The 7.62 Samozaryadnyi Karabin Sistemy Simonova Obrazets 1945g (translated, "7.62 Self-loading Carbine System Simonov model year 1945), better known simply as the SKS was a groundbreaking and durable design. It was a product of a genius in small arms weapons development and has been in continuous production spread across no less than eight countries on three continents. The SKS is often forgotten and overshadowed by its nephew, the AK-47 but was no less important a weapon system.
Inventor
The SKS was invented by Soviet arms guru Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov in 1943 as an answer to a more controllable replacement for the heavy Tokarev SVT battle rifle. Simonov was a Senior Master Gunsmith that had been designing arms at the massive historic Tula Arsenal for nearly twenty years before trying his hand at what became his masterpiece. Previously he had helped with the production of the Avtomat and AVS-36 automatic rifles, the Tokarev pistol, and the huge 45 pound (20kg) PTRS-41 antitank rifle. Noting that full size rifle cartridges had made older designs either too large, complicated or uncontrollable, and taking a page from captured German Stg-44 and its use of a Kurtz (small) round; Simonov developed his new rifle using the smaller 7.62x39mm round M1943 round.
Design
Simonov and his team had by 1944 designed a working model weapon. A small production run was assembled at the Tula plant and put through live combat field trials on the Eastern front. Lessons learned lead to the final SKS design that was adopted in 1945 (hence the model year). The Soviet made weapon was built with a heavy steel milled receiver fitted to a chrome lined, 4-groove, right-hand twist carbine length (521 mm or 20.5 in) barrel inlaid in a darkly stained hardwood stock. A semi sharp bladed bayonet was fitted to a folding assembly just short of the muzzle. In design it was a gas-operated with a spring-loaded operating rod and firing pin and a prominent gas piston rod. The weapon was comparable to other period rifles of the time in size at 3.85 kg (8 lb 8 oz) in weight and 1021 mm (40.2 in) long. However its semi-automatic fire, ten round magazine, and rapid reloading with stripper clips gave it several advantages. A green canvas and leather sling was standard. It has been described best by an unnamed gun writer in the following: “The SKS is a rifle, made the way they should be, out of a heavy block of crappy commie steel, set in an inletted semi-reshaped 2x4."
Production
The SKS was placed in full production in the Soviet Union in 1949 and was later franchised to several countries throughout the Soviet-bloc. Often seen as an ‘also ran’ design by historians it was nevertheless quietly in the background of most of the Cold War era conflicts and is still encountered in the hotspots of the world.
Sources
Department of the US Army The SKS RIFLE (Training Circular 9-56, SIMONOV TYPE 56) US Government Printing 1969
Fuller, Wyant and Stephen compliers Editors Lamont SIMONOV SKS-45 TYPE CARBINES (Paperback - 1988)
Gebhart, James F Official SKS Manual of the U.S.S.R. Army (Paperback - Jan 1997)
Gun Guides SKS Rifle Disassembly & Reassembly Gun-guide (Ring-bound - 2006)
Kehaya, Steve and Poyer, Joe The SKS Carbine, 4th Revised and Expanded Edition Biotechniques Books, 2008
Long, Duncan The SKS Type 45 Carbines 1992
Sweeney, Patrick The Gun Digest Book Of The AK & SKS: A Complete Guide to Guns, Gear and Ammunition Gun Digest 2009
carbinecollectors.com/sks.htm Maintained by RK Smith & Dan Reynolds, accessed June 2009. For collectors information about various models
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