Service life on chin. weapons?

[Guest slim]

Just curious, i read a post the other day, where someone bought a nib chinese

mak-90 and he was suprised the his owners manual listed the life of the barrel at 5.000 rounds!

This brought back a lot of memories, where i remember reading back in the late 90s, the the avg. life of a chinese ak was 5.000-6.000 round as to where the avg. of non-chin. was 20.000-30.000!

I do have a few chin. and they are my fav.ones, but i did in 98 buy a nib chin.

Tok. pistol and it listed the service life of the gun at only 2.000 rounds in the owners manual!

So what is the reason for the listing of such low barrel life? I also do remember reading in the 90s, to mainly stay away from chin. guns due to this,

however it seems the chin. are the most desired ones! I know you cant believe most of what is on the net!

I just am suprised that my manual for my chin. tok which came with the gun lists its service life at 2.000 rounds, as well that norinco manuals list the service life of their ak rifles at 5.000 rounds!

Why would Norinco list those fig. if there wasnt something to it?

Thanks.

[Guest gcrookston]

Of the dozen or so Chinese Aks and SKS I've owned over the years I must confess, I never read the manual (now that I think about it, I may have never had a manual). I also never heard of such a disparity in barrel life.

I just went out and checked my two Chinese SKS rifles (a 1962 vintage and a 1972 vintage), both have Chrome lined bores. My Type 86S AK is also Chrome lined. This Fact immediately calls into question the validity of the Manual. I would expect a chrome bore to be good for at least 8k rounds, maybe more.

All three of these were intended for military use (the 1962 is a vietnam capture). The 86 AK was converted from a full auto export weapon for US sales.

I've only ever dealt with Military guns (not those produced for the U.S. Civilian Market), so perhaps they (such as the MAK), are of lesser quality?

Edited December 14, 2008 by gcrookston

[Guest deut20:16]

If this is true for Norinco's sks mines been wore out 10 or more times in the last 16 years but still shoots a good group for an sks

[mousegunner]

I bet if you keep it clean it will live longer than YOU do!

[rjmech]

I believe the Polytech and Norinco AKs use the same barrels as their select fire cousins, so they should outlast us as far as lifetimes go,as long as proper cleaning after shooting corrosive milsurp is observed.

[Guest gcrookston]

I believe the Polytech and Norinco AKs use the same barrels as their select fire cousins, so they should outlast us as far as lifetimes go,as long as proper cleaning after shooting corrosive milsurp is observed.

Polytech and Norinco were export companies for the Chinese govt. The guns sold by each were often mfg'd side by side in the same arsenals. With the exception of the Paratrooper carbines and the MACs, SKS rifles were taken directly from military stores, stamped by either company and exported.

Many, but by no means all of the AKs imported by these two companies were converted from Full Auto machine guns. Some came from military stores while others were new production intended for military aid outside the country. The conversion was accomplished by removing the automatic sear and spring and installing a permanent cross-rivet in its place. These converted foreign aid guns are identifiable as being marked "M22" and millions were sent to fun loving countries like Vietnam, Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Somolia, Congo, etc...

The AKs that were built as Semi Auto will have a chinese charactor that looks something like a stylized TV (square box with antennia siting on a stand). I've seen this charactor on MACs and NM models. The full-auto charactor looks something like a stylized gothic "Lt" stick-figure and I've most often seen it on Type 56.

[Guest Abominable_Hillbilly]

The "life" of these guns is highly subjective. It's not like an AK hits 20k rounds and evaporates into the ether. With a chromed-lined bore, I'd expect any AK or SKS to outlast me. Non-chrome-lined, clean the dang thing, and I'd expect the same.

[DaveTN]

So what is the reason for the listing of such low barrel life? I also do remember reading in the 90s, to mainly stay away from chin. guns due to this, however it seems the chin. are the most desired ones! I know you cant believe most of what is on the net!

It doesn’t matter where a weapon (or anything for that matter) comes from barrel life is determined by metallurgy, heat treat, finish, fit and tolerances. Or in short; quality.

We have the same thing today. We can get tool steel that will machine flawlessly part after part, or we can cut corners and get junk that can’t make it through the machining process or fails in use.

I have worked on stamping dies made in China that cost more to repair and make right than having them made by a quality shop in the first place.