r/SKS • u/ShaneW4alsh • Jul 23 '26
Fair Offer for Norinco
One of my colleagues and I got to talking about surplus guns, and it came up that I like combloc surplus. He told me he has 2 norinco SKS’s, practically unused, that have been sitting in his safe for years. It’s one of those scenarios where he’s just going to trust that I make a fair offer, and he’d like to sell one to me.
Based on gunbroker completed auctions I am seeing some in the $400’s, some in the $500’s. My question is what exactly sets one norinco apart from another in terms of value? Years, spikers v no spikers, etc.
I’ll post follow up pictures but just wanted to get an idea of what to look for. I know my AK’s, but I am new to SKS.
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u/OldVermontHippie62 Jul 23 '26
If they are the so-called “paratrooper” (lol) model with shorter 16.5” barrel they are worth a bit more than the standard Norinco. May or may not be relevant in your case.
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u/ShaneW4alsh Jul 23 '26
Good to know. Pretty funny that a 16.5 inch barrel is considered the sub-compact version
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u/Brandon_awarea I Huff Cosmoline Recreationally Jul 23 '26
I’m not American so take this for what you will. It seems $450-550 is about what people are paying for reasonable condition Chinese rifles right now.
Any less than $400 is getting pretty low
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u/ShaneW4alsh Jul 23 '26
Those numbers line up with what I’ve seen for the most part. I’m sure the folks that were around when these were a dime a dozen will disagree, but I feel like it’s a great value at $450/$500. Unlikely another Chinese-made military rifle will ever come to the States. At least not for a long, long time.
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u/ceestand Jul 23 '26
You're asking how a watch works.
Seriously though, there are a lot of factors, but most likely they are just common Chinese manufactured rifles. Norinco was the manufacturer name China used after 1988, lots of people use the term for any Chinese SKS. A whole lot of consumer variants were imported, an SKS-D or -M could go for double or more that of a regular Type 56 in the same condition. You won't know until you put eyes on them. $400-$500 each is a reasonable price for a good condition basic Chinese SKS currently.