The SKS () is a
semi-automatic rifle
A semi-automatic rifle is a type of rifle that fires a single round each time the Trigger (firearms), trigger is pulled while automatically loading the next Cartridge (firearms), cartridge. These rifles were developed Pre-World War II, and w ...
designed by Soviet small arms designer
Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov in the 1940s.
The SKS was first produced in the
Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
but was later widely exported and manufactured by various nations. Its distinguishing characteristics include a permanently attached folding
bayonet
A bayonet (from Old French , now spelt ) is a -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , now spelt ) is a knife, dagger">knife">-4; we might wonder whethe ...
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
The Armed Forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, also known as the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union, the Red Army (1918–1946) and the Soviet Army (1946–1991), were the armed forces of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republi ...
by the introduction of the
AK-47
The AK-47, officially known as the Avtomat Kalashnikova (; also known as the Kalashnikov or just AK), is an assault rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×39mm cartridge. Developed in the Soviet Union by Russian small-arms designer Mikhail Kala ...
in the 1950s. Nevertheless, SKS carbines continued to see service with the
Soviet Border Troops
The Soviet Border Troops () were the border guard of the Soviet Union, subordinated to the Soviet state security agency: first to the ''Cheka''/State Political Directorate, OGPU, then to NKVD/Ministry for State Security (USSR), MGB and, final ...
and second-line and reserve army units for decades.
The SKS was manufactured at
Tula Arsenal
Imperial Tula Arms Plant () is a Russian weapons manufacturer founded by Tsar Peter I of Russia in 1712 in Tula, Russia, Tula, Tula Oblast as Tula Arsenal. Throughout its history, it has produced weapons for the Russian Sovereign state, state. I ...
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
The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
, millions of additional SKS carbines and their derivatives were also manufactured under license in the
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
, as well as a number of countries allied with the
Eastern Bloc
The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc (Combloc), the Socialist Bloc, the Workers Bloc, and the Soviet Bloc, was an unofficial coalition of communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America that were a ...
.
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.
Design

The SKS is a
gas-operated
Gas-operation is a system of operation used to provide energy to operate locked breech, Semi-automatic firearm, autoloading firearms. In gas-operation, a portion of high-pressure gas from the Cartridge (firearms), cartridge being fired is used t ...
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
A stripper clip (also known as a charger or charger clip, especially in Commonwealth English military vocabulary) is a speedloader that holds several cartridges (usually between 5 and 10) together in a single unit for easier and faster loadin ...
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).][SKS Rifle: Simonov Type 56](_blank)
, TC 9–56, Department of the Army Training Circular, SKS RIFLE, Simonov Type 56, Headquarters, Department of the Army, October 1969
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.
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 . There is also an all-purpose "battle" setting on the sight ladder (marked "П", for "Прямой выстрел", meaning "Straight shot"), set for . This is attained by moving the elevation slide to the rear of the ladder as far as it will go.]
All military SKSs have a bayonet
A bayonet (from Old French , now spelt ) is a -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , now spelt ) is a knife, dagger">knife">-4; we might wonder whethe ...
attached to the underside of the barrel, which is extended and retracted via a spring-loaded hinge. Both blade and spike bayonets were produced. 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 bayonet on the SKS in both the closed/deployed positions also serve to apply tension on the cleaning rod keep it firmly in place.
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.
Development history
The Soviet Union utilized a number of semi-automatic as well as select-fire rifles during World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, namely the AVS-36, SVT-38, and SVT-40. However, the primary service rifle of the Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...
remained the bolt-action Mosin–Nagant
The Mosin–Nagant is a five-shot, Bolt action, bolt-action, Magazine (firearms), internal magazine–fed military rifle. Known officially as the 3-line rifle M1891, in Russia and the former Soviet Union as Mosin's rifle (, ISO 9: ) and inform ...
, which fired the powerful but heavy 7.62×54mmR round. 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. Among the military development programs the Soviet Union had monitored in other countries were the Finnish, Swiss, and German developments in intermediate rifle cartridges. These had limited range and muzzle velocity compared to the 7.62×54mmR 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. They could also be fired from shorter and lighter rifles. The Red Army's interest in an intermediate cartridge was piqued when stocks of 7.92×33mm Kurz ammunition were captured from the Wehrmacht
The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...
, and by the end of 1943, Soviet technicians had developed a similar cartridge based closely on the German design, the 7.62×39mm 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. Red Army officials believed this was more than enough power to wound or kill a soldier at typical battlefield range. Limited production of the new ammunition type commenced in 1944.["Патрон – основа оружия. Глава третья. Из истории автоматного 7,62-мм патрона образца 1943 г. (7,62х39)", ''Оружие'' 2005/9, pp. 21–44]
Hurried efforts were made to introduce a rifle capable of firing the new cartridge, and the first prominent design was offered by Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov. This was known as the ''Samozaryadny Karabin sistemy Simonova'' (SKS), or "Simonov's self-loading carbine system" Simonov had already been working on a semi-automatic carbine chambered for a lighter cartridge as early as 1941, owing to recent complaints about the effectiveness of the SVT-40.[ In fact, one of his earliest prototypes was chambered for the 7.62×25mm Tokarev pistol cartridge, which was also used in the ]PPSh-41
The PPSh-41 () is a selective-fire, open-bolt, blowback submachine gun that fires the 7.62×25mm Tokarev round. It was designed by Georgy Shpagin of the Soviet Union to be a cheaper and simplified alternative to the PPD-40.
