SKS

SKS with the magazine closed (top) and open. The magazine release is circled.

An SKS-type bayonet in its closed (folded back) and open positions.

A field-stripped SKS carbine (disassembled into major components for cleaning).

The SKS has a conventional layout, with a wooden stock and rifle grip. It is a gas-operated rifle that has a spring-loaded bolt carrier and a gas piston operating rod that work to unlock and cycle the action via gas pressure exerting pressure against them. The bolt is locked to contain the pressure of ignition at the moment of firing by tilting downwards at its rear and being held by a lug milled into the receiver. At the moment of firing, the bolt carrier is pushed rearwards, which causes it to lift the bolt, unlocking it, and allowing it to be carried rearwards against a spring. This allows the fired case to be ejected and a new round from the magazine to be carried into the chamber. The SKS represents an intermediate step in the process towards the development of true assault rifles, being shorter and less powerful than the semi-automatic rifles that preceded it, such as the Soviet SVT-40, but being longer (by 10 cm/4 in) than AK-series rifles which replaced it. As a result, it has a slightly higher muzzle velocity than those arms that replaced it.

The SKS's ten-round internal box magazine can be loaded either by hand or from a stripper clip. Cartridges stored in the magazine can be removed by pulling back on a latch located forward of the trigger guard (thus opening the "floor" of the magazine and allowing the rounds to fall out).[3] In typical military use, the stripper clips are disposable. If necessary, they can be reloaded multiple times and reused.

While early (1949–50) Soviet models had spring-loaded firing pins, which held the pin away from cartridge primers until struck by the action's hammer, most variants of the SKS have a free-floating firing pin within the bolt. Because of this design, care must be taken during cleaning (especially after long storage packed in cosmoline) to ensure that the firing pin can freely move and does not stick in the forward position within the bolt. SKS firing pins that are stuck in the forward position have been known to cause accidental "slamfires" (the rifle firing on its own, without pulling the trigger and often without being fully locked). This behavior is less likely with the hard primer military-spec ammo for which the SKS was designed, but as with any rifle, users should properly maintain their firearms. For collectors, slamfires are more likely when the bolt still has remnants of cosmoline embedded in it that retards firing pin movement. As it is triangular in cross section with only one way to properly insert it (notches up), slamfires can also result if the firing pin is inserted in one of the other two orientations.

In most variants (Yugoslav models being the most notable exception), the barrel is chrome-lined for increased wear and heat tolerance from sustained fire and to resist corrosion from chlorate-primed corrosive ammunition, as well as to facilitate cleaning. Chrome bore lining is common in military rifles. Although it can diminish precision, its effect on practical accuracy in a rifle of this type is limited.

The front sight has a hooded post. The rear sight is an open notch type which is adjustable for elevation from 100 to 1,000 metres (110 to 1,090 yd). There is also an all-purpose "battle" setting on the sight ladder (marked "П", for "Прямой выстрел", meaning "Straight shot"), set for 300 metres (330 yards). This is attained by moving the elevation slide to the rear of the ladder as far as it will go.[3][4] The Yugoslav M59/66A1 has folddown luminous sights for use when firing under poor light conditions, while the older M59 and M59/66 do not.[3]

All military SKSs have a bayonet attached to the underside of the barrel, which is extended and retracted via a spring-loaded hinge. Both blade and spike bayonets were produced.[3] Spike bayonets were used on the 1949 Tula Russian SKS-45, the Chinese Type 56 from mid 1964 onward, and the Albanian Model 561. The Yugoslavian-made M59/66 and M59/66A1 variants are the only SKS models with an integral grenade launching attachment.[3]

The SKS is easily field stripped and reassembled without specialized tools, and the trigger group and magazine can be removed with an unfired cartridge, or with the receiver cover. The rifle has a cleaning kit stored in a trapdoor in the buttstock, with a cleaning rod running under the barrel, in the same style as the AK-47. The cap for the cleaning kit also serves as a cleaning rod guide, to protect the crown from being damaged during cleaning. The body of the cleaning kit serves as the cleaning rod handle. In common with some other Soviet-era designs, it trades some accuracy for ruggedness, reliability, ease of maintenance, ease of use, and low manufacturing cost.

