New AK from local gunshow :)

Rangemaster: I was actually going to buy one of the new IOs...until now. The review in the new G&A AK magazine got me very excited about it.

WIldland: "Butthole stock"...hah! I've got to remember that :thumbsup:.

I'm excited to try out this Chinese AK. It looks perfect for slowfire prone...too bad there is no side mount for a 1x scope. It is definitely a better quality of fit and finish than my ban-era WASR and post-ban PSL. I'd consider it of equal quality as my 1951 Russian SKS. Very nice and I'm quite happy with it.

The drum turned out to be very easy to load, but boy is it noisy...no potential for stealth with that thing! I'll have to order a pouch for it too. (Of course ...and what military surplus nut wouldn't?)

Ack! I would have bought a nice blond Chinese SKS too, but some fool took the crossbolt out with what appeared to be a very large pair of pliers and severely gouged the stock in the process. The culprit must have destroyed the nut too because he reinstalled just the bolt with pink silicone! Otherwise it was in fine shape. $350 was a good price if in excellent condition, but I'd have to replace too much to make it worthwhile.

Keith

Congratulations on your new rifle!

But I'm not really tracking where you said "... one of those recent Polish RPDs (which are in the neighborhood of $2,000 and up and not 100% original)." With the exception of the receiver and internals, the Polish RPD's are about as close as one is going to get. To be honest, the NHM-91 is quite far from being a clone of any Chinese LMG - particularly considering it's not a clone of any Chinese military weapon. It was made for commercial export to the US/Canada. The next possible weapon that it could be very distantly close to is the Type 81 LMG (which actually did get imported into the US as a semi-auto in just a handful of numbers - a member here even has one). For your particular rifle, Norinco shipped them orignally with the unique muzzle brake. Yours would actually look like this, with the bipod forward of the front sight base:

(photo credit to the member whose photos these are - Joe?)





You can get close with the flash hider that KVAR sells here:
http://www.k-var.com/shop/product.php?productid=16333&cat=344&page=1


Also, ... "The Polish RPDs look nicer with the ribbed barrel..." Do you mean the Yugo M72 (RPK) with the finned barrel?

Also, ... "The Polish RPDs look nicer with the ribbed barrel..." Do you mean the Yugo M72 (RPK) with the finned barrel?

Click to expand...

Ah um...I guess I got my RPK/RPD features mixed up in my haste to post, but yes that's what I meant....too excited about today's purchase .

Now regarding this pre-ban NHM-91 being 100% original, I mean that in reference to the it having 100% Chinese-built components vs. that of a kit rifle with US receiver and internals. I'd take the Polish RPD any day if it were 100% Polish, but I can't justify purchasing a rifle for more than twice the price that is in essense identical in caliber and purpose of design of the '91 with the exception of it being belt fed. Maybe I'm wrong in my thinking here, but... folks seem to consider the Century-built Yugo M76 rifles as Frankenstein rifles for their US components. Their current prices around $1,200 seem to reflect that sentiment; they started out at twice the price, had a precipitous deline and now seem to have found their market worth. The older pre-ban Mitchell Arms M76s will command three times that price though precisely because they are not a kit rifle. I myself will be purchasing a Century M76 shortly unless I can find a Mitchell Yugo M77 (in .308) which is also around the same price but 100% Yugoslavian. Just because it isn't an exact duplicate of the LMG 81, does that make the NHM 91 less desirable? I really don't know... It actually looks like they tried to produce almost exactly the design of a standard RPK.

Regarding the bipod being mounted forward of the front sight base...I found a reference to this earlier today. What genius came up with that? Does the placement of the bipod indicate a time frame of when a particular rifle was imported?

Thanks for the link to the muzzle brake. I'm not sure if I'm going to replace the Krink, though. It looks nice, if not...heh...original .