The PPSh-41 saw ...
submachine gun.[ He also built at least one prototype chambered for the larger 7.62×54mmR cartridge.][ Unlike previous Soviet semi-automatic rifles, these utilized fixed five or ten-round magazines loaded from stripper clips.][ They were also distinguished by a large muzzle brake and a fixed gas system covered with a metal shroud.][ 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.] On 1 July 1941, the Artillery Committee of the Red Army noted in its records that the Simonov's self-loading carbine, designated SKS-41, satisfied its basic "tactical and technical requirements".[ The Committee praised the SKS-41 for its light weight and the design of its fixed magazine; it recommended that 50 pre-production models with ten-round magazines be presented to the Red Army for trials.][ The SKS-41 was to be chambered for the 7.62×54mmR cartridge for logistical reasons, as the Soviet government wished to adapt its existing rifle barrel production lines for the new carbine.]
Red Army evaluation of the SKS-41 prototypes was shelved due to the German invasion, and did not resume until Simonov rechambered his weapon to accommodate the 7.62×39mm cartridge in 1944.[ He also made a number of other detail improvements to his original carbine, omitting the large and unwieldy muzzle brake, adding a folding bayonet, and replacing the metal gas system shroud with a removable wooden upper handguard and gas tube which housed the gas piston.][ The gas tube and upper handguard could now be removed as needed to access the gas port and piston for cleaning.][ The appearance of a 7.62×39mm prototype revived interest in Simonov's design, as only he and one other weapons designer, Alexey Sudayev, were able to produce rifles chambered for the new round on short notice.] Sudayev's prototype was a less conventional, more compact assault rifle
An assault rifle is a select fire rifle that uses an intermediate cartridge, intermediate-rifle cartridge and a Magazine (firearms), detachable magazine.C. Taylor, ''The Fighting Rifle: A Complete Study of the Rifle in Combat'', F.A. Moyer '' ...
which more closely resembled the later AK-47
The AK-47, officially known as the Avtomat Kalashnikova (; also known as the Kalashnikov or just AK), is an assault rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×39mm cartridge. Developed in the Soviet Union by Russian small-arms designer Mikhail Kala ...
. A second 7.62×39mm semi-automatic carbine contender was later offered by Mikhail Kalashnikov
Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov (10November 191923December 2013) was a Soviet and Russian lieutenant general, inventor, Military engineering, military engineer, writer, and small arms designer. He is most famous for developing the AK-47 assau ...
; this was based on the operating system of the M1 Garand
The M1 Garand or M1 rifleOfficially designated as U.S. rifle, caliber .30, M1, later simply called Rifle, Caliber .30, M1, also called US Rifle, Cal. .30, M1 is a semi-automatic rifle that was the service rifle of the United States Army, U.S. ...
.[ Kalashnikov's carbine appeared too late to participate in the Red Army's initial evaluation, and was rejected as the decision had already been made to submit the SKS for field trials.][
The SKS was light, simple, and considerably shorter than the Mosin–Nagant, which made it easier to handle in dense foliage and urban environments.] Simonov deliberately designed the SKS with loose-fitting parts, making it less likely to jam when dirty, inadequately lubricated, or clogged with carbon residue. 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. The SKS was officially designated as a carbine, although it did not fulfill the same role as the M1 carbine
The M1 carbine (formally the United States carbine, caliber .30, M1) is a lightweight semi-automatic carbine chambered in the .30 carbine (7.62×33mm) cartridge that was issued to the U.S. military during World War II, the Korean War, and t ...
used in the United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
at the time, and more resembled a traditional infantry rifle both in terms of design and envisaged role. Simonov's early 7.62×39mm models were quickly pressed into service with troops of the 1st Belorussian Front during the final months of World War II. The SKS was still undergoing active field trials when Germany surrendered to the Allies in May 1945. At the war's end, the trials commission in the 1st Belorussian Front recommended the carbine be accepted into general service as the SKS-45.[ Mass production was delayed while the SKS underwent minor technical changes and alterations as a result of its trial performance during the war.] By the end of the 1940s, it finally superseded the various models of the Mosin–Nagant as the standard Soviet infantry rifle.