The Soviet Union utilized a number of semi-automatic as well as select-fire rifles during World War II, namely the AVS-36, SVT-38, and the SVT-40.[5] However, the primary service rifle of the Red Army remained the bolt-action Mosin-Nagant, which fired the powerful but heavy 7.62×54mmR round.[5] Even prior to the war, the Red Army had recognized that these weapons were obsolete and initiated a program to modernize its existing small arms, although this was interrupted by the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941.[6] Among the military development programs the Soviet Union had monitored in other countries were the Finnish, Swiss, and German developments in intermediate rifle cartridges.[6] These had limited range and muzzle velocity compared to the 7.62x54mmR and other contemporary rifle rounds such as the 7.92×57mm Mauser and the .30-06 Springfield, but also possessed numerous advantages: they were cheaper to manufacture, permitted easier weapons handling due to their much-reduced recoil and muzzle blast, and enabled infantry to carry more due to their small size and light weight.[5] They could also be fired from shorter and lighter rifles.[5] The Red Army's interest in an intermediate cartridge was piqued when stocks of 7.92×33mm Kurz ammunition were captured from the Wehrmacht, and by the end of 1943, Soviet technicians had developed a similar cartridge based closely on the German design, the 7.62x39mm M43. Early trials showed that the new round had the penetrative capacity to pierce three panels of plywood, each of 2.25 cm thickness, at a six hundred meter range.[7] Red Army officials believed this was more than enough power to wound or kill a soldier at typical battlefield range.[7] Limited production of the new ammunition type commenced in 1944.[8]

Hurried efforts were made to develop a rifle capable of firing the new cartridge, and the first prominent design was produced by Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov.[7] This became known as the Samozaryadny Karabin sistemy Simonova (SKS), or Simonov's self-loading carbine system.[7] Simonov had already been working on a new semi-automatic carbine chambered for a lighter cartridge as early as 1941, owing to recent complaints about the effectiveness of the SVT-40.[9] His earliest prototypes were chambered for the 7.62×25mm Tokarev pistol cartridge, which was also used in the PPSh-41 submachine gun.[9] He also built at least one prototype chambered for the larger 7.62x54mmR cartridge.[9] Unlike previous Soviet semi-automatic rifles, these utilized fixed ten-round magazines loaded from stripper clips.[9] Simonov's design was based on the operating mechanism of the PTRS-41 anti-tank rifle he'd previously developed for the Red Army the same year.[5] Red Army evaluation of the prototypes was shelved due to the German invasion, and did not resume until Simonov rechambered and modified his weapon to accommodate the 7.62x39mm cartridge in 1944.[9]

The SKS was light, simple, and considerably shorter than the Mosin-Nagant, which made it easier to handle in dense foliage and urban environments.[7] Simonov deliberately designed the SKS with loose-fitting parts, making it less likely to jam when dirty, inadequately lubricated, or clogged with carbon residue.[7] This was a notable departure from the relatively tight tolerances on the previous generation of Soviet semi-automatic rifles, and was also part of the design process of the AK-47.[7] The SKS was officially designated as a carbine, although it did not fulfill the same role as the M1 carbine used in the United States Army at the time, and more resembled a traditional infantry rifle both in terms of design and envisaged role.[5] Simonov's early 7.62x39mm models were quickly pressed into service, and saw action with troops of the 1st Belorussian Front during the final months of World War II.[6] The SKS was still undergoing active field trials when Germany surrendered to the Allies in May 1945.[10] Mass production was delayed while the SKS underwent minor technical changes and alterations as a result of its trial performance during that conflict.[6] By the end of the 1940s, it finally superseded the various models of the Mosin-Nagant as the standard Soviet infantry rifle.[6]

The AK-47 assault rifle and the RPD machine gun, both firing the same 7.62x39mm cartridge, were introduced into Soviet service around the same time to complement the SKS.[6] During the 1950s, the Soviet Army rapidly mechanized its existing infantry formations, shifting primarily from light infantry on foot to a much more mobile force deploying from armored vehicles.[6] This fundamental shift in tactics called for large volumes of automatic fire to be delivered from moving vehicles, and the AK-47, with its select-fire capability, compact size, and larger detachable magazine, was more appropriate for this role than the SKS.[6] As a result, the AK-47 gradually replaced the SKS as the standard service rifle of the Soviet Army throughout the 1950s.[6] A US Army review of Soviet tactics and weapons found that "the SKS was phased out of infantry use in the late 1950s, not because of any inherent faults, but because a radical change in Soviet tactics rendered it obsolete."[6] However, even at the time of its introduction, Soviet military strategists had always desired an infantry rifle with more firepower than the SKS.[7] They needed a weapon that better permitted the infantry to give massed automatic fire during an offensive.[9] Military historian Edward Ezell suggested that the SKS was always intended to be an interim solution, and the Soviets simply pushed it into production because they wanted any rifle chambered for the 7.62x39mm cartridge in general service as soon as possible, while a select-fire assault rifle was still being perfected.[9]