Keith

Cool beans. But in terms of the NHM-91 and all-Chinese, you're rifle is technically going to have to meet the US parts count since it's been altered from its original configuration, as well. It's not a "pre-ban" rifle. It was later permitted importation when it met all the requirements then - thread protector tacked on the muzzle, thumbhole buttstock (with many having the US-made wood), etc. If your rifle currently has the Chinese FCG in it, you're going to have to find the correct parts to meet the law's requirement to set it up in the configuration it's currently in now. If the muzzle device can be removed (revealing the threaded muzzle), the muzzle device will have to be factored into the parts count. Additionally, the current wood furniture (which appear to be the Russian RPK furniture) will also have to be considered toward the parts count.

In essence, you'll still have a rifle that will need to have some US parts in it unless it gets reverted back to its original post-ban configuration. Here's some NHM-91 reading:

http://www.ak-47.us/gear/Gear_Review_Detail.php?g=gear1141107743
http://www.ak-47.us/NHM-91-001.php
http://home.comcast.net/~jfreeman16/page_2.htm



And the original manual in PDF:
http://gunshowonthenet.com/Gun_ManualsII/NHM91.pdf

The pics that Rayman1 has posted are what is called an 86s-7 Chinese import. these were imported in 7.62x39 and.223 calibers. We have all of the parts , front sight base, sleeve for the bipod to swing on and the sleeve also has the retaining pin for the muzzle break, and the bipod to go with the whole deal plus we have the original Chinese furniture as pictured which is RPK style. As far as the muzzle break it's desighnedd to be an RPK break and we have 4 of them stashed back with the rest of the parts and they are the 14x1 lh threads. If your interested in one of the muzzle breaks in this style contact me through e-mail on this site and we'll work somethin' out for ya. All of 'em we have on hand are in gret shape other than a couple needing a little cold blue touch up. Dad was expecting in time to convert our NHM 91 over to make a pseudo 86s-7 out of it but it will need the barrel turned at the end as the sleeve for the bipod is smaller in diameter than the chinese barrel. Your rifle looks great as is but I'd be changeing the muzzle break out to something RPK like, no slants but maybe a muzzle nut would do. THese rifles are great shooters and the drums and 40 round mags were made for them or at least for authenticity. The one difference between the NHM and the 86s-7 is that most people claim that the barrel is longer on the 86s-7 but we've never found any proof of that as all that we've tried to measure have came out the same. Only difference is the cosmetics w/ the bipod and sight base being in different places along with the different buttstocks. Thanks for readin' and hope this helps ya'll out with the info. Mad Max son of Madtechcool

:thumbsup:Wow!!! What a thread this has turned out to be. I thought I was a bit light about the history of these particular rifles, and now I find out that I was just plain ignorant . Thanks everyone for taking the time to read and respond with the excellent pictures and information.

Madtech: Please PM me regarding the price and shipping information for a correct muzzlebrake. It will be for collecting purposes only, not for installation, as I don't want to have to add another US part to make it 922 compliant. Also, is Rayman's pictured 86s-7 a military-issue rifle, or merely an earlier preban commercial version of the NHM? Regarding the blond furniture on the 86', mine is identical in form but much darker and laminated, very similar to many laminated Russian SKS stocks, which is why I thought it was original to the rifle. A very beautiful finish. Is it possible then that this is a Chinese 86' stock set? I have no idea how to tell European from US from Chinese in this case. I can post closeup pictures if anone thinks it might help.

Rayman: I guess I'll have to reevaluate my opinion of expensive kit guns with US parts. I don't have an issue with US-built guns like the new IO examples, but its still hard for me to justify paying multi-thousands of dollars for true military-issue rifle that has been molested merely to comply with a senseless parts-count law. Decisions, decisions. Thanks again for the informative links.

Riddick: Its definitely a 75 round drum...I loaded it before I cleaned the rifle (of course ).

I showed up at the range last week to zero my 1pn34 to my PSL. I got some strange looks to be sure. I suppose this latest rifle will get the same reaction, maybe worse---heh heh heh.

Keith

Keith, the furniture on your rifle is definately not Chinese. You'll notice the buttstock is quite a bit shorter and shaped differently than the Chinese. It's more of a Euro/Russian pattern. The handguards and pistol grip, also. The furniture set on your rifle is Russian (also sold as "East German" - still Russian), judging by the laminate.

