UBERFAQ - SKS IDENTIFICATION

OVERVIEW: The first step one needs to address in regards to identifying an SKS is establishing what aspect of the rifle one wants to identify. Specifically, what is it you want to know? It's been my experience many people who ask to have their rifle identified don't really know what it is they're asking. If you're looking for the life and travels of the rifle, good luck. Russian rifles are rather cut and dry, but the Chinese can get a little tricky to identify. The common areas examined in identifying an SKS is the country and arsenal of origin, the year of manufacture, and any import information. This section is dedicated to identifying your SKS. More information about the specifics and variants of each country's Simonovs can be found on the UBER TYPES page.

COUNTRY AND ARSENAL OF ORIGIN:

RUSSIA:

Look on the top of the receiver cover. If the cover has no markings, it's not likely to be Russian. The pictured symbols are present on Russian receiver covers.

Suppose the original receiver cover has been lost at one time in the past. It is still possible to identify Russian SKS's as they have a communist star on the left side of the receiver and usually have one or two Cyrillic letters in the serial number. Sometimes "RUSSIA SKS-45" is prominently stamped on the receiver by the importer. Furthermore, it is a common trait of Russian SKS's to have black bolt carriers and/or bayonets. All Russians Simonovs have blade bayonets except the earliest Tulas. One will commonly see a square with a diagonal line through it on the receiver cover. This means the weapon has been overhauled and more information regarding this can be found on the RUSSIAN REFURBS page.

CHINA:

The Chinese rifles can be identified primarily by the three Chinese characters stamped into the left side of the receiver. These characters state the model number of the weapon. Tim M. writes:

"I was showing my Norinco SKS to a friend of mine from mainland China. He looked at the stamp of three Chinese characters and then looked at me and asked, "What does 5 6 weapon mean in English??" When I told him it said "Type 56 Carbine" he told me the first character was a five, the next character was a 6, and the third character means "weapon" or maybe "power", or even "gun", depending on what part of the country you are in."

Commonly, but not always, there will be a second stamp to the left of the model number symbolizing the specific factory in which the rifle's receiver was created. The different symbols simply signify an arsenal and don't really 'mean' anything more than that. Some collectors will try to get one from each factory, but since there are over 30 factories this practice is impractical to most people due to secure storage constraints not to mention cost prohibitive. Because Chinese production numbers have never been disclosed (either a government "national secret" or too poorly recorded), no particular symbol is really 'worth' more than any other at this time. However, someone with a hole in their collection may pay a premium for a particular symbol they desire. The SKSProject was created to gather data and deduce Chinese production runs for ourselves. Perhaps, in time, we'll be able to more appropriately appraise the value of individual factory codes. More on SKS VALUES here.

NOTE: Some Chinese Type 56 Carbines DO NOT have any factory code whatsoever. This is not uncommon. I cannot explain this or determine which factory they came from. This phenomenon is especially pronounced on detachable magazine versions for some reason.

Click the link below to see comprehensive printable charts of Chinese factory codes.

The other assorted parts of Chinese Type 56's were made in various factories all over that country. The earliest Chinese SKS's were identical to Russian SKS's in almost every way because Russian technicians taught and supervised the Chinese SKS construction for the first few years. This is why some early Chinese SKS's will have Russian parts, serial numbers, or blade bayonets. The Chinese favored the Simonov design and produces a wide selection of improvements and variants of the base Type-56. More can be learned on the UBER TYPES page.

ROMANIA:

I was once believed that Romania did not manufacture the SKS carbine. If a rifle were discovered in the past with the Romanian stamp, it was assumed the rifle was Chinese because the firing pin on the two rifles look very similar. Mr. Poyer, co-author of The SKS Carbine, writes in the recently published Guns and Ammo Surplus Firearms #7 annual magazine about his surprise when he eventually did confirm Romania's involvement in SKS manufacture. Both he and his co-author were told by the Romainan embassy in Washington D.C. that NO SKS carbines were EVER manufactured in that country. Since these rifles are rather new on the U.S. SKS market, not much else is known about them at this time. The most interesting aspect of Romanian SKS's is the year it started production. One year after the Chinese began manufacturing SKS's, the Romanians started their production. Now I'm curious to know the start date of Yugoslavian production. Did the Russian technicians do a "road tour" of newly emerging communist countries starting SKS production plants to shore up the governments of these new allies?

YUGOSLAVIA:

These can be the easiest to identify. Does it have a grenade launcher and ladder sight on the muzzle? If so, it is a M59/66. Yugoslavia is the only country that produced these weapons with the grenade adapter starting in 1966. Mind you, there are Yugoslavian SKS's made from 1959-1965, which are identical to Romanian SKS, that do not have a grenade launcher. There are no factory codes or identifying stamps for Yugos. More can be learned on the UBER TYPES page.

ALBANIA:

These rifles are so new to the U.S. that nobody knows much about them. It's not even 100% certain the Albanians were even the ones who manufactured them, although they may have used them and are exporting them today.

These rifles are another unique variant of the basic Simonov design. The stock and hand guard on the gas tube is longer, going all the way to the gas block. Also, the charging handle is more like that of an AK-47 than an SKS. Also, there are two holes in the butt plate, not one. That's all we really know for now.

OTHER COUNTRIES:

These symbols are extremely rare on SKS's found in the United States. Since these Simonovs have never been imported to the U.S., if one is found here it is most likely a war bring back, a special exception, or here illegally. Click the NVA or the Korean symbol respectively to see a photo of the actual symbol on one of Howard Bearse's rifles.

