The Type 56 assault rifle is the Chinese clone of the AK-47 rifle. Historically manufactured by multiple Chinese state factories, and today primarily by the Norinco Group (the state-owned corporatized successor to China's former ordnance state ministries), the rifle was China's service rifle from 1956 to the adoption of the QBZ-95 in around 1997.
The Type 56 is notable for being the most produced variant of the AK rifle, surpassing that of the Soviet AK-47 and AKM. From 1980s onwards, the Type 56 was exported to the West in very large numbers, primarily by Norinco Ltd. (not to be confused with Norinco Group; Norinco Group was founded later, and adopted Norinco Ltd.'s name for publicity), a Chinese state-owned export company that marketed Chinese military equipment internationally. This made the Type 56 far more common than original Soviet/Russian AKs and AKMs in the Western world, as the Soviets never exported civilian AKs model to the Western Bloc in the latter half of the 20th century.
As a result of this early and large-scale export effort, the Type 56 is by far the most commonly-seen AK derivative utilized in American film and television productions. Most of the movie prop rental houses in Hollywood had dozens if not hundreds of Chinese AKs - mostly the Type 56s (7.62x39mm version) or the similar Norinco Type 84S (5.56x45mm version). These were usually semi-automatic civilian versions (commonly designated "AK47S" or "AKS47" by the importers), in many cases converted to full-auto by Class III manufacturers. These are frequently seen used as a substitute for Russian AKs in many films.
Prior to 1982, importing firearms and equipment from communist nations was illegal at the federal level in the United States. In 1983 the list of prohibited countries from which to receive weapons from (for the civilian market) was amended due to special trade agreements signed between the USA and China & Yugoslavia. Around the same time, Egypt managed to bypass the "commie gun ban' by offering their MISR (the ARM or the civilian version of the soviet AKM) to the west being that Egypt was a non communist nation, making the weapon under license. After 1983, the flood gates opened, with AKs and SKS variants being available to the USA until the first import ban in 1989 (a political response to the Stockton Schoolyard shooting of 1989). But the vast majority of American movie armories AKs came from this time span where Chinese weapons were easily obtainable. After the end of the Cold War, the Cold War era law banning import of weapons from Communist nations (for the most part) was no longer relevant. Then Americans started seeing AK variants from Romanian, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland and any other former warsaw pact nation that decided to sell their weapons to the US Market. The import of AK and SKS variants from Eastern European nations was later banned by then president Obama.
There are three main variants of the Type 56:
The standard Type 56, which has a fixed stock,
The Type 56-1, which has an under-folding stock,
The Type 56-2, which has a side-folding stock.
Most fixed-stock Type 56 rifles have an under-folding spike bayonet, known as the "pig sticker"; this rifle is often seen in movies about the Vietnam War, and is correct for NVA throughout most of the conflict. Quite a few of the Type 56s seen in movies also have AKM-style slant compensators fitted; this was a common feature on semi-auto Type 56s exported to the U.S., but NOT the full-auto military model.
The Type 56 is sometimes called the "M22" in the United States, as early exported versions were "sanitized" and made with no factory markings, and instead feature an "M22" code on the side of the receiver where Chinese factory markings would be. Export Type 56 models usually have selector markings are marked using Latin alphabet, with L (pinyin acronym for 連, lián, meaning "continuous [fire]") for full-auto and D (pinyin acronym for 單, dān, meaning "single [fire]") for semi-auto.
The easiest way to tell when an AK-type rifle seen in a movie or TV show is a Chinese Type 56 is by looking at the front sight; Chinese AKs have a distinctive full-circle ("hooded") front sight that no other AKs (excluding the Romanian AK Draco carbines) have.
Type 56 fitted with a AKM-style slanted compensator; "Made to Suffer" (S3E08), "The Suicide King" (S3E09), "Home" (S3E10)
2012-2013
various
Woodbury Soldiers
Type 56 fitted with a AKM-style slanted compensator; "Made to Suffer" (S3E08), "The Suicide King" (S3E09), "Home" (S3E10), "Prey" (S3E14), "This Sorrowful Life" (S3E15), "Welcome to the Tombs" (S3E16)
Error creating thumbnail: File missingNorinco Type 84S - 5.56x45mmError creating thumbnail: File missingNorinco Type 84S-1 Underfolder Model with 16" barrel - 5.56x45mmError creating thumbnail: File missingNorinco Type 84S "Target" Rifle - 5.56x45mm. Basically a standard Norinco Type 84S with a slightly longer barrel. This variant was ready for market just as the 1989 US import ban was implemented, so it is mostly seen in Canada. It has an 18.5" barrel and was very rarely seen in the U.S. Gun market.Error creating thumbnail: File missingNorinco Type 84S-1 "Match" Rifle - 5.56x45mm. Norinco was stuck sitting on a pile of 21" RPK barrels chambered for 5.56mm when the door slammed shut on U.S. imports in 1989. Norinco saved money by mating their 21" long RPK-style barrels to their stockpile of 84S Folding Stock receiver bodies and thus exported the Type 84S Match to countries such as Canada and Australia. Canada would suffer their own import ban on 'frightening looking guns' in 1995. Australian gun owners would suffer such a fate in 1997.
The Type 84 rifle is nearly identical to the Chinese Type 56 (seen above), but it is chambered in 5.56x45mm /.223 Remington and manufactured entirely for export. The civilian variants are known as Type 84S, and are semi-automatic only (full auto Type 84s are far rarer than the Type 84S though). It is often seen impersonating the AK-74 in movies and TV shows (particularly Stargate: SG1, where it is carried by Russian SG teams).
The Type 84 was exported and sold with an AK birdcage flash hider and had a deep polished factory blue. Several other variants of the 84S Rifle (that are mostly unfamiliar to American Gun Owners) were victims of the 1989 Import Ban that barred most new 'assault rifles' from entering the United States. These rifles were thus mostly exported to Canada and Australia, and as a result, appeared in television shows or movies that were filmed in those countries. Listed here are two of the variants seen in Canadian or Australian television (the Target and the Match versions). If it were not for Canadian or Australian movie armorers, most Americans would never have known these variants existed.
"Post-ban" version of the Norinco Type 56, made for import for use as a civilian sporting rifle. As such, the MAK-1990 was manufactured in semi-automatic mode only, the rear sight was ground down and the bayonet lugs were ground off. Most rifles are fitted with a 'thumbhole' stock and were manufactured with both milled and stamped receivers. Originally, these rifles were sold for around $180 and were looked down on as "cheap" rifles, but have since been regarded as fine rifles and have gone up in price greatly.
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