In June 1955, the Soviet Union hosted a military and civilian delegation from the People's Republic of China led by General Zhao Erlu.[7] The Chinese delegation was given a tour of the Tula Arms Plant, where they observed the assembly of SKS carbines.[7] General Erlu expressed an interest in acquiring the technology for the SKS, as China had previously only been granted a license to produce the Mosin-Nagant, which was by then a rather antiquidated design.[7] After negotiations between Mao Zedong and Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev, the Soviet Union agreed to transfer the technology for the SKS, as well as the AK-47 and the 7.62x39mm cartridge.[11] Parallel production lines for the SKS and the AK-47 were set up in China the following year.[7] Chinese production of the SKS continued for decades after it ceased in the Soviet Union, and over nine million had been manufactured as the Type 56 carbine in that country by the 1980s.[12]

In terms of production numbers, the SKS was the ninth most produced self-loading rifle design in history.[13] Nearly all the Warsaw Pact member states adopted the SKS at one time or another, and technical specifications to produce the carbine were shared with the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) and Romania.[12] With the assistance of Soviet or Chinese technicians and generous military grants, armaments factories producing SKS carbines were later established in North Vietnam, North Korea, Yugoslavia, and Albania as well.[12]

While remaining far less ubiquitous than the AK-47, both original Soviet rifles and foreign variants can still be found today in civilian hands as well as in the arsenals of insurgent groups and paramilitary forces around the world.[13] The SKS has been circulated in up to 69 countries, both by national governments and non-state actors.[14] In 2016, it was still being widely circulated among civilians and non-state actors in at least five of those countries and remained in the reserve and training inventories of over 50 national armies.[14]

A guerilla of the Liberation Army of South Vietnam, crouching in a tunnel with an SKS carbine.

A few years after the SKS was brought into service in 1949, it was rendered obsolete for the Soviet military by the new AK-47, which was adopted in increasing numbers by Soviet front-line units throughout the 1950s.[15] The SKS was used by Soviet troops and Hungarian partisans alike during the 1956 Hungarian Revolution.[16][17] Thereafter, while the SKS was retained for various auxiliary duties, it ceased to have any real military significance in the Soviet Union.[15] Only a small number remained in active service, mostly with support units, until the 1980s.[18] However, the SKS found a longer second life in the service of various Soviet-aligned nations, in particular the People's Republic of China.[15] The Chinese state manufactured it for decades after production had ceased in the Soviet Union, mainly to arm its vast military reserves and militia forces.[15] The SKS was also in general issue with regular units of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) for thirty years as the Type 56 carbine.[19] In 1978, the typical PLA infantry battalion was armed with 360 Type 56 carbines and 221 Type 56 assault rifles.[20] PLA forces armed primarily with Type 56 carbines fought Soviet troops armed primarily with AK-47s during the Sino-Soviet border conflict.[21][22] During the Sino-Vietnamese War, PLA infantry still armed primarily with Type 56 carbines engaged Vietnamese infantry armed with the same weapon and its Soviet equivalent.[20] The conflict was notable in that both sides commonly fielded the Type 56/SKS alongside AK-pattern automatic rifles, although the Vietnamese forces had largely transitioned to the latter while the PLA had not.[20]

Before adopting domestic AK-47 derivatives, a number of non-aligned nations such as Egypt and Yugoslavia adopted the SKS as a standard service rifle.[23][15] The Egyptian Army used the SKS extensively during the Suez Crisis, and a number were captured and evaluated by Western intelligence agencies in the aftermath of that conflict.[16] Some Egyptian forces were still armed with the SKS as late as the Six Day War, which saw thousands of the carbines captured by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).[24] During its own evaluation of the weapon, the IDF described the SKS as "first rate in several respects" but noted the difficulty of loading the fixed magazine quickly with stripper clips, especially during night fighting operations when visibility was poor.[24]

Beginning in the 1960s, vast quantities of obsolete and redundant SKS carbines from military reserve stocks were donated by the Soviet Union and China to left-wing guerrilla movements around the world.[25] The increasing ubiquity of the SKS altered the dynamics of asymmetric warfare in developing nations and colonial territories, where most guerrillas had previously been armed with bolt-action rifles.[25] For example, the SKS served as one of the primary arms of the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War.[26] The weapon type was encountered so frequently by the United States Armed Forces in Vietnam that captured examples were used by opposing force (OPFOR) units during training exercises designed to simulate battlefield conditions there as early as 1969.[27] Captured SKS carbines were also prized as war trophies among individual US military personnel, and a number were brought back to the United States by returning veterans over the course of the Vietnam conflict.[28]

