SKS rifle

The SKS (Samozaryadny Karabin sistemy Simonova, Self-loading Carbine of (the) Simonov system) rifle is a Soviet semi-automatic rifle designed in 1945 by Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov. It was a widely exported weapon, with many foreign copies including the Chinese Type 56 Carbine. Most variants of the SKS have been widely exported onto civilian markets as military surplus rifles. This has lead to the development of an aftermarket for accessories for SKS rifles, namely with replacement stocks and magazines.
Note: Whereas the Russian SKS rifle can appear in any of the world's battlegrounds, the Chinese SKS should really only appear in places where there was a lot of military aid from the People's Republic of China. Most of the SKS rifles seen in movies about the Vietnam war are Chinese Type 56 carbines, but the presence of original Russian Type 45 Carbines are not historically implausible. The Soviet Union supplied ComBloc weapons in every hemisphere where there was a Marxist/communist presence.
__TOC__
=Soviet/Russian Official Models=
==SKS==
The Russian SKS has a milled receiver and a blade bayonet. The rifles were issued with hardwood or laminated stocks.
The OP-SKS is a Russian civilian variant of the SKS converted into hunting rifles. OP stands for охотничье-промысловый, okhotnich'ye promyslovyy, meaning "commercial hunting". They feature a prefitted dovetail mount for scopes.
===Specifications===
(1945 - Present)
* Type: Rifle
* Caliber: 7.62x39mm
* Weight: 
* Length: 
* Barrel length: 
* Muzzle velocity: 2,411 ft/s (735 m/s)
* Capacity: 10-round fixed magazine. Norinco export SKS models tend to be able to use detachable AK magazines, and other detachable aftermarket magazines of various capacities exist.
* Fire Modes: Semi-Auto
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===Film===
Title 	Actor 	Character 	Note 	Date
Maksim Perepelitsa 	 	Soviet soldiers 	 	1955
Gloomy Morning (Khmuroe utro) 	 	White Army soldiers 	Heavily anachronistic 	1959
The Spy Who came in from the Cold 	 	East German Border guards 	 	1965
The Air Seller (Prodavetz vozdukha) 	 	Bayley's Guards 	 	1968
The Green Berets 	 	 	Mounted on a display board 	1968
Listen on the Other Side (Daisny tserguudee sonsotsgoo!) 	 	Mongolian soldier 	 	1971
And on the Pacific... (I na Tikhom Okeane...) 	 	Soviet soldiers 	 	1974
Don't Cry, Girl (Ne plach, devchonka) 	Oleg Sologub 	Pvt. Andrey Vorobey 	 	1977
Coming Home 	Jon Voight 	Luke Martin 	minus wood furniture 	1978
In Flight are the Night Witches (V nebe 'Nochnye vedmy') 	 	Soviet marines 	 	1981
The Dogs of War 	 	A Zangaran soldier 	 	1981
Octopussy 	 	Soviet soldiers 	 	1983
Octopussy 	 	Kamal Khan's guards 	 	1983
Year of the Dragon 	 	A soldier 	 	1985
Coordinates of Death (Koordinaty smerti) 	 	Viet Cong guerrillas 	 	1985
Rambo III 	 	Afghan villagers 	 	1988
Red Heat 	 	Soviet soldiers 	 	1988
The Siege of Firebase Gloria 	 	A Vietcong sniper 	 	1989
Toy Soldiers 	 	Colombian soldiers 	 	1991
Robocop 3 	 	A resistance fighter 	 	1993
The Quest 	 	Dobbs' men and Turks 	 	1996
Deserter (Dezertir) 	Viktor Demertash 	Murab 	Without folding bayonet 	1997
