A beautiful SKS marked DP吉五六式 type 56 carbine

[gsbuickman]

Hiya Guys, since I shared the Israeli Browning Hi Power that I picked up over the weekend I thought I'd share my latest rifle acquisition with y'all as well.

I traded a Palmetto AR pistol lower w/ 3 mags + $40, for this beautiful & rare #'s matching SKS marked - DP吉五六式 20xxxxx from the NE Providence of Jilin' China, type 56 carbine.

I date this either a 58' or a 65', but either way it's absolutely beautiful. The stock, trigger guard, receiver, bolt & bolt carrier all have matching #'s. The only serial number I can't find a match for is on the magazine.


As you can see it also has a nice muzzlebrake, a factory cleaning kit in the rifle butt behind the spring-loaded trap door, the factory sling w/ the correct spun wire hangers and the factory dust cover with the original locking lug pin intact. Other than the bolts in the dust cover, the only thing that is missing is the spike bayonet & cleaning rod obviously, then again I don't think that a bayonet is compatible with this muzzle brake anyway. Oh yeah, before I forget, besides the matching numbers on the bolt, the bolt is a type 84/D/M bolt w/o the magazine feed lips for easy one hand magazine changes.


And finally I'll mention the Optics that it came with as well. Its a Leaper's 6x40mm optic with 1" rings and a pretty nice see thru piccy rail w/ 8 position slots for a little adjustability . . I know the optic isn't variable power, nor is it very expensive or the best, but it is short enough that I can still load with stripper clips & it gets the job done for a 300 yard shooter.

I did try 20 round Tapco magazines with this obviously, but for some reason they cause more problems with this rifle than what they are worth which is weird, so I put the factory box magazine back in it and it's worth more that way anyway. I do have to say that loading this SKS with stripper Clips is as smooth as silk and I've never had one that loads as easy as this one & I've had my fair share of these rifles being a milsurp junkie.

 

[gripper]

I like SKS's in general, especially the older Chinese ones. That one IS in great condition-hard to come by these days.
Is the brake permanent, or held in place by set screws? Or is it a simple " twist on behind the front sight tower and use the cleaning rod to hold it in place " arrangement?

 

[gsbuickman]

I like SKS's in general, especially the older Chinese ones. That one IS in great condition-hard to come by these days.
Is the brake permanent, or held in place by set screws? Or is it a simple " twist on behind the front sight tower and use the cleaning rod to hold it in place " arrangement?

Thanks, I like anything that goes bang but I'm primarily a milsurp guy. I've had my fair share of SKS's but this one is the most pristine one I've ever laid my hands on. I even had a Mosin Nagant 91/59 that was a little more pristine than this that was still wrapped in the original cellophane tape plastic from when it was machine in 1960 that a friend found for me @ Big 5 Sporting Goods in Twin Falls, damn I miss that rifle.

I still can't believe how lucky I was and picked this up for a $190 $/trade deal when a cheap run-of-the-mill Norinco goes for $350 here locally. I'm not sure about the muzzle brake, it's not like one I've ever seen before and it may have come from the factory like this, idk. there are no set screws and it doesn't twist on and I can't find anything anchoring it and there's no slop or wiggle in it anywhere. the hooded front sight is also part of the muzzle brake and the only seam I can find is around the sides and front of the cleaning rod mount, but not the front sight since it's part of it.

IMO the SKS is probably the finest semi-auto milsurp rifle ever made, and what really makes me laugh are these absurdly stupid prices that Ruger is charging for their Mini-14's when it's just a cheap production rifle. Guys are constantly trying to claim the mini-14 is better than the SKS's at the range. it's not surprising that I haven't seen one that can outshoot an SKS .

 

[highpower]

While I am no SKS expert, I would say that a quick check of the stock would give you a better idea of when it was made. If it is cut for a spike bayonet, it would be a later rifle if the stock is original to the gun. Early SKS's had a blade bayonet and the channel cut in the stock would be narrower. As for the muzzle brake/flash hider I do believe that is an aftermarket part as there is no way a stock type bayonet would function on that set up. Of course the rear cover has been exchanged for the scope mount type.

