I recently wanted to get another Chinese AK.  Sold my last one awhile back and though I have a Yugo OPAP I wanted a nice Chinese example again.  Prices have gone up a bit since I last owned one.  Locally people are asking $1000 to $1200 for Mak 90's that have been converted to pre-ban configuration and are 922r compliant.  That may be viable for a lot of people, but if I'm going to pay pre-ban prices - damnit give me a preban!  So that's what I got.  I've had Prochine and GLNIC examples in the past, as well as other Min Shan arsenal guns, Norinco and Poly's.  This one is a little interesting.  It came from the trader board here and after looking at it there for a month and not understanding why anyone had not bought it, I made an offer and became the new owner.

This is a 1985 "Min Shan" arsenal pre-ban AKM-47S.  All matching, M Prefix serial number gun with the factory 416 arsenal stamp on the trunion.  It's a SILE import.  Some differences on this one from other Min Shan "M" and "MS" series AK's I've owned.  The serial number with the year prefix, that's unusual.  Usually the M and MS guns have a lot of 0's in front of the numbers instead of a date.   Norinco did that later on with the 56S but this is the first I've seen of a 47S with it.  The story I've heard is that the model number had been changed from AKM-47S to 56S because the ATF thought the original nomenclature was too close to AK-47.  Not sure if that's right or not as the Poly's had a similar model designation and never changed it.  The other interesting thing about this one is the non-blued bolt and carrier.  Most (but not all) Min Shan AK's had it.  Sellers usually refer to the blued bolt/carrier guns being rare - but these early Min Shan's with the carriers/bolts in the white are actually more rare.  It's been my experience that the only thing consistent with the early pre-bans is that they are inconsistent.  Some have no markings whatsoever other than the serial number, some (like this one) the markings were etched on after the fact (most likely I assume by the exporter or importer), some the markings are stamped in just like the serial numbers.  Some have the Norinco star like this one, some don't.  Also differences in finish - some have a deep blue luster like this one and as seen on some Poly's.  Others a lighter blue as seen on later Norinco 56S and Mak's.  Some have arsenal stamps, some don't.  You could build a huge collection and not have 2 with the exact same features.

Now to take it out and shoot it!

Earl

Wow that's beautiful! Nice find!

Nice rifle.

I have a similar early import with no Norinco or Polytech markings

nm...

Very nice Chicom

Not bad,but China's export gun some very good some very bad.See your luck

I've owned a lot of Chinese AK's over the last 3 decades.  Never had or seen a bad one, not one.  Except for B-West AK's put together here in the states with improperly heat treated receivers....now I can't say the same for Chinese M14 copies :)

Sorry,i not understan B-west meaning,my English is not good

China's M14 bolt is bad,it is easy to wear

B-West was an importer.They took some of the Chinese AK's and used there own receivers which werent heat treated and had failure rates on the rails and ejectors

They are marked made in USA on the receivers.Now B-West did import some Chinese rifles that were 100% Chinese that were good to go.

If the receiver said made in china or had the Norinco stamp on the receiver they were good.If they had made in the USA,they were crap.

I agree. I have only seen one Mak 90 that had a bolt shear off a lug.

I have had 8-10 Chinese AK's and they all were very well built with nice actions and triggers.

In fact im looking at buying a  Polytech Legend UF next week.

Thank you for your explanation,I understand

Thank you for your explanation,I understand

I just bought a B-West Type 56S-2 yesterday at a local show. In doing research, and looking at my particular gun, which is a BWA XXXX serial number (dating to 1986, first year of B-West production with US receivers), I'm confident that mine is properly heat treated, as there is no egging out of any rivets or axis pins for the trigger or hammer.
The furniture itself (red bakelite upper/lower handguard, pistol grip and folding stock insert) appears quite rare and sought-after.
Worst case scenario is that I buy a 1.6mm receiver(I found one with Chinese markings, and the company will engrave a custom serial number to match the kit, if desired), and have it done up properly.

I'm going to shoot her a bit and then decide what to do.

A few were heat treated properly but its hard to tell.I would shoot it until it fails or starts to look rough on the receiver rails,etc.

The furniture itself is worth a pretty penny.I sold a complete used set for $510 back in 2012.Look to see if the cleaning kit is intact.There is a small hole in the top of the stock that you push in with something and the cleaning kit pops out from inside of the stock.It just pops right back in when your done.Just the cleaning kits are worth $50-100 alone

You must be talking about Turbo-This receivers. He can fix you up should you need to rebuild it

Yes! I tried your suggestion when I got home from work and there is a cleaning kit. Never would've noticed that.

Pretty cool!

Glad its there and happy to help out.

You can not heat treat mild steel receivers!!!!! It is a wives tale made to sell those US made POS receivers that any of them are better than any others.
BWA, BWB, BWC, BWD it doesn't matter. The rail ejector and the hammer pin hole will fail first, and then the trigger pin will worble out in less than 5000 rounds. PERIOD! The only B-West receivers that are properly made are the ones imported from China. No exceptions!

You got a good deal? Shoot it out and have it built on a new receiver. It's a great platform.

love me some Chinese!

How's that BWA B West holding up, Birch?
I had a BWA marked B-West and the ejector hook peened until I welded it; had maybe 1K rounds through it, looked rather untouched when I got it.

haven't fired it much, just a few hundred rounds, but I did buy the turbothis receiver and rivet kit for that future day when I get around to changing it out.

Truth be told, I am a little disappointed in the fit and finish quality of turbothis' receiver. scratches and just overall rough.

Pics ?? Was thinking of picking one up for a build I have been working on... Thanks.

That looks great.