The SKS found particular favour in southern Africa, where it was used by a number of insurgent armies fighting to overthrow colonial rule in Angola,[29] Rhodesia (Zimbabwe),[30] and South West Africa (Namibia).[31] The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) used Type 56 carbines during its long-running insurgency against the postcolonial Angolan government from 1975 to 2002.[32] The SKS was also used in large quantities by uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC) in South Africa.[33] Between 1963 and 1990, the Soviet Union shipped 3,362 SKS carbines to MK through the guerrillas' external sanctuaries in Angola and Tanzania.[34] SKS carbines captured from MK by the South African security forces were used to arm militias of the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) during its internal power struggle with the ANC in the 1980s and 1990s.[35]

East Germany and the Soviet Union both armed various factions of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) with SKS carbines from the 1950s through the 1970s; these were used against the IDF and in various internecine clashes during the Lebanese Civil War.[36][37] The Soviet carbines were initially shipped to PLO training camps in Egypt, where the Egyptian Army provided instructors to train PLO fighters in their use.[38]

A number of Type 56 carbines were acquired and used alongside the more ubiquitous AK-pattern rifles by the Provisional Irish Republican Army during the Troubles.[39] China also supplied the Afghan mujahidin with Type 56 carbines during the early years of the Soviet–Afghan War.[40] During the Dhofar Rebellion, SKS carbines were smuggled into Oman by sea, most likely by the Soviet Union, to arm Popular Front for the Liberation of Oman (PFLO) insurgents there.[41] The Eritrean Liberation Front used large numbers of SKS carbines during the Eritrean War of Independence.[42] The Communist Party of Thailand (CPT) used the SKS during its insurgency until the early 1980s, when it ceased militant operations.[43] Cuban and Grenadian military forces used the SKS during the 1983 US invasion of Grenada.[44] The US Army captured 4,074 SKS carbines during the invasion, mostly from arms depots.[45]

By the early 1980s, the SKS had been almost entirely superseded in worldwide military service by the AK-47 and its derivatives.[46] The increasing proliferation of cheap AK-pattern rifles in most asymmetric conflicts also ended the popularity of the SKS as a standard guerrilla arm.[46] At that time, the majority of the remaining carbines still in active use were being issued to state-sponsored militias and other paramilitary formations for internal security duties.[46] Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, SKS carbines proliferated in various civil wars and regional conflicts throughout the former Soviet republics, including the War in Abkhazia,[47] War of Dagestan,[48] and the war in Donbas.[49] In 2016, the SKS remained in the reserve stockpiles of over 50 national armies, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa and the former Soviet bloc.[14]

After World War II, the SKS design was licensed or sold to a number of the Soviet Union's allies, including China, Yugoslavia, Albania, North Korea, North Vietnam, East Germany, Romania, and Poland. Most of these nations produced nearly identical variants, with the most common modifications being differing styles of bayonets and the 22 mm rifle grenade launcher commonly seen on Yugoslavian models.

Chinese

Chinese Type 56 semi-automatic carbine (Chinese SKS).

• Type 56 (1956–today): Numerous minor tweaks, including lack of milling on the bolt carrier, partially or fully stamped (as opposed to milled) receivers, and differing types of thumb rest on the take down lever. The Chinese continually revised the SKS manufacturing process, so variation can be seen even between two examples from the same factory. All of the Type 56 carbine rifles have been removed from military service, except a few being used for ceremonial purposes and by local Chinese Militias. Type 56 carbines with serial numbers below 9,000,000 have the Russian-style blade-type folding bayonet, while those 9,000,000 and higher have a "spike" type folding bayonet. Some early examples are known as "Sino-Soviet", meaning they were produced by China, but with cooperation from Russian "advisers" who helped regulate the factories and provided the design specifications and perhaps even Soviet-manufactured parts.[51] Bangladesh Ordnance Factories produced Type 56 under license until 2006.[52]
• Experimental stamped receiver: Very rare. A small number of Type 56 SKS rifles were manufactured with experimental stamped sheet metal receivers as a cost and weight saving measure but did not enter large scale production.
• Honor Guard: Mostly, but not all, chromed metal parts. Does not generally have the lighter-colored stock as the Soviet Honor Guard variant.
• Type 63, 68, 73, 81, 84: these rifles shared features from several East-Bloc rifles (SKS, AK-47, Dragunov). AK-47 style rotary bolt and detachable magazine. The Type 63 featured a stamped sheet-steel receiver. The Type 81 is an upgraded Type 63 with a three-round burst capability, some of which (Type 81–1) have a folding stock. The Type 84 (known as an SKK) returns to semi-auto fire only, is modified to accept AK-47 magazines, and has a shorter 41 cm (16 in) paratrooper barrel. However, Chinese Type 84s could not accept AK mags without some handfitting, and the mags were serialized. In addition, AK mags don't work with the SKS bolt-hold-open system, so the Type 84 used a button on top of the bolt carrier to lock it into place.[53]