But that being said, you definitely got that for a great price and I too, think that they are great rifles. I have a few Russian SKS's that I have accumulated over the years, but my favorite is a 1954 that has all matching numbers and is in near new condition.

 

[Orcon]

That's pretty cool. I wouldn't go as far as saying it's the best autoloading milsurp but they are a fun rifle to run and gun with. Where I grew up many folks considered them to be the quintessential "truck gun". Reliable, cheep to feed and at $150 you weren't too worried about it getting banged up.

I'm not too familiar with 3-gun rules but if it were allowed I'd give it a 30 round dbm and compete just for the lulz.

 

[gsbuickman]

While I am no SKS expert, I would say that a quick check of the stock would give you a better idea of when it was made. If it is cut for a spike bayonet, it would be a later rifle if the stock is original to the gun. Early SKS's had a blade bayonet and the channel cut in the stock would be narrower. As for the muzzle brake/flash hider I do believe that is an aftermarket part as there is no way a stock type bayonet would function on that set up. Of course the rear cover has been exchanged for the scope mount type.

But that being said, you definitely got that for a great price and I too, think that they are great rifles. I have a few Russian SKS's that I have accumulated over the years, but my favorite is a 1954 that has all matching numbers and is in near new condition.

Nice ruskies, and as Yooper John says, when it comes to the quintessential SKS Anything is Possible. since the serial number starts with a 2, I'm pretty certain it's a 58' . as far as the blade bayonets go, that might be true for most other SKS's but not with Norinco's. I've had some early sino-soviet chi-coms with blade bayonet's, but finding 1 is a feat in itself. this is a #'s matching gun including the numbers on the stock and it is cut for a spike bayonet w/ the Spike bayonet lug. this rifle is marked DP from the Jilin' providence. they also imported Brigade model SKS's from the Jilin' Providence marked DB and I think they came with muzzle brakes. So, if this isn't an after-market muzzle brake maybe it's one from a brigade model, idk. then again when it comes to the SKS Anything is Possible.

 

[kBob]

".... pristine....."

"I am not sure he knows what this word means."

That is a nice looking SKS. You got a good deal on it. But it does have that after market dust cover mount and scope on it and lacks a bayonet and cleaning rod and while I have seen after market muzzle breaks like that have never seen such imported that way myself.

I would not call my own SKS pristine and all I have done to it was add a one inch screw over the metal butt plate extention butt plate on it.

-kBob

 

[salt&battery]

The Chinese symbols on the receiver mean....no ticky no shirty

 

[gsbuickman]

".... pristine....."

"I am not sure he knows what this word means."

That is a nice looking SKS. You got a good deal on it. But it does have that after market dust cover mount and scope on it and lacks a bayonet and cleaning rod and while I have seen after market muzzle breaks like that have never seen such imported that way myself.

I would not call my own SKS pristine and all I have done to it was add a one inch screw over the metal butt plate extention butt plate on it.

-kBob

I do know what pristine means and I wasn't saying this one is pristine. I said the Mosin 91/59 I had was pristine & this SKS is the most pristine, or the nicest one I have had yet based on the condition of the stock receiver and bore. it does have the factory dust cover with the original locking lug pin intact. it hasn't been cut and replaced with a nut and bolt like I've seen far too many times usually with eBay dust covers with a rail on them.

I'm a right-handed shooter naturally but due to nerve damage if I shoot right-handed I have to use Optics rather than iron sights. if I shoot left-handed I can use iron sights all day long. the aftermarket Optics rail is a see thru design, so it lets me shoot both left and right handed depending on the circumstances. if I decide to return it to factory condition I can pull the rail off of it and get a spike bayonet and cleaning rod because they're a dime a dozen here locally, but I haven't figured out how to get the muzzle brake off yet. I've seen a crapload of aftermarket stuff but nothing like this one. until then it's a great shooter and set up just the way I like it.

