I got my first AK today. The Norinco AK Hunter. Comes complete with sportster stock, 20" barrel, long sporty handguard and has a Tasco scope mounted to it. The reciever cover has a set screw in it and is flared at the fron to provide suprising stability and rigidness to make the scope useful. She shot suprisingly well for a scope it came with that I didn't zero or touch the dials. Shots were pretty accurate for 50-70 yards using the can test.

She's my first Kalishnakov and cost me $300 and came with a brand new magazine. So, did I do good or am I just another sucker?

Also... can anyone give me more info on this rifle?

Which platform/model of AKM was it based on/ made from. Did this rifle come from the factory just as I described it or was it modified after it left factory?

The reciever cover's been modified to support a scope better from what I see. Weird since it has the tapped holes on the side of the reciever for a scope mount.

Not many Hunter rifles that were drilled/tapped for the factory scope mount were imported with the scope mount and Red Star scope in the box with the rifle. I have only seen two of the early imported Type I rifles with mount and scope in the box. I have not seen any of the Type II rifles with the mount and scope in the box. Out of the couple dozen Hunter rifles I have seen new in the box over the years. I have never seen a factory mount being sold seperately.
So seeing a Hunter rifle that is factory drilled and tapped for the scope mount with another type scope mount on it is not really weird. Besides unless you degreased the two thumb screws and thier holes of the factory mount. Then put thread locking compound or paint on them the mount would loosen up from recoil every 20rds or so.
In the mid 1990's a US company made a scope mount for the Hunter rifles that was a copy of  the factory mount. But they didn't make very many and they are real hard to find.
It took me 5 years after I bought my first Hunter rifle a Type II in 1998 to find a one of the US made scope mounts and another year to find a used Chinese factory scope mount. I bought the US scope mount new in the box and have no idea who made it as neither the scope mount,box,or the instructions have the name of the maker on them.

Quoted: Not many Hunter rifles that were drilled/tapped for the factory scope mount were imported with the scope mount and Red Star scope in the box with the rifle. I have only seen two of the early imported Type I rifles with mount and scope in the box. I have not seen any of the Type II rifles with the mount and scope in the box. Out of the couple dozen Hunter rifles I have seen new in the box over the years. I have never seen a factory mount being sold seperately. So seeing a Hunter rifle that is factory drilled and tapped for the scope mount with another type scope mount on it is not really weird. Besides unless you degreased the two thumb screws and thier holes of the factory mount. Then put thread locking compound or paint on them the mount would loosen up from recoil every 20rds or so. In the mid 1990's a US company made a scope mount for the Hunter rifles that was a copy of  the factory mount. But they didn't make very many and they are real hard to find. It took me 5 years after I bought my first Hunter rifle a Type II in 1998 to find a one of the US made scope mounts and another year to find a used Chinese factory scope mount. I bought the US scope mount new in the box and have no idea who made it as neither the scope mount,box,or the instructions have the name of the maker on them.

This was a custom job. That scope mount was WELDED onto the reciever cover. I can see on the inside of the reciever cover where the welding torch affected it. That ISN'T coming off. It looks like a custom job to me. The rea sight is non-existant(removed). It's got a tasco(good touch since tascos are Chinese made) scope and 1" rings. I'd like to get a nice sling for it. One of those hunting type ones to match it. I wan it to have comfortable padding and leather. I also want the sling to have loops to hold rounds too. Anyone know where I can get such a sling?

I doubt that the scope mount on your rifle is a custom job.
The Chinese have made about a dozen different receiver cover scope mounts for AK rifles under the BEC,Norinco,Red Star,ChinaSports,and Leapers brand names. Here is a pic of  two of them.



The scope ring rails of which I have seen 4 types of were attached to the receiver cover by welding,spot welding,rivets,or screws. As you can see with the Norinco mount there is a piece at the front that goes under the rear sight base. The two screws are tightened to make the cover tight on rifle. Mounts were imported that had only one screw in place of the two screws on the front. Also mounts that didn't have any screws but still had the piece that went under the rear sight base.
The Leapers uses two screws on the back to make the cover tight on the rifle.

The reciever cover also has flaring at the fron to go under the rear sight base. So the Norinco Hunters came in a lot of configurations. Interesting. Are AK's still imported from China?

All Chinese guns and ammo were banned from import to the US in April,1994.
In April,1996 a democratic party fundraiser was held at a buddist temple in CA attended by the Vice President. Two Chinese-American businessmen donated over 5 million from several Chinese Army Generals. In August,1996 there were 6000 semi auto Uzi carbines and many shotguns were allowed to be imported from China. The Clinton adminstratation took quite a bit of heat over allowing firearms to be imported from China even though they banned them two years eailer. Shotguns are still being imported from China and last year one shipment of one model of semi auto 22 rifle was allowed to be imported from China.
By the way the two Chinese-American businessmen were convicted in 1998 of  illegal campain contrabutions at the 1996 funraiser but of only 2.3 million dollars.  

Quoted: All Chinese guns and ammo were banned from import to the US in April,1994. In April,1996 a democratic party fundraiser was held at a buddist temple in CA attended by the Vice President. Two Chinese-American businessmen donated over 5 million from several Chinese Army Generals. In August,1996 there were 6000 semi auto Uzi carbines and many shotguns were allowed to be imported from China. The Clinton adminstratation took quite a bit of heat over allowing firearms to be imported from China even though they banned them two years eailer. Shotguns are still being imported from China and last year one shipment of one model of semi auto 22 rifle was allowed to be imported from China. By the way the two Chinese-American businessmen were convicted in 1998 of  illegal campain contrabutions at the 1996 funraiser but of only 2.3 million dollars.

[SARCASM]Klinton taking bribes from the Chinese!?! You gotta be shittin' me![/SARCASM]
They make a big deal about that but he let China have all the technology and let them strip down a downed helicopter. He also sold military secrets to them which are now being implemented on their vessels and aircraft. I know about the Ithaca Mod 37 rip-off(I prefer my REAL Ithaca M37, thank you). I was wondering more about the AK variety since they're the only asian rifle I've taken a liking to.

All the stuff you mentioned was really small and insignifcant.
What China really bought was perminent most favored nation trade status. Which lowered import tariffs and removed a lot of import quotas on Chinese made goods. China exported around 50 billion in goods to the US before Clinton signed off on the perminent most favored nation trade status. Chinese exports to the US  jumped to 60 billion the next year and has been going up about 10 billion every year since. So a 5 million bribe gets you 10 billion a year increase. Sounds like a real good investment to me.
There will not be any AK's imported from China as they are on this list.
a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/14mar20010800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/cfr_2002/aprqtr/27cfr47.52.htm