SKS
| SKS | |
|---|---|
An SKS from the collections of Armémuseum, Stockholm, Sweden | |
| Type | Semi-automatic rifle |
| Place of origin | Soviet Union |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1949–present |
| Used by | See Users |
| Wars | See Conflicts |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov |
| Designed | 1941–1944 |
| Produced | 1949–1958 (Soviet Union) 1956–1980 (China) |
| No. built | 5,000,000–15,000,000 |
| Variants | See Variants |
| Specifications | |
| Mass | 3.85 kg (8.5 lb) |
| Length | 1.021 m (40.2 in) (with bayonet folded) |
| Barrel length | 521 mm (20.5 in) |
| Cartridge | 7.62×39mm |
| Action | Gas-operated (tilting bolt) |
| Rate of fire | 35–40 rounds/min |
| Muzzle velocity | 735 m/s (2,410 ft/s) |
| Effective firing range | 400 m (440 yd) |
| Feed system | 10-round fixed magazine fed by stripper clip |
| Sights | Iron sights graduated from 100 to 1,000 meters |
The SKS (Russian: Самозарядный карабин системы Симонова, romanized: Samozaryadny karabin sistemy Simonova, lit. 'self-loading carbine of the Simonov system') is a semi-automatic rifle 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.