 

[gsbuickman]

The Chinese symbols on the receiver mean....no ticky no shirty

is that like no shirt no shoes no service. ?, bwhahahahaha...
actually the three Chinese kanji characters translate as "type 56". in the case of this one there's a fourth character that designates the Providence it came from

 

[salt&battery]

is that like no shirt no shoes no service. ?, bwhahahahaha...
actually the three Chinese kanji characters translate as "type 56". in the case of this one there's a fourth character that designates the Providence it came from

lol good info

 

[dh1633pm]

You can't compare prices for an SKS built at .01 an hour versus a Mini 30 at more than that per hour.

 

[Browning]

The very first rifle that I bought as an adult when I was 18 was a Russian SKS. It was stolen a couple years later and I replaced it with a Chinese SKS. I'm 44 now and up until last year I haven't been without an SKS of some type the entire time.

The prices rose on them to the point where they were almost equal with detachable mag rifles ( I.E. : AR's and AK) and so I sold the last Chinese SKS that I had, bought a PSA lower, premium parts and built a 5th complete AR to use as a truck gun.

IMHO that was their only real flaw, lack of a detachable mag. In fact that's the only real way that I feel that the AK kills off the SKS for good. SKS's have always been more accurate, just as reliable and parts readily available and inexpensive. I do like the pistol grip on the AK a bit better, but growing up on M1 Garand's it's not a deal breaker for me. If I wasn't for the lack of a detachable mag they're honestly the better rifle. The detachable mag SKS is a thing of beauty.

SKS-D's, SKS-M's and the Chinese Type 63's (and *Click* for a 2nd link) (They were also called a 'Type 68' or a 'Chi-Com AK' even though they're almost completely SKS in origin) are what the SKS should have looked like.




Semi Chinese Type 63's imported into the US



Functionally they take care of the one thing that SKS owners are always chasing after when they butcher their guns in an attempt to follow that pamphlet conversion guide that most everyone seems to have a copy of or when they throw on that awful Tapco furniture and 20 rd mag. Meaning a standard capacity (at the time, 20 rds) Military rifle with an effective range greater than that of an AK, that has the capability of select fire that's mostly meant for semi, AK/SKS-like reliability and a bayonet to stick the enemies of Chairman Mao and the revolution.

Supposedly from what I've read and talking to Vietnam vets the Type 63 is the one that they ran into and up against for the most part.

Unfortunately I never ran across one at the same time where I had money in my pocket. If prices go down in the future the way I'm thinking they will due to the election and I run across one I'll definitely be getting it.

 

[bang_bang]

I'm a huge SKS fan. Not a bad rifle from a 1940s design. I've owned 4, kept my favorites. Top is a Tula 1956 and the bottom is a Chinese that my grandfather gave me. He sawed the bayonet lug off because he claimed it got caught too often while hunting.

 

[salt&battery]

I have a norinco SKS a Russian one and a norinco paratrooper short barrel factory modded to take AK mags like the type 63 which has the longer barrel

 

[gsbuickman]

If anyone happens to run across an sks-m that takes the AK magazines I would suggest taking it out to the range and putting it through its paces and play around with it before I'd even consider buying or making a deal on it.

I wanted one of these after hearing about them for a long time myself and I got lucky when I found this one. I had a side folding pistol grip stock on a damn nice 67' norinco sks. I was actually looking to trade the polymer stock for a wood stock that a friend had and it turned out that he had an sks-m buried in the back of his gun safe.

After hearing about the fabled SKS with AK mags but never having owned one and after finding out my receiver wouldn't fit in this thumbhole stock, we decided to trade rifle for rifle straight across. To make a long story short that ended up being the worst gun trade I ever made because this thing was a cheap production POS , not an actual military issue rifle.

The spring in the original box magazine was shot and I couldn't get it to feed a single round. I trimmed the skirt on the follower and restored it to its 20 round capacity hoping that would add some additional tension on the spring allowing it to feed but it never did. I bought a new Tapco Intrafuse 20-round magazine and it hated that as well.