The AK-47 assault rifle and the RPD machine gun, both firing the same 7.62×39mm cartridge, were introduced into Soviet service around the same time to complement the SKS. 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. 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. As a result, the AK-47 gradually replaced the SKS as the standard service rifle of the Soviet Army throughout the 1950s. 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." However, even at the time of its introduction, Soviet military strategists had always desired an infantry rifle with more firepower than the SKS. They needed a weapon that better permitted the infantry to give massed automatic fire during an offensive.[ 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 7.62×39mm cartridge in general service as soon as possible, while a select-fire assault rifle was still being perfected.][ Small arms expert John Walter concurs in his works, noting that the SKS was "ordered into series production largely to gain experience with the new M43 intermediate ammunition and buy time while a true assault rifle was developed."] There was a proposal that the SKS could be retained as a dedicated marksman rifle, but it failed to meet the accuracy requirements and this role was subsequently filled by a new weapon, the SVD.
In June 1955, the Soviet Union hosted a military and civilian delegation from the People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
led by General Zhao Erlu. The Chinese delegation was given a tour of the Tula Arms Plant, where they observed the assembly of SKS carbines. 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 antiquated design. After negotiations between Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...
and Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and the Premier of the Soviet Union, Chai ...
, the Soviet Union agreed to transfer the technology for the SKS, as well as the AK-47 and the 7.62×39mm cartridge. Parallel production lines for the SKS and the AK-47 were set up in China the following year. 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. Eighty Chinese factories eventually tooled up to produce the Type 56 carbine, although the primary production line was established at the Jianshe Machine Tool Factory, officially designated Factory 296. The Chinese carbines were mostly identical to the Soviet weapon, although their receivers were produced with carbon steel rather than the Soviet specified chrome-nickel alloy steel. Over the course of production, the Type 56 carbine was also manufactured with a greater percentage of stamped as opposed to machined parts.
In terms of production numbers, the SKS was the ninth most produced self-loading rifle design in history. Nearly all the Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact (WP), formally the Treaty of Friendship, Co-operation and Mutual Assistance (TFCMA), was a Collective security#Collective defense, collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Polish People's Republic, Poland, between the Sovi ...
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, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...
(East Germany) and Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
.[ With the assistance of Soviet or Chinese technicians and generous military grants, armaments factories producing SKS carbines were later established in ]North Vietnam
North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; ; VNDCCH), was a country in Southeast Asia from 1945 to 1976, with sovereignty fully recognized in 1954 Geneva Conference, 1954. A member of the communist Eastern Bloc, it o ...
, North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...
, Yugoslavia
, common_name = Yugoslavia
, life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation
, p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia
, flag_p ...
, and Albania
Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...
as well.[
While remaining far less ubiquitous than the AK, both original SKS carbines 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.] The SKS has been circulated in up to 69 countries, both by national governments and non-state actors. 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.
Service history
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. During the early 1950s, the typical Soviet rifle squad was organized on the basis of the SKS and the RPD light machine gun, which was chambered for the same 7.62×39mm ammunition. The RPD's role was the designated squad automatic weapon, laying down suppressive fire in support of infantry armed with semi-automatic carbines.[ The Soviet Army wanted all members of the rifle squad to have the ability to use fully automatic fire as needed, which played a pivotal role in the AK gaining favor as the standard infantry weapon over the SKS.][ The SKS and RPD were also very different weapons with no interchangeable parts, and they required separate training and maintenance programs.][ As a result, a light machine gun more compatible with the rest of the rifle squad's weapons was requested.][ This would result in the adoption of the RPK light machine gun.][ The RPK was derived directly from the AK and had an identical manual of arms.][
The ]Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...
(CIA) first noted the SKS replacing the Mosin–Nagant with front-line Soviet units in Europe in 1954, and began compiling detailed information about the new service rifle. The CIA observed that the AK-47 was being introduced at the same time to replace the PPSh-41 submachine gun. Two years later, the SKS was used by Soviet troops and Hungarian partisans alike during the 1956 Hungarian Revolution
The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 4 November 1956; ), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was an attempted countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the policies caused by ...
. Thereafter, while the SKS was retained for various auxiliary duties, it ceased to have any real military significance in the Soviet Union. Only a small number remained in active service, mostly with support units, until the 1980s. However, the SKS found a longer second life in the service of various Soviet-aligned nations, in particular the People's Republic of China. 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.
The SKS was in general issue with regular units of the People's Liberation Army
The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the military of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Republic of China (PRC). It consists of four Military branch, services—People's Liberation Army Ground Force, Ground Force, People's ...
(PLA) for thirty years as the Type 56 carbine. In the Sino-Indian War of 1962, the semi-automatic carbine gave the PLA a distinct advantage over the Indian infantry, then armed with bolt-action Lee–Enfield
The Lee–Enfield is a bolt-action, magazine-fed repeating rifle that served as the main firearm of the military forces of the British Empire and Commonwealth during the first half of the 20th century, and was the standard service rifle of th ...
rifles. During the early 1960s, China developed the Type 63 assault rifle to replace the Type 56, but it failed to meet the PLA's standards and was withdrawn from service after a short period. In 1978, the typical PLA infantry battalion was still armed with 360 Type 56 carbines and 221 Type 56 assault rifles. PLA forces armed primarily with Type 56 carbines fought Soviet troops armed primarily with AK-47s during the Sino-Soviet border conflict. During the Sino-Vietnamese War
The Sino-Vietnamese War (also known by other names) was a brief conflict that occurred in early 1979 between China and Vietnam. China launched an offensive ostensibly in response to Vietnam's invasion and occupation of Cambodia in 1978, whi ...
