculiar new one to me 

With that arsenal marking between the year and serial number I’d like to see one of the old “you can’t date anything but a /26\” adherents explain how that one isn’t obviously a 1970 

Kinda cool that even going with the 15th year from the serial number on it, it still comes out as a 1970 production Type 56. Are there other Type 56's with the "double date designation" like this?

firstchoice

[Phosphorus32]

Cool, that’s a peculiar new one to me 

With that arsenal marking between the year and serial number I’d like to see one of the old “you can’t date anything but a /26\” adherents explain how that one isn’t obviously a 1970 

Kinda cool that even going with the 15th year from the serial number on it, it still comes out as a 1970 production Type 56. Are there other Type 56's with the "double date designation" like this?

firstchoice

I assume that leading 15 is just a coincidence, unless the factory only planned to produce 1000 or fewer SKSs that year