..........well, Sort of.  At least as close a one that exists I think.

A little background first:

My first AK type was a MAK 90 I purchased around 1991 or 2 for $199.  I shot the shit out of it for about 5 years until it was stolen.  I replaced it with a SLR-95 and have really enjoyed it.  Since the SAR's have hit the market, I have wanted to add another stamped AK to my collection but I just could not bring myself to buy one.  My apologies to all you SAR owners out there, but they just look too crude and rude for me.  I was at the local show today and actually saw a couple of SAR's that looked pretty "good" and at ok prices ($325-350).  I looked at 2 closely and might have gotten one of them but BOTH had badly canted sights!  UGH!  Sorry but I am just not going to buy one of these heaps.

Back to the MAK90,  A couple of weeks ago, I started shooting with a guy that has a beautiful MAK.  It is in original condition with the nicest wood (thumbhole) I have ever seen on one (I am sure it was refinished).  When I started looking closely, I noticed it had a cleaning rod and a sleeve welded over the barrel threads and the lug carefully ground off.  I assumed that this was one of the "early" imports originally built with the nonsporting features but modified to comply with the 89 ban.  How cool was this!, I thought, since one of the things that I didn't like about the MAK was the lack of the cleaning rod.  An AK just does not "look" right without one.  Oh well I thought, I have never seen one of these early ones before so I did'nt even think it would be worthwhile to look for one.  But I REALLY want another stamped AK!

Fast forward to today at the show.........I was walking by the tables of probably my least favorite dealer in town.  I mean I have SWORN never to buy another thing from this guy but something caught my eye.  It was a NIB MAK (ok, I stopped to look)  I picked it up and noticed that it had the rod!  So far so good.  Lug ground off........sleeve welded on the threads AND it still had the plunger pin for the slant compensator!  Then I noticed something that my friend's MAK did not have.  On the side of the receiver, there were 3 lines of markings that were obscured by some kind of grinder.  New markings were above it including "MAK90" done very crudely.  It is marked "CSI Los Angeles, CA" and on the bottom of the receiver in front of the magwell is stamped "IAC BILLERICA, .MA.".  Also the Serial number on the cover is the last 3 numbers of the one on the trunion with a 000 before it.  My assumption is that this rifle was probably caught in customs at the time of the ban and modified perhaps here in the US.  BTW, it is also a square cut receiver as my old one had a slant cut rear.  Anyway, needless to say I had to have it.  The MAK's in ANY condition are 10 times the rifle as a SAR IMHO and the price was right.  A NIB MAK for $380!

I intend to convert it to original config with a RSA group I already own and some nice wood etc ASAP and shoot the piss out of it!  I am very excited.  My question for you guys is this....are my assumptions about the orgins of this rifle correct?  I would like to hear your thoughts.

Here are some pics:







Muzzle sleeve with the pin held in



Markings ground off and replaced.  I cant really make out the old markings but I am pretty sure the top line is "Norinco Inc".  Any ideas on what the rest say?

I don't think it counts as pre-ban in any way except that it existed before the ban, but it is a very nice MAK.  I also think AKs look very wrong without the rod under the barrel, so that's definately a plus.  I would use the threads to permanently attach either a slant comp or a chinese muzzle nut (the nut looks good with that type of FSB IMO), and make it a perfect $380 dollar Type 56 clone.  All it would lack would be the bayo lug and the ability to remove the muzzle attachments, so really it would lack nothing.  

Make sure to gets some genuine Chicom wood for it, as I think that only chinese wood looks right with the blued finish on their metal.  

Also, the full-circle front sight is way cool, always like that look.

Make it look like this! (minus bayo of course...)

Thank you all for the info.  This is what I am looking for.

Campy, some additional info on the markings that cant be seen in the photos:

The IAC markings under the receiver were done neatly and carefully compared to the haphazzard CSI markings on the side.  Also, the serial number (hard to tell in the pic) starts with a 6 not 5.  It reads 620296 on the trunion while the factory stamping on the receiver cover only says 00296.  I didn't know thats any maks were released as late as 95 let alone 96.

Quoted: RiV, check out this link: mywebpages.comcast.net/jfreeman246/Page_2.htm It has an excellent explanation of your rifle.

Thanks Rot!  This is what I suspected about the customs thing.  Lots of good info here.  So I guess this rifle can be correctly referred to as a "Post-Preban" or "former preban" or maybe "Rifle formally known as preban"  ARG..............my head hurts!!  I think I will just call it a nice new chink AK that I intend to enjoy shooting.

Question:  Where would a good place be to start looking for the ChiCom furniture?

Thanks again to all.

Since the handguards look pretty good, if you just need a pre-ban buttstock try www.polytechparts.com. Ironwood's pistol grips look pretty good on the Chicoms for compliance issues.

a FFL friend of mine sold a MAK90 you have pictured, complete with the lined out importers mark, except this one had the holes for the underfolder capped off......he sold it to another "dealer" at the show on sat, next day that guy had it on his table complete with pistol grip and functioning underfolder, and was advertising it as a "rare pre-ban" for 800 bucks.

I used a buttstock and p-grip from a SAR1 on mine,the finish matched really good.I do plan on finding the original Bananna wood [figure of speech]and Chineese sling.Its kinda odd having a lined out AK in the collection but its a good way to add an almost sterile Chineese AK to the mix without paying pre-ban prices.