, PLA infantry armed primarily with Type 56 carbines engaged Vietnamese infantry armed with the same weapon and its Soviet equivalent. The conflict was notable in that both sides commonly fielded the SKS/Type 56 carbine alongside AK-pattern automatic rifles, although the Vietnamese forces had largely transitioned to the latter while the PLA had not. The Type 56 carbine was retired from PLA service in the late 1980s, when it was replaced by the Type 81 assault rifle. Aside from ceremonial purposes, it remained in limited use as a training rifle for military cadets and members of the Chinese state militia during the 1990s and 2000s.
The Polish People's Republic
The Polish People's Republic (1952–1989), formerly the Republic of Poland (1947–1952), and also often simply known as Poland, was a country in Central Europe that existed as the predecessor of the modern-day democratic Republic of Poland. ...
and Socialist Republic of Romania
The Socialist Republic of Romania (, RSR) was a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist One-party state, one-party socialist state that existed officially in Romania from 1947 to 1989 (see Revolutions of 1989). From 1947 to 1965, the state was ...
received technical assistance from the Soviet Union to produce the SKS under license in 1956. However, later that year the Polish general staff belatedly rejected the SKS as a standard service rifle, choosing to retain the AK-47 for that role instead. The Polish government subsequently resold the technical data package and tooling equipment to the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) in 1959. The East German National People's Army
The National People's Army (, ; NVA ) were the armed forces of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (DDR) from 1956 until 1990.
The NVA was organized into four branches: the (Ground Forces), the (Navy), the (Air Force) and the (Bord ...
(NVA) was rearmed with the SKS, designated the Karabiner-S, during the early 1960s. The first examples of the SKS directly acquired by the United States were three Karabiner-S carbines stolen by NVA soldiers near Potsdam
Potsdam () is the capital and largest city of the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the Havel, River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...
in 1961. These weapons were sold to a visiting American military officer whose vehicle was not subject to search, enabling him to smuggle them into West Germany. One Karabiner-S was presented to General Garrison H. Davidson as a commemorative piece in 1962, while the other two were sent to the United States for further study in 1963. The NVA began to retire the Karabiner-S from front-line service during the late 1960s, at which time many had their official markings defaced to minimize their intelligence value and were exported overseas to other friendly socialist states such as North Vietnam
North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; ; VNDCCH), was a country in Southeast Asia from 1945 to 1976, with sovereignty fully recognized in 1954 Geneva Conference, 1954. A member of the communist Eastern Bloc, it o ...
.
Before adopting domestic AK-47 derivatives, a number of non-aligned nations such as Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
and Yugoslavia adopted the SKS as a standard service rifle. The Egyptian Army
The Egyptian Army (), officially the Egyptian Ground Forces (), is the land warfare branch (and largest service branch) of the Egyptian Armed Forces. Until the declaration of the Republic and the abolishment of the monarchy on 18 June 1953, it w ...
used the SKS extensively during the Suez Crisis
The Suez Crisis, also known as the Second Arab–Israeli War, the Tripartite Aggression in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel, was a British–French–Israeli invasion of Egypt in 1956. Israel invaded on 29 October, having done so w ...
, and a number were captured and evaluated by Western intelligence agencies in the aftermath of that conflict. Some Egyptian forces were still armed with the SKS as late as the Six Day War
The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states, primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June 1967.
Military hostilities broke ...
, which saw thousands of the carbines captured by the Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...
(IDF). 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.
The Indonesian Army
The Indonesian Army ( (TNI-AD), ) is the army, land branch of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. It has an estimated strength of 300,400 active personnel. The history of the Indonesian Army has its roots in 1945 when the (TKR) "People's Se ...
attempted to adopt the Type 56 carbine as its standard service rifle during the early 1960s, and ordered 100,000 from China following negotiations between Sukarno
Sukarno (6 June 1901 – 21 June 1970) was an Indonesian statesman, orator, revolutionary, and nationalist who was the first president of Indonesia, serving from 1945 to 1967.
Sukarno was the leader of the Indonesian struggle for independenc ...
and Premier Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai ( zh, s=周恩来, p=Zhōu Ēnlái, w=Chou1 Ên1-lai2; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman, diplomat, and revolutionary who served as the first Premier of the People's Republic of China from September 1954 unti ...
in 1962. However, deliveries of the carbines were interrupted by a political crisis in Indonesia during the mid 1960s, and only 25,000 actually reached the army. Many were also diverted to the Communist Party of Indonesia
The Communist Party of Indonesia (Indonesian language, Indonesian: ''Partai Komunis Indonesia'', PKI) was a communist party in the Dutch East Indies and later Indonesia. It was the largest non-ruling communist party in the world before its Indo ...
's paramilitary forces by sympathetic Indonesian officials.