The rifle photo I posted is an imported semi-auto Norinco. That particular rifle was never a military rifle or a clone of one - it was made for commercial export and sales to the US/Canada. The Chinese were using the Type 81 LMG quite some time before. Here's the Type 81 LMG the Chinese military uses - a very different beast, outside and inside:

Madtech: Please PM me regarding the price and shipping information for a correct muzzlebrake. It will be for collecting purposes only, not for installation, as I don't want to have to add another US part to make it 922 compliant. Also, is Rayman's pictured 86s-7 a military-issue rifle, or merely an earlier preban commercial version of the NHM? Regarding the blond furniture on the 86', mine is identical in form but much darker and laminated, very similar to many laminated Russian SKS stocks, which is why I thought it was original to the rifle. A very beautiful finish. Is it possible then that this is a Chinese 86' stock set? I have no idea how to tell European from US from Chinese in this case. I can post closeup pictures if anone thinks it might help.

Okay here's what I've read, heard from Chinese gurus and seen but as far as the 86s-7 goes it was an import model only and very few made it into the states and most of them were in.223 caliber. These are high dollar items to a collector as only a few hudred made it here and spare parts are as rare as chickens teeth so ya know they're worth good money and I can't see buying one for $900.00. History wise the chinese never fielded an RPK version and all of the NHM's and 86s-7's were an import only weapon. As far as your furniture set goes the handgaurds look to be RPK that have been trimmed to fit your handgaurd retainer but I need to see a side view shot to be able to tell about your buttstock but I'm willing to bet that it's some kinda euro or russkie buttstock that has been fitted to your chinese receiver but a side shot will tell more. All of the parts for the 86s-7 are really rare so I have my doubts about the buttstock too. Dad lucked out big time when he picked his parts up like a chance in a million. We're lucky to have the muzzle breaks and if you purchase one it will look great on your NHM. I'll PM you the specifics on the muzzle break later. Hope all of this has helped ya as I've had a great teacher, my dad ,on this chinese stuff so I owe him a lotta thanks.Mad Max son of Madtechcool

NHM 91 vs. 86s-7

Madtech: Please PM me regarding the price and shipping information for a correct muzzlebrake. It will be for collecting purposes only, not for installation, as I don't want to have to add another US part to make it 922 compliant. Also, is Rayman's pictured 86s-7 a military-issue rifle, or merely an earlier preban commercial version of the NHM? Regarding the blond furniture on the 86', mine is identical in form but much darker and laminated, very similar to many laminated Russian SKS stocks, which is why I thought it was original to the rifle. A very beautiful finish. Is it possible then that this is a Chinese 86' stock set? I have no idea how to tell European from US from Chinese in this case. I can post closeup pictures if anone thinks it might help.

Okay here's what I've read, heard from Chinese gurus and seen but as far as the 86s-7 goes it was an import model only and very few made it into the states and most of them were in.223 caliber. These are high dollar items to a collector as only a few hudred made it here and spare parts are as rare as chickens teeth so ya know they're worth good money and I can't see buying one for $900.00. History wise the chinese never fielded an RPK version and all of the NHM's and 86s-7's were an import only weapon. As far as your furniture set goes the handgaurds look to be RPK that have been trimmed to fit your handgaurd retainer but I need to see a side view shot to be able to tell about your buttstock but I'm willing to bet that it's some kinda euro or russkie buttstock that has been fitted to your chinese receiver but a side shot will tell more. All of the parts for the 86s-7 are really rare so I have my doubts about the buttstock too. Dad lucked out big time when he picked his parts up like a chance in a million. We're lucky to have the muzzle breaks and if you purchase one it will look great on your NHM. I'll PM you the specifics on the muzzle break later. Hope all of this has helped ya as I've had a great teacher, my dad ,on this chinese stuff so I owe him a lotta thanks.Mad Max son of Madtechcool