New Member check In! Tell me about my Norinco AK-84s

[dja9520]

Hi, I'm new to the forum, but not to the gun world. I picked up a Norinco 84s a few weeks ago, any would like some info on it. Could you tell me when it was imported? 88 or 89? Also, how many 5.56 guns were imported like mine. The gun's in great shape other than some one decided to drill a hole in the front bakelite hand guard to mount a wood grip. thanks in advance dja9520.
http://i1190.photobucket.com/albums/z455/dja9520/IMG_0304.jpg

[dja9520]

Pic of the hole: http://i1190.photobucket.com/albums/z455/dja9520/IMG_0305.jpg

[dja9520]

Also, what mags can i use in the gun, original norinco's are expensive and are hard to come by. I'm currently using modified tapco .223 mags.

[imanaknut]

Welcome to the group !!! :welcome:

Judging by your stock set, I am guessing your rifle is marked "84S-3A" making it one of the more "Americanized" variations of the 84S. The "3A" came with a black plastic stock set with the butt-stock slightly longer. Many people in the US forget that the AK/AKM was designed with a smaller stock to make them easier to shoulder in the Russian winters with full winter clothing. The longer stock was one of their ways to try to increase sales in the US marked at a time when "commie weapons" were not cared for.

As to finding a replacement lower hand guard, I would check Gunbroker. Every now and then you see one come up for sale. Unfortunately with all the anti-second amendment laws and outright bans, finding parts for any Norinco is nearly impossible. I can say that the 84S-3A was not imported in big numbers, and if I had to guess, would say the numbers would be under 1000.

Mags are hard to come by, and although I haven't tried it, I have heard that the East German AK-74 mags can be modified to work. Also the Bulgarian .223 mags should be able to be modified to work in an 84S.

As to number that were imported, there really are no records because back then there were several importers, and many were just fronts for the Chinese, and as you can imagine, they weren't wanting to keep records.

The 84S-3A was most likely imported in 1989 just in time for George Bush the First to get angry with the Chinese and then complain that the way a firearm looks will cause a person to become a criminal. Hard to believe someone could be that stupid!

[dja9520]

imanaknut, thank you for the info. I finally got to shoot the 84s this weekend, might i say it was awesome! I also found some original mags for the gun that were a steal! the modified tapco mag ran like a champ. One question i have is that the gun ejects brass a pretty good ways, like over 20 feet. is that normal? or do i need a new recoil spring? thanks again dja9520


Welcome to the group !!! :welcome:

Judging by your stock set, I am guessing your rifle is marked "84S-3A" making it one of the more "Americanized" variations of the 84S. The "3A" came with a black plastic stock set with the butt-stock slightly longer. Many people in the US forget that the AK/AKM was designed with a smaller stock to make them easier to shoulder in the Russian winters with full winter clothing. The longer stock was one of their ways to try to increase sales in the US marked at a time when "commie weapons" were not cared for.

As to finding a replacement lower hand guard, I would check Gunbroker. Every now and then you see one come up for sale. Unfortunately with all the anti-second amendment laws and outright bans, finding parts for any Norinco is nearly impossible. I can say that the 84S-3A was not imported in big numbers, and if I had to guess, would say the numbers would be under 1000.

Mags are hard to come by, and although I haven't tried it, I have heard that the East German AK-74 mags can be modified to work. Also the Bulgarian .223 mags should be able to be modified to work in an 84S.

As to number that were imported, there really are no records because back then there were several importers, and many were just fronts for the Chinese, and as you can imagine, they weren't wanting to keep records.

The 84S-3A was most likely imported in 1989 just in time for George Bush the First to get angry with the Chinese and then complain that the way a firearm looks will cause a person to become a criminal. Hard to believe someone could be that stupid!

[tank_monkey]

imanaknut, thank you for the info. I finally got to shoot the 84s this weekend, might i say it was awesome! I also found some original mags for the gun that were a steal! the modified tapco mag ran like a champ. One question i have is that the gun ejects brass a pretty good ways, like over 20 feet. is that normal? or do i need a new recoil spring? thanks again dja9520

20 feet is standard for all the regular 84S rifles I've fired. I have Original 84S rifles with wood furniture that I picked up back in 1985. I always keep the original Chi-com stocks anyway, though I don't fault guys with longer arms with wanting longer buttstocks, but 1) the asian build is smaller so the shorter stocks are preferable to their shooters and 2) as iamanaknut said before, the shorter stock is useful when you're firing wearing thick winter coats or ballistic armor. AK-74 mags can be modified, but I wouldn't recommend it. You have to shave down the top feeding lips of the mag into a down ward slant and there is a metal insert into the top of the mag that you have to grind down. Even then, a 30 round mag can only hold 15 rounds reliably because you're using a work around rather than the original mags. I cringe at the number of mint bakelite mags I destroyed trying to get them to work in a 5.56mm AK. Back in the day, 5.45mm mags were about five bucks each. sigh.

[imanaknut]

Yep, like tank_monkey said, 20 feet is normal. About the only time I get smiles from someone getting smacked by my brass is when they find I am 4 tables down from them. Usually I install a brass catcher to prevent that, but the rounds come out so fast every now and then one will hit the back of the brass catcher, and bounce back into the rifle blocking the bolt. Usually I try to get the far right lane for that reason.