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SKS
The SKS (Russian: Самозарядный карабин Симонова, romanized: Samozaryadny karabin Simonova, lit. 'Simonov self-loading carbine') is a semi-automatic carbine designed by Soviet small arms designer Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov in the 1940s.
The SKS was first produced in the Soviet Union but was later widely exported and manufactured by various nations. Its distinguishing characteristics include a permanently attached folding bayonet and a hinged, fixed magazine. As the SKS lacked select-fire capability and its magazine was limited to ten rounds, it was rendered obsolete in the Soviet Armed Forces by the introduction of the AK-47 in the 1950s. Nevertheless, SKS carbines continued to see service with the Soviet Border Troops and second-line and reserve army units for decades.
The SKS was manufactured at Tula Arsenal from 1949 to 1958, and at the Izhevsk Arsenal from 1953 to 1954. Altogether, the Soviet Union produced 2.7 million SKS carbines. Throughout the Cold War, millions of additional SKS carbines and their derivatives were also manufactured under license in the People's Republic of China, as well as a number of countries allied with the Eastern Bloc. The SKS was exported in vast quantities and found favour with insurgent forces around the world as a light, handy weapon which was adequate for guerrilla warfare despite its conventional limitations.
Beginning in 1988, millions have also been sold on the civilian market in North America, where they remain popular as hunting and sporting rifles.
The SKS is a gas-operated carbine with a conventional wooden stock and a fixed ten-round box magazine enclosed inside the receiver. It has a tilting bolt and a gas piston operating rod that works to unlock and cycle the action via gas pressure. When a round is discharged, some of the gases in the bore are diverted through the gas port and impinge on the head of the piston. The piston is driven rearwards and the tappet strikes the bolt carrier; a spring returns the tappet and piston to their forward position. The bolt carrier is driven rearwards, which causes it to lift and unlock the bolt and allowing it to be carried rearwards against the recoil spring. This allows the fired cartridge case to be ejected, and as the bolt is returned to its original position by the recoil spring it strips a new round from the magazine and chambers it.
The SKS magazine can be loaded either by hand or from a stripper clip which seats in the bolt carrier. To load the rifle, the cocking handle on the right of the bolt is retracted, and if the magazine is empty the bolt will remain at the rear. When the magazine is fully loaded, the bolt is pulled slightly back then released, at which time it will chamber the first round. 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).
When the magazine is expended, a small stud engages the bolt and holds it to the rear, in effect functioning as a bolt hold open device. After the magazine platform is depressed by the insertion of ammunition, the stud continues to hold the bolt at the rear of the receiver until the bolt is pulled slightly back, at which time it drops into its normal position and releases the bolt to chamber the next round.
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 retard 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.
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SKS
The SKS (Russian: Самозарядный карабин Симонова, romanized: Samozaryadny karabin Simonova, lit. 'Simonov self-loading carbine') is a semi-automatic carbine designed by Soviet small arms designer Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov in the 1940s.
The SKS was first produced in the Soviet Union but was later widely exported and manufactured by various nations. Its distinguishing characteristics include a permanently attached folding bayonet and a hinged, fixed magazine. As the SKS lacked select-fire capability and its magazine was limited to ten rounds, it was rendered obsolete in the Soviet Armed Forces by the introduction of the AK-47 in the 1950s. Nevertheless, SKS carbines continued to see service with the Soviet Border Troops and second-line and reserve army units for decades.
The SKS was manufactured at Tula Arsenal from 1949 to 1958, and at the Izhevsk Arsenal from 1953 to 1954. Altogether, the Soviet Union produced 2.7 million SKS carbines. Throughout the Cold War, millions of additional SKS carbines and their derivatives were also manufactured under license in the People's Republic of China, as well as a number of countries allied with the Eastern Bloc. The SKS was exported in vast quantities and found favour with insurgent forces around the world as a light, handy weapon which was adequate for guerrilla warfare despite its conventional limitations.
Beginning in 1988, millions have also been sold on the civilian market in North America, where they remain popular as hunting and sporting rifles.
The SKS is a gas-operated carbine with a conventional wooden stock and a fixed ten-round box magazine enclosed inside the receiver. It has a tilting bolt and a gas piston operating rod that works to unlock and cycle the action via gas pressure. When a round is discharged, some of the gases in the bore are diverted through the gas port and impinge on the head of the piston. The piston is driven rearwards and the tappet strikes the bolt carrier; a spring returns the tappet and piston to their forward position. The bolt carrier is driven rearwards, which causes it to lift and unlock the bolt and allowing it to be carried rearwards against the recoil spring. This allows the fired cartridge case to be ejected, and as the bolt is returned to its original position by the recoil spring it strips a new round from the magazine and chambers it.
The SKS magazine can be loaded either by hand or from a stripper clip which seats in the bolt carrier. To load the rifle, the cocking handle on the right of the bolt is retracted, and if the magazine is empty the bolt will remain at the rear. When the magazine is fully loaded, the bolt is pulled slightly back then released, at which time it will chamber the first round. 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).
When the magazine is expended, a small stud engages the bolt and holds it to the rear, in effect functioning as a bolt hold open device. After the magazine platform is depressed by the insertion of ammunition, the stud continues to hold the bolt at the rear of the receiver until the bolt is pulled slightly back, at which time it drops into its normal position and releases the bolt to chamber the next round.
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 retard 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.