Just like a standard AK there is no bolt hold open feature on the magazine follower and the Tapco magazine was too fat and the ears on it were too tall and they interfered with the bolt and caused more ftf errors & jams than it was worth. The magazine wouldn't seat with 20 rounds in it even with the bolt held open, it would only seat with 19 rounds in it but it would only feed 16 of the 19 rounds because it wouldn't pick up the last three.

in the end I got fed up with it and sold it to a local guy after informing him of the trouble I had with it, even knowing that he gave me $600 cash for it and said he'd get it fixed, I was just happy to let that piece of crap go. I bought some new parts for my motorcycle, a really nice gas powered XTM Mammoth monster truck R/C rig & picked up the DP marked SKS . It's the nicest SKS I've had overall, but I still miss that 67' receiver I had.

BTW, these are before and after pics because I had to refinish the stock because it was trashed.






​

 

[salt&battery]

If anyone happens to run across an sks-m that takes the AK magazines I would suggest taking it out to the range and putting it through its paces and play around with it before I'd even consider buying or making a deal on it.

I wanted one of these after hearing about them for a long time myself and I got lucky when I found this one. I had a side folding pistol grip stock on a damn nice 67' norinco sks. I was actually looking to trade the polymer stock for a wood stock that a friend had and it turned out that he had an sks-m buried in the back of his gun safe.

After hearing about the fabled SKS with AK mags but never having owned one and after finding out my receiver wouldn't fit in this thumbhole stock, we decided to trade rifle for rifle straight across. To make a long story short that ended up being the worst gun trade I ever made because this thing was a cheap production POS , not an actual military issue rifle.

The spring in the original box magazine was shot and I couldn't get it to feed a single round. I trimmed the skirt on the follower and restored it to its 20 round capacity hoping that would add some additional tension on the spring allowing it to feed but it never did. I bought a new Tapco Intrafuse 20-round magazine and it hated that as well.

Just like a standard AK there is no bolt hold open feature on the magazine follower and the Tapco magazine was too fat and the ears on it were too tall and they interfered with the bolt and caused more ftf errors & jams than it was worth. The magazine wouldn't seat with 20 rounds in it even with the bolt held open, it would only seat with 19 rounds in it but it would only feed 16 of the 19 rounds because it wouldn't pick up the last three.

in the end I got fed up with it and sold it to a local guy after informing him of the trouble I had with it, even knowing that he gave me $600 cash for it and said he'd get it fixed, I was just happy to let that piece of crap go. I bought some new parts for my motorcycle, a really nice gas powered XTM Mammoth monster truck R/C rig & picked up the DP marked SKS . It's the nicest SKS I've had overall, but I still miss that 67' receiver I had.

BTW, these are before and after pics because I had to refinish the stock because it was trashed.

View attachment 225690 View attachment 225691 View attachment 225692 View attachment 225693




​

one problem it seems you had is using a tapco mag and the other bad mag came with the gun. mine is a norinco with the same markings as yours but my barrel is shorter. I used only 30 rd steel AK issue mags . bought the rifle and paid $99 for 1000 rds shot all of them during the summer without cleaning it and it never failed. why didn't you try 30 rd steel mags? sorry to hear about the rifle but at least you sold it for 600 I got mine for 300 in late 80's and you got some bike parts

 

[gsbuickman]

one problem it seems you had is using a tapco mag and the other bad mag came with the gun. mine is a norinco with the same markings as yours but my barrel is shorter. I used only 30 rd steel AK issue mags . bought the rifle and paid $99 for 1000 rds shot all of them during the summer without cleaning it and it never failed. why didn't you try 30 rd steel mags? sorry to hear about the rifle but at least you sold it for 600 I got mine for 300 in late 80's and you got some bike parts

Well, to make a long story short I haven't had any luck with Surplus Steel SKS magazines. I never thought about Surplus steel AK mags, probably because every surplus SKS mag that I've laid my hands on has been a malfunctioning pos. After filling them, they start off acting fine, then the shells usually end up jamming right in the middle of the mag and they quit feeding altogether.