Deserter (Dezertir) 	 	Brigands and cult fighters 	Without folding bayonet 	1997
Ricochet (Rikoshet) 	 	A criminal 	OP-SKS 	1997
The Peacemaker 	 	A Russian soldier 	 	1997
Composition for Victory Day (Sochinenie ko Dnyu Pobedy) 	 	Honor guards 	 	1998
American Beauty 	 	 	Inside Frank's gun cabinet 	1998
Blues Brothers 2000 	 	Militiamen 	With synthetic stock 	1998
Three Kings 	 	Shia rebels 	 	1999
Arlington Road 	Hunter Burkes 	Hutch Parsons 	without underfolding bayonet 	1999
The Mission 	Keiji Sato 	Assassin 	with Choate Dragunov stock and scope	1999
We Were Soldiers 	 	NVA soldiers 	 	2002
Detention 	 	A terrorist 	 	2003
Tears of the Sun 	 	Nigerian rebels and refugees 	 	2003
Stealth 	 	Tajik terrorists 	 	2005
The Battle of Long Tan 	 	Vietcong 	with underfolding bayonet 	2006
The Good Shepherd 	 	Soviet soldiers 	 	2006
Tins (Konservy) 	Aleksey Serebryakov 	Usoltsev (Solyonyy) 	OP-SKS 	2007
Wild Field (Dikoe pole) 	Aleksandr Arefyev 	Bandit 	 	2008
Tropic Thunder 	 	Flying Dragon rebels 	 	2008
The Book of Eli 	 	Carnegie's thug 	w/detachable magazine 	2010
The Golden Mean (Zolotoe sechenie) 	 	Royal Cambodian guardian 	 	2010
The Debt 	Extras 	East German Border Guards 	 	2010
The Debt 	Sam Worthington 	Young David 	 	2010
71: Into the Fire 	 	Student soldiers 	 	2010
71: Into the Fire 	 	North Korean soldiers 	 	2010
Home (Dom) 	Vladimir Epifantsev 	Pashka Shamanov 	OP-SKS hunting carbine 	2011
Home (Dom) 	Ivan Dobronravov 	Andrey Shamanov 	OP-SKS hunting carbine 	2011
Home (Dom) 	Sergey Garmash 	Viktor Shamanov 	OP-SKS hunting carbine 	2011
Largo Winch II 	 	Burmese freedom fighters 	 	2011
Machine Gun Preacher 	Ikagene Mogotusi 	Sniper 	 	2011
Quagmire (Kuta) 	Georgiy Bessonov 	Andrey 	OP-SKS 	2012
Quagmire (Kuta) 	Vladislav Portnyagin	Sasha 	OP-SKS 	2012
Quagmire (Kuta) 	Nikolay Soldatov 	Pyotr Osipovich 	OP-SKS 	2012
The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared	 	American and Soviet soldiers 	 	2013
Pawnshop (Lombard) 	Denis Nikiforov 	Mark 	 	2013
The Fugitive (Kyuryuyoiekh) 	Georgiy Bessonov 	Barmaley 	OP-SKS 	2014
The Fugitive (Kyuryuyoiekh) 	Yevgeniy Pivovarov 	Yakov 	OP-SKS 	2014
The Fugitive (Kyuryuyoiekh) 	Julustan Semyonov 	Misha 	OP-SKS 	2014
The Fugitive (Kyuryuyoiekh) 	Dmitrii Davydov 	Hunter 1 	OP-SKS 	2014
The Fugitive (Kyuryuyoiekh) 	Ivan Neustroyev 	Hunter 2 	OP-SKS 	2014
22 Minutes (22 minuty) 	 	Somali Pirates 	 	2014
Into the Forest 	Michael Eklund 	Stan 	 	2015
Mad Max: Fury Road 	Charlize Theron 	Furiosa 	 	2015
Mad Max: Fury Road 	Zoë Kravitz 	Toast the Knowing 	 	2015
Red Billabong 	James Straiton 	Jason 	 	2016
The Death of Stalin 	 	Red Army soldiers 	 	2017
The Death of Stalin 	 	NKVD soldiers 	 	2017
Onoda: 10,000 Nights in the Jungle 	 	Filipino Hunters and soldiers	 	2021
Onoda: 10,000 Nights in the Jungle 	Jemuel Satumba 	A Hunter 	 	2021
===Television===
Title 	Actor 	Character 	Note/Episode 	Date
The War Game 	 	East German soldiers 	 	1965
The War Game 	 	Soviet soldiers 	 	1965
Heart of Bonivur (Serdtse Bonivura) 	 	Soviet guards of honor 	Seen in documentary footage 	1969
Doctor Who 	John Levene 	Platoon Under Leader John Benton 	/ "Inferno" 	1970
Doctor Who 	David Simeon 	Pvt. Latimer 	/ "Inferno" 	1970
