[UPDATED WITH PHOTOS] Date of the first Soviet sks imports to Canada?

[Boris Badinov]

Were they first imported to Canada at the same time that they began arriving in the United States?

[Greatguns]

Boris, your brain is going to explode if you keep gathering all this intricate SKS information.

Seriously though that is an interesting question. I wonder if Dave at Mag-Wedge would know?

[Boris Badinov]

OneBarfly-- a member on the CGN  forum --  shared these photos from IFC's 1990-91 catalog. (IFC, is/was Century's Canadian operation)

Odd to see that the Soviets (or possibly a rogue CCP?) were selling these to the West even before the dissolution of the Soviet Union in late 1991.

Any thoughts and/or insights?

[running-man]

Boris, what does "IAC" stand for (International FireArms Company??)?  This is not the same IAC (Interstate Arms Co) out of Billerica, NY I assume?



It's interesting you pose the question of timing between the collapse of the USSR and importation of Russian SKS45s.  In all my research, this has *never* lined up and no amount of mental gymnastics allows for a good majority of US imported SK45s to have come from the former USSR countries, particularly Russia.  It's always bothered me, but I have no solid thesis as to how they actually got in to the US, only guesses not necessarily backed by hard data because I'm too busy/lazy to hit up an actual library and pull/search microfiche.

I suspect they were from former Iron Curtain countries which began dismantling communism in earnest in late '89 (Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Czechoslovakia & full E. German Berlin wall dismantlement in '90) and had ample time for the state dept. to remove them from the AECA / ITAR restricted countries list for firearms imports to occur in '91.  I have old federal registry entires somewhere that showed some of them coming off relatively early in the process (I can't find them at the moment unfortunately, I hope I haven't lost them permanently as I remember that info being very difficult to track down).

All the countries of the former USSR were on the ITAR restricted countries list somewhat longer after the breakup of the USSR up until the VRA came along and cleared Russia itself.  Certain 'friendlies' like Ukraine came off the list somewhat before this, and others like Belarus and Kazakstan stayed on the list well into the 2000s (I don't think Belarus has even come off come to think of it)

[Bubbazinetti]

It's interesting that they misspelled "Billerca"( Billerica), MA on the side of the receiver.

[Greasemonkey]

Maybe....
Interstate Arms Company
https://www.interstatearms.com/
Interstate Arms
6 G Dunham Rd
Billerica, MA 01821

[Boris Badinov]

Boris, what does "IAC" stand for (International FireArms Company??)?  This is not the same IAC (Interstate Arms Co) out of Billerica, NY I assume?
...

It's interesting you pose the question of timing between the collapse of the USSR and importation of Russian SKS45s.  In all my research, this has *never* lined up and no amount of mental gymnastics allows for a good majority of US imported SK45s to have come from the former USSR countries, particularly Russia.  It's always bothered me, but I have no solid thesis as to how they actually got in to the US, only guesses not necessarily backed by hard data because I'm too busy/lazy to hit up an actual library and pull/search microfiche.

I suspect they were from former Iron Curtain countries which began dismantling communism in earnest in late '89 (Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Czechoslovakia & full E. German Berlin wall dismantlement in '90) and had ample time for the state dept. to remove them from the AECA / ITAR restricted countries list for firearms imports to occur in '91.  I have old federal registry entires somewhere that showed some of them coming off relatively early in the process (I can't find them at the moment unfortunately, I hope I haven't lost them permanently as I remember that info being very difficult to track down).

All the countries of the former USSR were on the ITAR restricted countries list somewhat longer after the breakup of the USSR up until the VRA came along and cleared Russia itself.  Certain 'friendlies' like Ukraine came off the list somewhat before this, and others like Belarus and Kazakstan stayed on the list well into the 2000s (I don't think Belarus has even come off come to think of it)

My mistake. I meant IFC not IAC. (will correct)


My understanding is that the 1990's sks45 imports to the US were coming from all parts of the former USSR. Although the Newsweek article from January 1994, indicates that:

"Imports from Russia have just started to pick up in the last six months"

https://www.newsweek.com/comrades-do-booming-business-187374

There is another 1994 article from the NYT that discusses some shadier dealings between Belarus and the US with a Canadian importer acting as an intermediary. But, IIRC, that article was about the sale of more complex weaponry, not small arms. The article also implies the Kremlin's knowledge of the dealings.

https://www.nytimes.com/1994/12/24/us/in-a-shadowy-marketplace-america-buys-russian-arms.html

I have always made the connection between the Soviet collapse in Dec 1991 and the Soviet-made imports to the US-- which appear to have begun as early as a year later. Admittedly I am not up to snuff on the State Dept/ BATF restrictions on imports from Russia,  and the former CCP's, and satellite states during that period.

I was not into milsurp at the time. I have always believed that the Soviet sks imports -- at least to the US-- began post collapse. Is this incorrect? Were soviet-made sks45's on the US market prior to 1991?

[running-man]

No worries, I just wanted to make sure IAC wasn't the same as what you were talking about.  I had never heard of IFC, I assume they only handled Canadian sales and Century handled everything US?  To be honest, although I knew Century did business in Canada, I never though that they might do so under a different name or under a subsidiary.  Makes sense though, because you don't hear the Canadians really talking all that much about Century.

As for the SKS45 import period.  I've always assumed '90 to the VRA signing in '94.  Maybe it could have been as early as '89 I guess, but I do know that the state dept. did not allow exports OR imports direct to/from proscribed countries during the Cold War.  They were pariahs for all intents and purposes, the US government wanted to choke off as much trade as possible to keep them wholly dependent on the Soviet Union to weaken both as much as possible. 

Articles or any other hard data from that time period would certainly help to clarify the picture of where they truly came from.  I've always wanted to go down this particular rabbit hole because the dates and timeline bothered me so much.  My assumptions of the state dept. holding things up may very well be totally wrong.  Perhaps the importers used intermediary countries in Europe or even Canada (this would correspond to today's "5 year rule", I'm not sure how long that one has been in place but it's certainly conceivable that it was implemented in response to SKS45 shenanigans)

Good stuff, I'm interested to see where this one goes! 

[running-man]

Good articles. 

That NYT article sensationalizes unnecessarily.  The US government acquires foreign material all the time for research both legally and in perhaps more circumspect manners.  Sometimes the technology is advanced and we are playing catch up, often times it is not but vulnerabilities in the foreign designs can be found and exploited.  You'd be surprised at the amount of material transferred over from the former Soviet Union in the immediate aftermath of the dissolution.  Everything was available for the right price.  I was still in high school in '91, but this stuff was still going on when I began my professional career in the late 90's.  The stories I heard from the 'old timers' I worked with who travelled those former ares of the Soviet Union in the immediate aftermath were pretty incredible (some almost unbelievable if I hadn't heard them from multple sources) to hear.