Why are Chinese sks so expensive now?

[u/cheddarkittyy]

I spent $450 in December 2024 for my Chinese sks. My dad just got his pal and I was looking to get one for him and it’s $850 now? What? Why did the price almost double in just over a year?

[u/Patsboy101]

One thing I’m jealous of as an American gun-owner is the access Canadians have to surplus Chinese 7.62x39 ammo. That stuff is more expensive than buying 7.62x39 brass here. Best bet down south is to find an old guy who bought a shit ton of Norinco 7.62x39 ammo before the US Norinco Ban. Those Norinco crates go for a lot of money.

Historical Context on the US Norinco Import Ban: Norinco tried to sell guns and ammo to gangbangers in Los Angeles and they got busted by the FBI so Norinco was banned from importing firearms and ammo into the US in the mid 90’s.

[u/davejeep → u/Patsboy101]

If it makes you feel better the surplus has dried up lately.

[u/Patsboy101 → u/davejeep]

That sucks. In any case, my Mini-30 prefers to eat boxer-primed brass over berdan-primed steel. Ruger for some reason made the firing pin just a little too short on the Mini-30 to reliably fire a caliber which typically in the past has been loaded with recessed berdan primers.

Down in the States, there is still some surplus ammo being sold, but the best bet generally is GunBroker. I recently bought a crate of 90’s Yugo M67, and let me tell you, that stuff is freaking hot! You can both feel and hear the difference between a typical 7.62x39 loading and the M67.

[u/davejeep → u/Patsboy101]

I bought mine a couple weeks ago, unfortunately I missed the boat on the super cheap surplus I think. I can get mfs (sp?) for 18 a box, or the Norinco non corrosive for a little less.

[u/Altruistic-West-802 → u/Patsboy101]

I thought they banned Chinese weapons importation due to Tiananmen Square Massacre.

[u/Patsboy101 → u/Altruistic-West-802]

I know in the late 80’s, there was a horrible mass shooting in California where a guy used a Chinese semi-auto AK.

On the federal side, the law that resulted was Sec 922(r), where imported guns have to have a certain percentage of American parts in them.

This didn’t necessarily ban Chinese gun imports as a company could easily comply with the restriction. It wasn’t until the incident of Norinco trying to sell to L.A. gangbangers in the 90’s that imports of Chinese firearms and ammo into the US were banned.

[u/Iokua_CDN → u/Patsboy101]

To be fair, you guys got the cheap 300 blackout down there!!! Here it's the same price as cheap 308

[u/-rifle-is-fine- → u/Patsboy101]

A couple of years ago Cabela's accidentally sold us crates of Chinese surplus armor piercing incendiary SKS food too. I bought ammo then but wasn't one of the lucky ones who got the spicy ammo.

[u/SolemnSpider → u/Patsboy101]

on the flip side, i think I'd go catatonic if I walked into a US gun store and saw all the stuff you guys have on the shelves

[u/Patsboy101 → u/SolemnSpider]

Really depends on the state regarding how cool a gun store is. If you’re talking about states like Idaho and Arizona, the gun stores are awesome!

States like my home state of Washington has gotten quite a hard-on for gun control in the last few years. It’s quite depressing to go into a gun store in Washington. We have stuff like so called “Assault Weapon” and “Large Capacity Magazine” Bans. The Democrat majority in my state are probably drooling at what your Liberal government is doing right now regarding guns.

[u/Jak_Aurora → u/Patsboy101]

I heard that Norinco was banned because the american gun companies lobbied the government to ban cheap Chinese guns and ammo to stop any competition with american brands

[u/Patsboy101 → u/Jak_Aurora]

I heard that Norinco was banned because the american gun companies lobbied the government to ban cheap Chinese guns and ammo to stop any competition with american brands

Wouldn’t surprise me if the truth behind the Norinco ban had multiple factors behind it, and the FBI bust simply sped up what was ultimately going to happen.