Norinco SKS-M with Monte Carlo cheek-piece stock and detachable 30-round AK-47 magazine

• Commercial production: Blonde wood ("Chu wood"/"Qiu wood")[54] stock instead of dark wood, spike bayonet instead of blade, bayonet retaining bolt replaced with a rivet. Sub-variants include the M21, "Cowboy's Companion", Hunter, Models D/M, Paratrooper, Sharpshooter, and Sporter.
  • Model D rifles used military style stocks and had bayonet lugs (although some were imported eliminated bayonet, and some examples eliminated the lug to meet changing US import restrictions).
  • Model M rifles had no bayonet lug and used either a thumb hole or Monte Carlo–style stock. Both Model D and M used AK-47 magazines and as a result had no bolt hold open feature on the rifle.

Other European

• Romanian M56: Produced between 1957 and 1960. Typically, they are identical or nearly identical to the late Soviet model.
• Polish SKS (ksS): Refurbished Soviet rifles. Polish laminated stocks lack storage area in back of stock for cleaning kit. A few hundred SKS's were given to Poland by the Soviet Union around 1954. While never adopted for use by combat units, the SKS is still in use in ceremonial units of the Polish Army, Air Force, Navy where they replaced SVT rifles. Honor guards of the Polish Police and Border Guard also use SKS carbines. In Polish service they are known as ksS which stands for karabin samopowtarzalny Simonowa, Simonov's semi-automatic rifle. These rifles since have been slowly replaced by the new Polish rifle design, the MSBS.
• Yugoslavian PAP M59: Manufactured by Zastava Arms between 1959 and 1966.[55] Barrel is not chrome-lined. PAP stands for "Polu-automatska puška" (Semi-automatic rifle) and the rifle was nicknamed "Papovka". Otherwise this rifle is nearly identical to the Soviet version. Many were converted to the M59/66 variant during refurbishment.

Yugoslavian M59/66 with the muzzle formed into a spigot-type grenade launcher and a folding ladder grenade sight behind the front sight.

• • Yugoslavian PAP M59/66: Produced between 1967 and 1989. Added 22 mm rifle grenade launcher which appears visually like a flash suppressor or muzzle brake on the end of the barrel. Front sight has a fold-up "ladder" for use in grenade sighting. To raise the grenade sight, the gas port must be manually blocked and the action must be manually cycled—rifle grenades must be fired with special blank cartridges, and this feature helps ensure that the gas pressure is not wasted on cycling the action. The gas port must be manually opened to again allow semi-automatic operation.[56] Barrel was not chrome-lined. Both the grenade launcher and grenade sight are NATO spec. Stock is typically made from beech wood.
  • Yugoslavian PAP M59/66A1: Same as above, except with the addition of flip up phosphorescent or tritium night sights.
• Albanian SKS: Produced between 1967 and 1978. There were no rifles produced from 1972 to 1975. Produced by the UM GRAMSH factory located in Gramsh, Albania. Longer stock and handguard on the gas tube, and AK style charging handle. The magazine is slightly different in the shape visible from the outside. The stock has two compartments with two corresponding holes in the buttplate for cleaning implements instead of the single cleaning kit pocket. Like the Chinese Type 56 carbine, the Albanian version also features a spike bayonet fixed beneath the muzzle.
• East German Karabiner-S: Extremely rare. Slot cut into back of stock for pull-through sling, similar to the slot in a Karabiner 98k. No storage area in back of stock or storage for cleaning rod under barrel. It is believed to have been produced at the J.P. Sauer & Sohn facility in Suhl.[57]

In the more than 70 years of use worldwide, the SKS has seen use in conflicts all over the world.

• vz. 52 rifle

Wikimedia Commons has media related to SKS.

• Soviet SKS Operation Manual from 1974
• The short film STAFF FILM REPORT 66-25A (1966) is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive. (in Italian)
• Simonov SKS (CKC45g)
• Why is the SKS Rifle Popular?