(OP back here)
Okay, I know nothing about SKS rifles (or, at least, I didn't.) Being so used to the near-celestial length of the only other centerfire rifle I have outside the lockup, a Mosin-Nagant 91/30, I'd figured this much-shorter stick to be a carbine of some sort, so I assumed it to be a "Paratrooper" (it has the cutout for a bayonet, so a "Cowboy's Companion" had been ruled out.)
But the other day, I got out (for another reason) my N-PAP and laid the two next to each other on a table. I was surprised at how much longer the new acquisition is than the Serbian. This makes it a "regular" rifle. I had found Cosmoline deep within its innards and couldn't figure out why a firearm made specifically to be exported to the US for sale would have been dipped in that devil's snot. Now I know.
So, I have what is a "SKS rifle", from China. No Norinco markings. All the serial numbers I've found on/in it so far match. Still, with a 20-inch barrel, it's no more cumbersome than the 336W I was going to get. A bit heavier, that's for sure, but no more unwieldy.
Oh, I still want a lever .30-30...