I know this has been hashed and re hashed over and over on the interwebs over the years but . I have A " Made in china " SKS from factory 906 type 56 SKS It doesn't say norinco on it though. I hear the " made in china " type 56 was a military surplus imported to the US and the norinco's were the commercial production model sks . Is this true? And if it's not true what is the difference?
Norinco is a marketing front-company, North China Industries, for PLA aresenals/govt-run factories. It all happens with a nod from the gov't there. They "brand" any/everything the govt wants to sell overseas to raise cash; surplused SKSs that the PLA has replaced with AKMs, semi-auto AKMs the gov't wants to sell to foreign civilians, semi "M14" rifles, 1911 pistols, ammo, shotguns, .22LR rifles. We could be burning thru piles of CHICOM 7.62x39 if it was still allowed to be imported. Your SKS is every bit the same as the no-name CHICOM SKS you will find or the Keng's Firearms "branded" SKS I used to have. Speaking of which, you can find Norinco branded AKMs out of the same arsenal as no-names and PolyTechs.
IMO it makes no difference. What you have is a very capable mid-range rifle that is fun to shoot, easy to clean and maintain and will most likely increase in value over time.
