The Russian Mosin Nagant Forum

im new to buying sks's. i did buy my first yugo a few days ago. the same gun store has 2 really nice" Norinco " rifles. i understand they are made in china, but are they ok to buy? are they crap? they are selling for $300 out the door.... and they are very clean. i just was not sure to steer away or jump on them. i do love my yugo.

As long as all the components are there, it sounds good. Pick up a Type 56 Carbine and blast away. 99% of SKS's run like a champ.

So there is not a quality issue?

Besides giving it a good looking over before handing over the cash, I wouldn't hesitate too much on one.

Read Howie's sticky at the top of the forum to get a quick overview of the various makes and models

Good luck!

Depends, some of the stuff Norinko was selling back before China's weapons imports got banned from coming in were crude at best. They were in a big hurry to satisfy demand and pushed everything they could find on the US market. I was not impressed by most of that stuff, but as they were commercial sporters for the most part I wasn't paying them much mind anyway. I always preferred the surplus Chinese military issue SKS's, at least the ones Norinko didn't chop up into "paratrooper" carbines and add AK mags to, I have one and it's a piece of shit. I am sure the Norinco SKS's function fine, use your eyes and look the weapon over carefully. Look for crude construction, poor stock finish, if you see any of this leave them in place and get a Yugo , or Soviet SKS instead.

Like Martin08 stated, 99% of them run like a champ, They are quite possibly one of the few items China actually exported that is well made, work as described and will last for a long time. Most problems occur when aftermarket stuff starts getting added to an SKS carbine.

Anything the Chinese make for their military is top quality . ALL SKS PARTS ARE MILITARY the problem comes when you buy the stuff they assembled for the importer's from left over parts. These guns were not assembled for the Military or Military Contracts. The so called paratrooper farmers friend and M and D series guns the honer guard and sniper guns are all dreamed up by importers to get them sold faster to a varied marked of shooters not collectors. If its got Military Markings as shown in stickies or other posts you are assured its quality is good

I have a chinese 56 norinco and it runs like a champ. I would buy another in a heartbeat. I kind of prefer the ones that have screw in barrels to the pinned barrels but they are both good. $300 is a pretty decent price for around these parts. I haven't seen one for under $450 of any kind here.

A stock military configuration Chinese Type-56 carbine will have no issues. As the boys above have alluded, when parts are added or altered by the exporter/importer for commercial purposes, that is where some (and very few) problems can crop up. Some of the guns that were altered to take the AK mag can be quite finicky, but most are not. Cheap plastic stocks and detachable mags are just begging for problems.

As long as it looks like this, then you are good to go.