Beginning in the 1960s, vast quantities of SKS carbines from military reserve stocks were donated by the Soviet Union and China to left-wing guerrilla movements around the world. The increasing ubiquity of the SKS altered the dynamics of asymmetric warfare
Asymmetric warfare (or asymmetric engagement) is a type of war between belligerents whose relative military power, strategy or tactics differ significantly. This type of warfare often, but not necessarily, involves insurgents, terrorist grou ...
in developing nations and colonial territories, where most guerrillas had previously been armed with bolt-action rifles. For example, the SKS served as one of the primary arms of the Viet Cong
The Viet Cong (VC) was an epithet and umbrella term to refer to the communist-driven armed movement and united front organization in South Vietnam. It was formally organized as and led by the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam, and ...
during the Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
. The weapon type was encountered so frequently by the United States Armed Forces
The United States Armed Forces are the Military, military forces of the United States. U.S. United States Code, federal law names six armed forces: the United States Army, Army, United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps, United States Navy, Na ...
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. 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.
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
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...
, Rhodesia
Rhodesia ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state, unrecognised state in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to the ...
(Zimbabwe), and South West Africa
South West Africa was a territory under Union of South Africa, South African administration from 1915 to 1990. Renamed ''Namibia'' by the United Nations in 1968, Independence of Namibia, it became independent under this name on 21 March 1990. ...
(Namibia). After Angolan independence, the Soviet Union delivered up to 5,000 SKS carbines to support the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) during that country's lengthy civil war
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
. The MPLA's primary opponent, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola
The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (, abbr. UNITA) is the second-largest political party in Angola. Founded in 1966, UNITA fought alongside the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola ( MPLA) and the National Lib ...
(UNITA), commonly used Type 56 carbines supplied by China. The SKS was also used in large quantities by uMkhonto we Sizwe
uMkhonto weSizwe (; abbreviated MK; ) was the paramilitary wing of the African National Congress (ANC), founded by Nelson Mandela in the wake of the Sharpeville massacre. Its mission was to fight against the South African government to brin ...
(MK), the armed wing of the African National Congress
The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the 1994 South African general election, fir ...
(ANC) in South Africa. Between 1963 and 1990, the Soviet Union shipped 3,362 SKS carbines to MK through the guerrillas' external sanctuaries in Angola and Tanzania. SKS carbines captured from MK by the South African security forces were used to arm militias of the Inkatha Freedom Party
The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP; ) is a conservative political party in South Africa, which is a part of the current South African Third Cabinet of Cyril Ramaphosa, government of national unity together with the African National Congress (ANC). A ...
(IFP) during its internal power struggle with the ANC in the 1980s and 1990s.
East Germany and the Soviet Union both armed various factions of the Palestine Liberation Organization
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ) is a Palestinian nationalism, Palestinian nationalist coalition that is internationally recognized as the official representative of the Palestinians, Palestinian people in both the occupied Pale ...
(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
The Lebanese Civil War ( ) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 150,000 fatalities and led to the exodus of almost one million people from Lebanon.
The religious diversity of the ...
. 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.
Both Type 56 and Soviet SKS carbines were used by Simba forces during the Simba Rebellion in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...
. The rebels appreciated the carbine for its relatively compact size, light cartridge, and chrome-lined bore (which made it resistant to rust and corrosion in the tropical climate) over the much bulkier Western battle rifles used by Congolese security forces. The African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIG) favored the SKS as one of its primary small arms during the Guinea-Bissau War of Independence
The Guinea-Bissau War of Independence (), also known as the Bissau-Guinean War of Independence, was an armed independence conflict that took place in Portuguese Guinea from 1963 to 1974. It was fought between Portugal and the African Party for t ...
. Captured PAIG carbines were stored and later re-issued by Portugal to its local colonial units, primarily for garrison duties.[ A number of Type 56 carbines were acquired and used alongside the more ubiquitous AK-pattern rifles by the ]Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army (Provisional IRA), officially known as the Irish Republican Army (IRA; ) and informally known as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary force that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland ...
during the Troubles
The Troubles () were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed t ...
. China also supplied the Afghan mujahidin with Type 56 carbines during the early years of the Soviet–Afghan War
The Soviet–Afghan War took place in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from December 1979 to February 1989. Marking the beginning of the 46-year-long Afghan conflict, it saw the Soviet Union and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic o ...
. During the Dhofar Rebellion, SKS carbines were smuggled into Oman
Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...
by sea, most likely by the Soviet Union, to arm Popular Front for the Liberation of Oman (PFLO) insurgents there. The Eritrean Liberation Front
The Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF; ; ; ), colloquially known as Jebha, was the main Eritrean War of Independence, independence movement in Eritrea Province, Eritrea which sought Eritrea's independence from Ethiopia during the 1960s and the ear ...
used large numbers of SKS carbines during the Eritrean War of Independence
The Eritrean War of Independence was an War, armed conflict and insurgency aimed at achieving self-determination and independence for Eritrea from Ethiopian rule. Starting in 1961, Eritrean insurgents engaged in guerrilla warfare to liberate ...