Doctor Who 	 	Republican Security Forces 	/ "Inferno" 	1970
Born by Revolution: The Last Meeting (Rozhdyonnaya revolyutsiey: Poslednyaya vstrecha)	 	Soviet honor guards 	 	1977
Confrontation (Protivostoyanie) 	 	Soviet and East German soldiers 	Documentary footage 	1985
Tour of Duty 	 	VC and NVA units 	. 	1987-1990
China Beach 	 	VC and NVA units 	. 	1988-1991
The Unit - Season 2 	 	Chechen terrorists/ "In Loco Parentis" (S2E20) 	 	2007
The Company 	 	Hungarian freedom fighters and governmental forces	 	2007
Iris 	Seung Hyun Choi 	Vick 	Choate stock 	2009
Iris 	Tae-hee Kim 	Choi Seung-hee 	Choate stock 	2009
Iris 	 	IRIS snipers 	Choate stock 	2009
Missing 	 	Russian soldier 	"Rain on the Evil and on the Good" (S1E10) 	2012
Ash (Pepel) 	Aleksandr Lazarev (III) 	"Pepel"'s henchman 	 	2013
The Walking Dead - Season 3 	Uncredited 	Woodbury guard 	w/ATI Fiberforce "Dragunov" stock and scope; "I Ain't a Judas" (S3E11) 	2013
The Walking Dead - Season 3 	Bridget Jourdain-Middleton	Woodbury Soldier 	w/ATI Fiberforce "Dragunov" stock and scope; "Welcome to the Tombs" (S3E16)	2013
The Jackal (Shakal) 	 	 	Seen in the Militsiya armoury 	2016
The Crown 	 	Egyptian Army 	episode: "Misadventure" (S02E01) 	2017
Fear the Walking Dead - Season 5 	Rubén Blades 	Daniel Salazar 	"The Hurt That Will Happen" (S5E02), "Skidmark" (S5E04) 	2019
Katran 	 	Militsiya honor guards 	 	2020
Spy City 	 	East German police and militia 	 	2020
===Video Games===
Game Title 	Appears as 	Mods 	Notation 	Release Date
Vietcong 	 	 	 	2003
Conflict: Vietnam 	 	 	 	2004
Project Reality 	 	With & without bayonet 	 	2005
Vietcong 2 	 	 	 	2005
Elite Warriors Vietnam 	 	 	 	2005
The Stalin Subway 	 	 	 	2005
Insurgency: Modern Infantry Combat 	 	 	 	2007
7.62 High Calibre 	 	various models 	w/ various attachments 	2008
Karma Online 	 	 	 	2011
Project Reality: Vietnam 	 	 	 	2012
State of Decay 	"SKS" 	 	without bayonet 	2013
Survarium 	 	 	Izhmash SKS Paratrooper Sporter	2013
Contract Wars 	 	 	 	2014
Squad 	 	 	 	2015
Hot Dogs, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades	"SKS Classic" 	 	Classic version has bayonet. 	2016
Escape from Tarkov 	Simonov SKS 7.62x39 carbine 	Suppressors and compensators, ATI Monte Carlo, TAPCO Intrafuse and Fab Defence UAS stocks, rails for sights, flashlights and lasers, 10-round internal box mag and 20, 35 or 75-round detachable mags 	without bayonet 	2016
Escape from Tarkov 	Simonov OP-SKS 7.62x39 carbine (Hunting Rifle Version)	Dovetail mount for sights, suppressors and compensators, ATI Monte Carlo, TAPCO Intrafuse and Fab Defence UAS stocks, rails for sights, flashlights and lasers, 10-round internal box mag and 20, 35 or 75-round detachable mags	without bayonet 	2016
Rising Storm 2: Vietnam 	"SKS-45" 	 	 	2017
Vigor 	 	 	 	2018
State of Decay 2 	 	 	 	2018
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Misery 	 	 	 	2018
Cruelty Squad 	"ZKZ Transactional Rifle" 	 	 	2021
Far Cry 6 	 	 	 	2021
Military Conflict: Vietnam 	 	 	 	2022
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. GAMMA 	 	 	OP-SKS / SKS 	2022
===Anime===
Title 	Character	Notes	Date
Upotte!!	 	 	2012
==SVS-53 / SKS-30 / SKS-31==
