This Chinese Type 56 SKS was made at Factory 26 and is chambered in 7.62x39mm. It carries serial 123564xx, and all numbers are matching. Collector serial references place Factory 26 rifles put 12M serial range in 1978, which puts this rifle in that run. The bore is mirror bright with sharp rifling, and the stock and bluing show honest service wear. It comes with its sling and cleaning kit.
China began building the SKS as the Type 56 carbine after the Soviet Union agreed in 1955 to transfer the technology for the SKS, the AK-47 and the 7.62x39mm cartridge, and production lines were set up the following year. Eighty Chinese factories eventually tooled up to build the Type 56, and more than nine million had been made by the 1980s. The Chinese carbines were mostly identical to the Soviet design, though their receivers used carbon steel rather than the Soviet chrome-nickel alloy, and more of their parts were stamped rather than machined. Early Type 56 carbines carried blade bayonets, and later production used spike bayonets. Factory 26 marked its rifles with the number 26 inside a triangle, a stamp collectors first record at around serial 213,700 in early 1957.
Specifications
Manufacturer: Factory 26
Country of origin: China
Year: Circa late 1978, by serial range
Model: Type 56 SKS
Action: Gas operated, semi-automatic
Caliber: 7.62x39mm
Serial: 123564xx
Matching: All numbers matching
Bore: Mirror, sharp rifling
Condition: Honest service wear to the stock and bluing
Included: Sling, cleaning kit