. The Communist Party of Thailand (CPT) used the SKS during its insurgency
An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare against a larger authority. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric warfare, asymmetric nature: small irregular forces ...
until the early 1980s, when it ceased militant operations. Cuban and Grenadian military forces used the SKS during the 1983 US invasion of Grenada. The US Army captured 4,074 SKS carbines during the invasion, mostly from arms depots.
By the early 1980s, the SKS had been almost entirely superseded in worldwide military service by the AK-47 and its derivatives. The increasing proliferation of cheap AK-pattern rifles in most asymmetric conflicts also ended the popularity of the SKS as a standard guerrilla arm. 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. 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, War of Dagestan, and the war in Donbas
The war in Donbas, or the Donbas war, was a phase of the Russo-Ukrainian War in the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine. The war Timeline of the war in Donbas (2014), began in April 2014, when Russian separatist forces in Ukraine, Russian para ...
. Militant factions in the Balkans frequently used smuggled SKS and Type 56 carbines alongside the Yugoslavian M59/66 derivative during the 1990s and early 2000s. In 2016, the SKS remained in the reserve stockpiles of over 50 national armies, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa and the former Soviet bloc.
Variants
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 Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...
, North Vietnam
North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; ; VNDCCH), was a country in Southeast Asia from 1945 to 1976, with sovereignty fully recognized in 1954 Geneva Conference, 1954. A member of the communist Eastern Bloc, it o ...
, East Germany
East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...
, and Romania. 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.
Soviet and Russian
Differences from the "baseline" late Russian Tula Armory/Izhevsk Armory SKS:
* Variations (1949–1958): Early spike-style bayonet (1949) instead of blade-style. Spring-return firing pin was present on early models, and they did not have chrome bores (1949 – early 1951). The gas block had three changes: The first production stage gas block, used from 1949 through early 1950, was squared-off at a 90-degree angle. The second gas block production stage was instead cut at a 45-degree angle, seen on late 1950 to 1951 rifles. The third and final gas block stage, from 1952 through to 1956, was curved inward slightly toward the action.
* Designated marksman rifle SKS: During the late 1950s, the Soviets expressed interest in adopting an SKS variant adapted for the designated marksman role.[ Some prototypes were produced with side-mounted scope rails to accept a PU scope.][ These failed to meet the army's accuracy requirements, and the program was abandoned in favor of developing a new dedicated precision rifle.][
* SKS M1950: An SKS modified for fully automatic fire.][ Prototype only.][
* SKS M1951: An SKS with a detachable bayonet and detachable box magazine.][ Prototype only.][
* SKS M1953: An SKS with select-fire fire capability, a new muzzle brake, detachable bayonet, and detachable box magazine.][ One prototype built before further development was canceled due to the decision to replace the SKS in general service with the AK.][
*VPO-208: SKS carbine modified with a smoothbore barrel and rechambered for the .366 TKM cartridge for commercial sales.]
*OP-SKS. SKS carbines converted into commercial hunting rifles by the ''Molot'' ("Hammer") factory in Vyatskiye Polyany (Russian: Вятско-Полянский машиностроительный завод «Молот», English: '' Vyatskiye Polyany Machine-Building Plant''). These were labeled OP (OP = охотничье-промысловый > ''okhotnich'ye-promyslovyy'' > "commercial hunting (carbine)"). The OP-SKS continued to be manufactured into the 2000s.
Chinese
* Type 56 carbine (1956–1980s): The earliest Type 56 carbines were assembled under the supervision of Soviet technicians, using parts and materials imported from the Soviet Union. Thereafter, minor tweaks were made from the original Soviet design, namely the transition to domestic carbon steel in production as opposed to the Soviet-specified nickel-chrome alloy steel. Early Type 56 carbines had blade bayonets, while those in later production had spike bayonets. Chinese production also introduced a larger proportion of stamped as opposed to machined parts, and the addition of a pressed and pinned barrel.
* Stamped receiver Type 56: In 1970 and 1971, China produced a small number of Type 56 carbines with experimental stamped sheet metal receivers as a cost and weight saving measure. About 12,000 were manufactured before the program was canceled.
* Fiberglass stock Type 56: During the 1960s, China produced a number of Type 56 carbines with fiberglass stocks, known colloquially in Western literature as "Vietnam stocks" or "jungle stocks".[ These were originally designed for export to North Vietnam and the Viet Cong, due to complaints about wooden stocks rotting or attracting termites while being cached in the tropical environment.][ ]
* Type 56 Model 84: Short-barreled variant with a detachable magazine produced for overseas commercial sales. The Model 84 magazine resembled that of the AK-47/Type 56 assault rifle, and the two were theoretically interchangeable. However, standard Kalashnikov magazines needed modification to fit the Model 84.
* Type 56 Model D: Variant which could accept standard Kalashnikov magazines, produced for overseas commercial sales.
* Type 56 Model M: Derivative of the Model D with the bayonet lug removed and fitted with a new stock to comply with US import laws.
Other European
* Romanian M56: Produced between 1956 and 1960. Typically, they are identical or nearly identical to the late Soviet model.
