Trying to figure out if ak I bought is pre ban

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  • tmschuller

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    I bought several guns and one them is a pristine ak47. Looks like not many if any rounds have been through it.. all the guns have been stored for over a decade and I am trying find my way thru these.. how do I decipher the numbers and stamped marks? I looked on line but not sure. Had a opinion or two but I figured here was the place to get information Thanks.

     
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    indykid

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    Looks like a Norinco 56S. Hard to tell from the picture but it looks to have a bayonet lug on the gas block, but those can be retrofitted.

    The markings should tell you and having 56S on the front trunion or on the receiver above the pistol grip area will tell you. If marked MAK-90 it is a post-Bush1-ban.


    Edit to add, some of the early pre-bans were marked AK-47S.

    Edited to add, thanks for the extra photo verifying it is a 56S.
     
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    IUKalash429

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    Sile, NY 56S rifles tended to be earlier imports. Great guns. Your photos aren't very clear but I'd wager you've got a mid-80s AK there, so yeah - pre-ban. Nice blued bolt as well!
     

    drillsgt

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    Sile, NY 56S rifles tended to be earlier imports. Great guns. Your photos aren't very clear but I'd wager you've got a mid-80s AK there, so yeah - pre-ban. Nice blued bolt as well!

    Sile was big in the 70's and 80's and was a big police distributor in NY. Pretty much guaranteed that's a pre-ban. Here's an old link to a Sile marked AK underfolder at auction.

    https://www.gunauction.com/buy/9666535

    Here's a recent one on GB that sold for 2300.00 but had different markings:

    https://www.gunbroker.com/item/847327817 and there was another one with even different markings for around 1600.00.
     
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    tmschuller

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    I have a couple of sks's that I am getting pics of. A Russian had another norinco. They both have cosmoline in them and looks like there is no wear on the norinco
    My son is stoked there was a beat up mosin that he wants to build up.. I bought these off a friend that was a veteran that had owned a gun shop.
     

    IUKalash429

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    So, is the bonus that the rifle is more valuable in other states? Here in Indiana it doesn't seem to make any difference.

    It makes a difference to AK collectors and purists regardless of geography. With pre-ban guns you're getting a complete rifle with factory arsenal-made, numbers-matching components that some idiot politicians later deemed extra super duper deadly (Oh dear God, run and hide! It's a bayonet lug! :n00b:). You don't have to spend the time (often weeks or months), money (often hundreds of dollars), and energy (doing the work yourself or finding a competent gunsmith often means even more time and money) tracking down authentic components to de-ban a neutered gun. And even then, the finished product doesn't match and is typically worth less than the real deal.

    A pre-ban 56S will shoot just about the same as a post-ban MAK-90, but for the folks who know and care, the former is a lot more captivating than the latter.
     

    Floivanus

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    It makes a difference to AK collectors and purists regardless of geography. With pre-ban guns you're getting a complete rifle with factory arsenal-made, numbers-matching components that some idiot politicians later deemed extra super duper deadly (Oh dear God, run and hide! It's a bayonet lug! :n00b:). You don't have to spend the time (often weeks or months), money (often hundreds of dollars), and energy (doing the work yourself or finding a competent gunsmith often means even more time and money) tracking down authentic components to de-ban a neutered gun. And even then, the finished product doesn't match and is typically worth less than the real deal.

    A pre-ban 56S will shoot just about the same as a post-ban MAK-90, but for the folks who know and care, the former is a lot more captivating than the latter.
    The big thing about pre-89 import ban guns is they’re not subject to 922r so they don’t have US made parts arbitrarily swapped in to appease a politician.

    closest we get to a pure factory AK style rifle today is a Draco pistol, no US made parts. For some people it matters, otherwise US made parts or combloc parts aren’t any different functionally for what gets swapped out (magazines, gas piston, fire control group, furniture, etc) and yup, that evil bayonet lug
     
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