I gave up on Surplus magazines and switched to 20 round Pro-Mags & I haven't had a problem with one yet. The only reason I didn't try Pro-Mags on the SKS - M is that Midway USA was out of them so I ordered Tapco's instead. Even the 30 rd Pro-Mag that's in my 67' norinco pic with that crappy plastic stock worked flawlessly.

 

[gripper]

Well, to make a long story short I haven't had any luck with Surplus Steel SKS magazines. I never thought about Surplus steel AK mags, probably because every surplus SKS mag that I've laid my hands on has been a malfunctioning pos. After filling them, they start off acting fine, then the shells usually end up jamming right in the middle of the mag and they quit feeding altogether.

I gave up on Surplus magazines and switched to 20 round Pro-Mags & I haven't had a problem with one yet. The only reason I didn't try Pro-Mags on the SKS - M is that Midway USA was out of them so I ordered Tapco's instead. Even the 30 rd Pro-Mag that's in my 67' norinco pic with that crappy plastic stock worked flawlessly.

I'm confused.. Are you having bad luck with OEM AK magazines(assuming the rifle came from the factory running detachable AK mags) or those gawdawdul old duckbill magazines? I know that they've improved quite a bit,bit still...what was the rifle made to work with? An original fixed 10(or 20 in the case of some half-hearted PLA Red Star attempts) round magazine, or detachable 20/30/40/75 etc AK mags and drums? It's an important distinction.

 

[gsbuickman]

I'm confused.. Are you having bad luck with OEM AK magazines(assuming the rifle came from the factory running detachable AK mags) or those gawdawdul old duckbill magazines? I know that they've improved quite a bit,bit still...what was the rifle made to work with? An original fixed 10(or 20 in the case of some half-hearted PLA Red Star attempts) round magazine, or detachable 20/30/40/75 etc AK mags and drums? It's an important distinction.

Yep, that about sums it up, I was referring to those horrible Surplus Steel duckbill SKS magazines. I don't ever want to touch one of those pieces of crap again

as far as the SKS - M goes, Midway USA was all out of 20 round AK Pro mags, so I ordered some 20 round Tapco's instead. it turns out they cause more trouble than what they were worth as well. I was tired of screwing with it because every SKS I've ever had has been dead nuts reliable, but since the SKS - M was just a cheap production rifle made for the Western Market not a military issue rifle, I sold it when somebody offered me $600 for it. I used part of that money to buy the Jilin SKS that I have now.

 

[gripper]

Yep, that about sums it up, I was referring to those horrible Surplus Steel duckbill SKS magazines. I don't ever want to touch one of those pieces of crap again

as far as the SKS - M goes comma Midway USA was all out of 20 round AK Pro mags, so I ordered some 20 round Tapco's instead. it turns out they cause more trouble than what they were worth as well. I was tired of screwing with it because every SKS I've ever had has been dead nuts reliable, but since the SKS - M was just a cheap production rifle made for the Western Market not a military issue rifle, I sold it when somebody offered me $600 for it. I used part of that money to buy the Jilin SKS that I have now.

The duckbill magazines are NOT surplus-they were NEVER issued with the rifle, nor were they ever intended for any military or police issue arm. In short, they were an attempt to help some guy known as Bubba to turn a Chicom SKS into a Polytech or Norinco AK...not bashing the attempt or the idea, only the generally bad execution.. ...believe me:you are MUCH better off hunting down an actual SKS magazine(the fixed 10 shot magazine with a hinged footplate) and using the rifle as intended. Learn to use the stripper clips- they actually work,and I'm every bit as quick&slick as a detachable magazine (and a LOT faster with much greater reliability than those aftermarket things)... Plus,you can carry more ammo quietly and get into a really low prone position.