*Polish ksS: Refurbished Soviet rifles fitted with unique Polish laminated stocks. A few hundred SKS carbines were given to Poland by the Soviet Union around 1954. While Poland did import the technical data package and tooling equipment to produce the SKS under license, the Polish People's Army belatedly rejected the weapon for general service in 1956 and the program was canceled. In Polish service the SKS was used only for ceremonial purposes and was designated as ksS which stands for ''karabin samopowtarzalny Simonowa'', Simonov's semi-automatic rifle.
* Yugoslav PAP M59: Manufactured by Zastava Arms between 1959 and 1966. 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.
** Yugoslav 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. Barrel was not chrome-lined. Both the grenade launcher and grenade sight are NATO spec. Stock is typically made from beech wood.
** Yugoslav PAP M59/66A1: Same as above, except with the addition of flip up phosphorescent or tritium
Tritium () or hydrogen-3 (symbol T or H) is a rare and radioactive isotope of hydrogen with a half-life of ~12.33 years. The tritium nucleus (t, sometimes called a ''triton'') contains one proton and two neutrons, whereas the nucleus of the ...
night sights.
* Albanian Type 56-1: 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. The vast majority were scrapped during the late 1990s, although several thousand were sold on the commercial market in North America during the early 2000s.
* East German Karabiner-S: Slot cut into back of stock for pull-through sling, similar to the slot in a Karabiner 98k
The Karabiner 98 kurz (; ), often abbreviated Karabiner 98k, Kar98k or K98k and also sometimes incorrectly referred to as a K98 (a K98 is a Polish carbine and copy of the Kar98a), is a bolt-action rifle chambered for the 7.92×57mm Mauser cartri ...
. 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.
Other Asian
* North Korean Type 63: Manufactured specifically for the Worker-Peasant Red Guards and other paramilitary forces. At least three separate models were made. One "standard" model with blade bayonet, and a second with a gas shutoff and a grenade launcher, similar to the M59/66. The North Korean grenade launcher was detachable from the muzzle and the gas shutoff was different from the Yugoslav model, however. A third model appears to have side-swinging bayonet.
* Vietnamese Type 1: Nearly identical to both the Soviet and early Chinese SKS. These are identified by a small star on the receiver with a 1 in the center. The barrel is chromed, as are many of the internal parts. They were assembled in a small arms factory with Chinese assistance located 12 km north of Yên Bái with 6,000 SKS rifles made between 1962 and 1965 when the factory was closed to American bombing raids.
** Vietnamese clone: The Viet Cong manufactured somewhat rudimentary copies of the SKS, which are sometimes seen with crude finish and obvious tool markings.
Conflicts
In the more than 70 years of use worldwide, the SKS has seen use in conflicts all over the world.
* Korean War
The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...
* Algerian War
The Algerian War (also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence) ''; '' (and sometimes in Algeria as the ''War of 1 November'') was an armed conflict between France and the Algerian National Liberation Front (Algeri ...
* Bangladesh Liberation War
* Suez crisis
* Simba Rebellion
* Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
* Hungarian Revolution of 1956
* Portuguese Colonial War
* Rhodesian Bush War
* South African Border War
* The Troubles[
* ]Six Day War
The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states, primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June 1967.
Military hostilities broke ...
* Sino-Soviet border conflict
* Ethiopian Civil War
* Angolan Civil War
* Lebanese Civil War
The Lebanese Civil War ( ) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 150,000 fatalities and led to the exodus of almost one million people from Lebanon.
The religious diversity of the ...
* Shaba II
* Sino-Vietnamese War
The Sino-Vietnamese War (also known by other names) was a brief conflict that occurred in early 1979 between China and Vietnam. China launched an offensive ostensibly in response to Vietnam's invasion and occupation of Cambodia in 1978, whi ...
* Soviet–Afghan War
The Soviet–Afghan War took place in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from December 1979 to February 1989. Marking the beginning of the 46-year-long Afghan conflict, it saw the Soviet Union and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic o ...
* Tuareg rebellion (1990–1995)
* Yugoslav Wars
* War in Abkhazia (1992–1993)
* Algerian Civil War
* Burundian Civil War
* Republic of the Congo Civil War (1997–99)
* 1999 East Timorese crisis
* Iraq War
* Kivu conflict
* Northern Mali conflict
* War in Donbas (2014–2022)
Users
* : Ceremonial purposes.[
* ][
* ][
* ]
* : Ceremonial purposes.
* – Bangladesh Ordnance Factories produced Chinese Type 56 under license until 2006. Currently used by Border Guard Bangladesh, BGB, Bangladesh Police, police and Bangladesh National Cadet Corps, BNCC.
*
* [
* ]
* :[ National Guards Unit of Bulgaria, National Guards Unit
* ][
* ][
*
* : ''Type 56'' variant.][Hogg, Ian (2002). ''Jane's Guns Recognition Guide''. Jane's Information Group. .] Used for ceremonial purposes by the People's Liberation Army
The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the military of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Republic of China (PRC). It consists of four Military branch, services—People's Liberation Army Ground Force, Ground Force, People's ...