SERIAL NUMBERS:

The numbering format varies depending on the country of manufacture. The whole serial number can be found on the receiver of every SKS. The other areas on the rifle where the serial number can be found are the receiver cover, bolt carrier, bolt, gas tube, trigger housing, magazine, and stock. On Chinese carbines the serial number is so long that only the last five digits are stamped in locations other than the receiver. European SKS will typically have the serial number electro-stenciled to the gas tube and other various locations. I've actually seen the abbreviated serial number or part numbers on parts as small as the firing pin.

NUMBERING CONVENTIONS

Russian: The Russian numbering system follows the typical eastern European serial number system of two letters followed by the numerals 0001-9999. The first rifle would be number AA0001. If the first character equates to the number 0, the character "E" would equate to 5. This would mean serial number yB2388 would be the 1922388th SKS produced.

Chinese: These numbers indicate year of manufacture. Traditional belief in gun circles dictates the serial number equates to the year of manufacture. However, recently the opinion that each factory started with 1000001 in the various years they came online. I don't believe this second theory to be true, but nobody can say for sure. You decide. See next section Year of Manufacture for the details of what I believe and have seen to be consistent with rifle quality (generally, quality declines the later the production. Generally.)

Romanian: Two letters followed by four digits followed by the date of manufacture. The first letter is typically a "G", the second varies.

YEAR OF MANUFACTURE:

Russian SKS's plainly state the year of manufacture on the receiver cover. Since the serial number resets for each year of manufacture, identifying this date is impossible if the cover is missing.

Romanian SKS's will have the year of manufacture immediately following the serial number on the left side of the receiver. The dates will range from 1957 - 1962.

Yugoslavian Production started in 1959 for the standard Simonov design, and 1966 for the grenade launching design. Nobody knows when production ended or how many were made. It is believed production records were destroyed in the recent Yugoslavian civil war. It is commonly believed by the historical firearm community that there is no way of determining the year of manufacture by looking at the weapon.

Chinese SKS's will code the year of manufacture in with the serial number. The number(s) in the million's placeholder of the serial number represent the year of manufacture. Unfortunately, there is a LOT of inconsistency regarding the numbering convention of Chinese SKS's. There will be some with letters tacked on to the end, some with only six digit alpha numeric serial numbers, and some with Cyrillic characters thrown in. If you strip off the trailing letter and if your numbers are still in the millions, the letter was most likely added to the serial number by the importer for control reasons. If there are Cyrillic letters involved or the serial number is only four digits, you have a Sino Soviet rifle made in 1956-57.

<1	1956	4	1960	8	1964	12	1968	16	1972	20	1976
1	1957	5	1961	9	1965	13	1969	17	1973	21	1977
2	1958	6	1962	10	1966	14	1970	18	1974	22	1978
3	1959	7	1963	11	1967	15	1971	19	1975	23	1979

IMPORT INFORMATION:

Most SKS's should have the name and city of an importer on the side of the receiver or the side of the barrel. If one is lucky, the date of import also accompanies the importer's name. This date is important because it can be used as proof of pre-ban status. If the date is before 1989 the rifle is pre-ban, but unfortunately most rifles do not include this data.

SYMBOL	IMPORTER	CITY
N A	Navy Arms	Ridgefield, NJ.
CAI	Century International Arms	St. Albans, VT.
KSI	K-Sports, Inc.	Pomona, CA.
KFS	Keng's Firearms Specalties, Inc.	Atlanta, GA.
POLY	Poly Tech	Atlanta, GA.
CJA	China Jin An	Springfield, MI.
KBI	Kassnar Imports, Inc.	Harrisburg, PA.
B WEST	B-West Imports	Tucson, AZ.

A NOTE ON SKS COLLECTING:

The following is written by Howard Bearse, taken from Tuco's SKS forum. Howard has an extensive SKS collection of close to 50 different rifles and I think this quote accurately describes what SKS collecting is all about:

"The most desirable collector's SKS rifles are North Vietnamese, North Korean, East German, sheet metal receiver Chinese, 'Security Forces' marked Chinese, and Yugoslavian. Other ways to collect full military would be all the years of both Russian arsenals, each of the years of Romanian manufacture, and the all factory codes of the Chinese. The Chinese alone can number over 100, but should only count as full military if the factory code, 'Type 56 Carbine' in Chinese characters, and serial numbers are present. The ones that are not military would be the cut down paratroopers, sniper versions, hunting versions, and ones missing the bayonet mount. This is only my opinion, but gives one things to look for."

I happen to agree with Howard that collecting SKS's is a very personal pursuit. While Howard is only interested in military versions in historic condition, I'm most interested in unique Simonovs. My interest does include military models, but a plain military Simonovs hold no special interest to me. However, an identical military Simonov in unissued condition (never fired, mint condition) is rare and a completely different story.

Another common approach is specializing in Russian Simonovs. A good approach is to collect one from every year from both factories. Since there are only 9 Russians to this collection (7 Tula + 2 Ishvesk), this approach is actually do-able in today's SKS market. A common approach is to get one of each year from each factory in any condition: used, refurbished, modified, etc... Then, once the collection becomes established, they will try to replace the imperfect Simonovs with unissued, pristine specimens; selling off the less desirable duplicate. One way of expanding on this collection is to start collecting adding Eastern European varieties.

NOTE: Suppose you do find a rare SKS. If it is altered in any way from it's original state, the collector's value is ruined. It must have no drilling for a scope mount, no shortened barrel, no removal of bayonet mount, no missing parts, no detachable magazine, all matching serial numbers, original wood stock, etc... What's most tragic are unfired SKS's which are taken to the range. The number of unfired SKS are dwindling daily. One bullet, one pull of the trigger, and the "unfired" status is gone forever.

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