Chinese T-53, Vietnamese Use?

[RCEMERalf]

I am hopefully attaching a number of pictures of my recently acquired T-53. I picked it up from an ex-Marine that served in Vietnam. He was sure the rifle was liberated from a hospital in a province that he named. Buy the rifle, not the story! It is marked ,"1955" and " 26" which I believe is the year of manufacture and the number of the factory. Stock markings are stamped numbers in small circles- no longer readable. I believe the rustic carving on the butt is the NVA badge and the name of someone. N. A. C.- Navy Arms Corp.

Information

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[jmoore]

Buy the rifle, not the story!

Considering that it was imported in the 1980s or a bit later, then it's very unlikely that the fellow that sold it has any idea of it's history! But the Chinese version is a good addition to any accumulation of Mosin Nagant rifles.

[arado]

I have a T53 made in 1960. It is as new. Quality is the equal of any. I prefer their SKS. less recoil.

[Calif-Steve]

I brought back a Type 53 from RVN in 1971. They all have bad bores and beat up wood. Might be a RVN return, but not really sure. I do not recall any Viet Cong stamps.

[jmoore]

The import marking above sort of precludes it from being a GI bringback...

[Tom in N.J.]

Back in the 1980s Val Forgett, of Navy Arms, told me that he could not import Chinese military surplus arms, so all of the weapons were certified by the shipper as being police items. (Peoples Security Forces).