.[ Also used by Guangdong Provincial Public Security Department for ceremonial purposes.]
* : ''Type 56'' variant.[
* ]
* : Ceremonial purposes.
* [
*
* ][Miller, David (2001). ''The Illustrated Directory of 20th Century Guns''. Salamander Books Ltd. .]
* [
* ]
*
* [
* ][
* ][
* : Ceremonial purposes.][
* : ''Type 56'' variant.]
*
*
* : Used by the Kenya Police Reserve.
*
*
* [
* ][
* ][
* ]
* [
* ]
*
* [
* ]
* [
* ]
*
*
*
*
* : used by the Palestinian Honor Guard. SKS were also used by Palestine Liberation Organization, PLO troops in the 1970s
* : Ceremonial purposes.[
* : Ceremonial purposes.]
*
* [
* ]
* [
* ][
* : Ceremonial purposes.][
* : Used by the South Sudan Police Service.]
* [
* ][
* ][
* ][
*
* ][
* ][
*
*
* : Ceremonial and militia purposes.][
* ][
* : ''Zastava M59'' variant.
* : ''Type 56'' variant; ceremonial and militia purposes.][
]
Former users
* [Jones, Richard D. ''Jane's Infantry Weapons 2009/2010''. Jane's Information Group; 35th edition (27 January 2009). .][
* : ''Type 56'' variant.][
* ]
*
*
* : ceremonial purposes. Superseded by an honor guard derivative of the FB MSBS Grot, MSBS beginning in 2016.
* : captured from African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde, PAIG insurgents and re-issued to colonial troops in Portuguese Guinea during the 1970s.
* : retired from front-line service in the mid-1950s, retired from second-line service in the 1980s.
*
* : ''Zastava M59/66'' variant.
*
Commercial sales and sporting use
United States
Initially, the SKS was a rarity in the US, with the only examples being souvenirs brought back by returning veterans of the Vietnam War. Beginning in 1988, thousands of surplus and newly manufactured Chinese Type 56 carbines were imported in the US. Russia also began exporting the SKS to the US during the early 1990s as well.
Due to the high volume of initial imports, the SKS became one of the most affordable centerfire rifles available to American sports shooters, retailing for as little as $70 per weapon in the early 1990s. Dale Armstrong, a former firearms tracking analyst with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), commented on the volume of cheap surplus weapons, naming the SKS and Type 56 carbines specifically alongside Makarov pistol, Makarov and TT pistol, TT-33 type pistols: "A firearm of that quality could not be made for the price it was being sold. The people selling these firearms in the former Soviet bloc countries assumed control of these stockpiles after the fall of communism ... [therefore] they had no manufacturing cost. These weapons were pure profit, so they could afford to sell them at a low price and in bulk."
Between 1988 and 1998, several million SKS carbines exported from China and the former Soviet Union were sold on the commercial market in the US.
Canada
The SKS rifle is very popular in Canada, with some users referring to it as "Canada's rifle". While the SKS is imported for commercial sales in Canada, the magazine (firearms), magazines are affected by Firearms regulation in Canada, Canadian firearms legislation, which limits the magazines to 5 rounds.
Under Canadian law, the SKS is classified as a non-restricted firearm and can be owned with a Possession and Acquisition Licence, firearms license. The classification of non-restricted permits it to be used in hunting and on rural crown land. When the Canadian government introduced an amendment to the pending Bill C-21 that would have expanded and changed the basis for classifying prohibited firearms under the law, the resulting ban on the SKS was a particular point of contention because it is widely used for hunting, notably by First Nations in Canada. The leadership of the Assembly of First Nations voted unanimously to express opposition to the amendment. The amendment was eventually withdrawn due to the widespread opposition.
Russia
Surplus SKS carbines are available in their original chambering for sale to any Russian citizen with a rifle purchase permit. The bayonet must be removed, and an additional pin added to the barrel, to modify the SKS sufficiently from its status as a military arm and render it legal for civilian sales. The carbines are relatively inexpensive in Russia, making them attractive to hunters on a budget. Examples of the SKS modified as smoothbore weapons and firing the unique .366 TKM cartridge are also available on the Russian commercial market. These weapons are legally classified as shotguns, and are favored by Russian sport shooters and hunters who possess the more easily obtainable shotgun purchase permit. The .366 TKM cartridge is a 7.62×39mm cartridge case necked out to accept a .366 caliber slug.
See also
* vz. 52 rifle
* Rasheed carbine
* Type 63 assault rifle
References
External links
Soviet SKS Operation Manual from 1974
*
Simonov SKS (CKC45g)
Why Do People Like SKS Rifles?
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sks
7.62×39mm semi-automatic rifles
Carbines
Cold War firearms of the Soviet Union
Infantry weapons of the Cold War
Rifles of the Cold War
Semi-automatic rifles of the Soviet Union
Short stroke piston firearms
Tula Arms Plant products
Military equipment introduced in the 1940s
World War II infantry weapons of the Soviet Union
World War II semi-automatic rifles
Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1949