NORINCO NDM-86 DRAGUNOV
China
A BRIEF OVERALL HISTORY
The SVD-63 or "Dragunov" as it is commonly called, was adopted by the Russians in 1963 and replaced the Mosin-Nagant sniper rifles. The Chinese adopted the Type-79 sniper rifle in 1979. This was an unlicensed copy of the Russian Dragunov that had been reverse engineered from captured SVDs. This rifle was then produced for commercial sales and marketed as the NDM-86 in the United States.
MAKE AND SERIAL NUMBER
This receiver was produced at the Jing-An arsenal number 26 in 1979. While it is a bit hard to make out in this picture, the arsenal marking is the number 26 inside the triangle. These markings are on the bottom of the receiver just forward of the magazine.
IMPORT MARK
Distributed by Norinco, this rifle was imported by  CJA (China Jing-An) in Springfield, Montana. The 7.62x54R chambering is also indicated on the import mark.
NOT AN AK VARIANT
While often mistakenly thought to be an upsized AK design, the Dragunov rifle uses a different operating system and does not have interchangeable parts. It has a short stoke piston gas system rather than the long stroke piston gas system found in AK pattern rifles.
GAS REGULATOR
This NDM-86 has a 2 position adjustable gas regulator. It can easily be adjusted using the rim of a 7.62x54R cartridge casing. This was not typical of commercial guns and is possibly an aftermarket addition as this is a drop in part.
REAR TANGENT SIGHT
The rear sight of the NDM-86 is a sliding tangent graduated from 100 to 1200 meters. The backup sights can be used with or without the scope attached.
SCOPE SERIAL NUMBER
This number on the left side of the stock is not the rifle serial number like one may assume. It is instead, the serial number of the scope that was originally paired with the rifle. This SN does not match the scope that is on the rifle, indicating this is a replacement scope. This makes sense since it is a Russian scope.
SCOPE
The scope on this rifle is Russian made, NPZ PO6x36. I believe this is a commercial scope as some of the markings are in English. It has a 6x magnification and a reticle with a width-based stadiometric rangefinder.
SCOPE TURRETS
The elevation turret on the scope is a BDC (Bullet Drop Compensator) and is marked for ranges from 0 to 600 meters in 100 meter increments. Windage is marked 1 through 10 for left and right. Each mark is equivalent to 3.2cm at 100 meters.
RETICLE SWITCH
The switch on the scope is for turning the illuminated reticle on. The Cyrillic markings are raised with English marking painted on.
CHEEK RISER
The cheek riser on the stock is quickly removable and reversible. This allows the rifle to be used be right or left hand shooters and if the scope becomes inoperable, a correct sight picture with the iron sights is easily obtained with the cheek riser removed.
HISTORICAL PHOTOGRAPHS
RESOURCES
CHINESE NORINCO NDM-86 AND EM-351 RIFLE
DRAGUNOV VARIATIONS: MILITARY SVD, IZHMASH TIGER, CHINESE NDM-86
PO6X36 SCOPE MANUAL
Optical Sights, PO 6×36, PO 6×36-1, PO 6×36-2, Service manual