 

[salt&battery]

Yep, that about sums it up, I was referring to those horrible Surplus Steel duckbill SKS magazines. I don't ever want to touch one of those pieces of crap again

as far as the SKS - M goes, Midway USA was all out of 20 round AK Pro mags, so I ordered some 20 round Tapco's instead. it turns out they cause more trouble than what they were worth as well. I was tired of screwing with it because every SKS I've ever had has been dead nuts reliable, but since the SKS - M was just a cheap production rifle made for the Western Market not a military issue rifle, I sold it when somebody offered me $600 for it. I used part of that money to buy the Jilin SKS that I have now.

the rifle you show in your pic with the thumbhole stock has the same info on the receiver as mine which was made at the factory to use AK steel issue mags. on mine you could not put the crappy duckbill mag in it. I wonder if someone messed up that rifle before you got it. I also replaced the 10 rd mag in my other sks with a 20 rd chi com mag which has the hinge and is the same as the the 10 rd mag only 20 rds. it never jammed. what I wanna know is how did you post those Chinese symbols? love to know

 

[gsbuickman]

The duckbill magazines are NOT surplus-they were NEVER issued with the rifle, nor were they ever intended for any military or police issue arm. In short, they were an attempt to help some guy known as Bubba to turn a Chicom SKS into a Polytech or Norinco AK...not bashing the attempt or the idea, only the generally bad execution.. ...believe me:you are MUCH better off hunting down an actual SKS magazine(the fixed 10 shot magazine with a hinged footplate) and using the rifle as intended. Learn to use the stripper clips- they actually work,and I'm every bit as quick&slick as a detachable magazine (and a LOT faster with much greater reliability than those aftermarket things)... Plus,you can carry more ammo quietly and get into a really low prone position.

That figures, I never took the time to look into them but why am I not surprised. I got into the habit of referring to them as Surplus duckbills because that's what everybody else calls them as well. My take on those gawdawful candidates for the scrap metal bin is that they can't possibly have been any better for anyone else regardless of where they were being used than they were for me, and therefore absolutely useless.

 

[gsbuickman]

the rifle you show in your pic with the thumbhole stock has the same info on the receiver as mine which was made at the factory to use AK steel issue mags. on mine you could not put the crappy duckbill mag in it. I wonder if someone messed up that rifle before you got it. I also replaced the 10 rd mag in my other sks with a 20 rd chi com mag which has the hinge and is the same as the the 10 rd mag only 20 rds. it never jammed. what I wanna know is how did you post those Chinese symbols? love to know

Yes, you are correct. The rifle with the thumb hole stock did in fact cake standard AK magazines.the spring in the factory 10 round box magazine was so wore out it wouldn't chamber a single round from it, so I bought a couple 20 round Tapco magazines only to find out they cause more problems than what they were worth. somebody asked why I didn't a Surplus Steel AK magazine before I sold it. My reply was that I didn't think about that do to the really bad experiences I had with those gawdawful steel SKS mags, so the thought never crossed my mind.

as far as the Chinese kanji characters go I'm not sure which ones you're referring to. the ones in text form I copied and pasted from other sources. the ones in the pictures are all about getting them in the right kind of lighting to show up decently for pictures, and sometimes it helps to use the flash because it helps highlight them for the camera . play around with different lighting situations and try multiple camera settings until you find the right combination that you were looking for.

 

[salt&battery]

Yes, you are correct. The rifle with the thumb hole stock did in fact cake standard AK magazines.the spring in the factory 10 round box magazine was so wore out it wouldn't chamber a single round from it, so I bought a couple 20 round Tapco magazines only to find out they cause more problems than what they were worth. somebody asked why I didn't a Surplus Steel AK magazine before I sold it. My reply was that I didn't think about that do to the really bad experiences I had with those gawdawful steel SKS mags, so the thought never crossed my mind.

as far as the Chinese kanji characters go I'm not sure which ones you're referring to. the ones in text form I copied and pasted from other sources. the ones in the pictures are all about getting them in the right kind of lighting to show up decently for pictures, and sometimes it helps to use the flash because it helps highlight them for the camera . play around with different lighting situations and try multiple camera settings until you find the right combination that you were looking for.

well you tried everything but a real steel 30 rd mag. the guy that bought it I bet knew it would run with the right mag lol. have you talked with him after he bought it? the chines figures I am talking about are the ones in your original post not any in the pics. I guess you copy and pasted them