*SVS - Самозарядная винтовка Симонова / Samozaryadnaya vintovka Simonova / Simonov's semi-automatic rifle
*SKS - Самозарядный карабин Симонова / Samozaryadnyy karabin Simonova / Simonov's semi-automatic carbine
In 1940-1941, several design bureaus participated in the design of a semi-automatic and automatic rifle: TsKB-14 (Tula - F.V. Tokarev), EPB plant No. 1. 314 (Tula), design bureau of plant No. 74 (Izhevsk). All of them developed rifles based on the serial SVT-40 rifle. The OKB-180 project, headed by Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov, created a carbine of an original design. In late 1940/early 1941, four different semi-automatic rifles were simultaneously ready for testing in the USSR:
*Tokarev's design TKB-65;
*design by plant No. 74;
*design by EPB plant No. 314;
*the Simonov SVS-53.
The SVS-53 rifle underwent field tests in October 1940. Two carbines were created based on the SVS. The SKS-30 and later the improved SKS-31 model. The 31 model was to be put into mass production and was originally chambered in 7.62x54mmR to simplify logistics. Early tests impressed officials, owing to its low weight and greater accuracy than the SVT-40. However, the German invasion in June 1941 halted further development until Simonov redesigned his design for the newly created 7.62x41mm M43 cartridge (the immediate predecessor to 7.62x39mm) in 1944, resulting in the well-known SKS-45. The SVS-53 uses a 10-round detachable magazine from the SVT-40. The SKS-30 uses a specially designed internal 10-round magazine loaded via an en-bloc clip through the bottom of the rifle, rather than the more familiar top loading stripper clip system of the final design (this magazine system was found to be cumbersome to reload and swiftly abandoned). The SKS-31 has a 5-round internal magazine loaded from strippers clips from Mosin rifles. One of the more distinct features is the large muzzle brake, which was designed to reduce the felt recoil of the 7.62x54mmR round it was chambered in. This had the side effect of creating an extremely loud report that made the rifle near impossible to fire indoors without temporarily deafening the shooter, and also generated a large muzzle flash easily visible even in broad daylight.
===Specifications===
(1941, prototypes only)
* Type: Battle rifle
* Country of Origin: Soviet Union
* Caliber: 7.62mm
* Cartridge: 7.62x54mmR
* Weight: 
* Length: 
* Barrel length: ??
* Capacity: 10-round box magazine from Tokarev SVT-40 (SVS-51) / 10-round fixed magazine loaded with en-bloc clips (SKS-30) / five-round fixed magazine loaded with five-round stripper clips from the Mosin Nagant (SKS-31)
* Fire Modes: Semi-Auto
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====Video Games====
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| rowspan=2|Enlisted || "SKS-30" || || || rowspan=2| 2021
|-
| "SKS-31" || || 
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|}
=Foreign & Custom Models=
==Type 56 Carbine==
The Type 56 Carbine (not to be confused with the Type 56 assault rifle) is the Chinese version of the SKS. In Chinese, it is named Type 56 Semi-Automatic Rifle (Chinese: 56式半自动步枪). The rifle is manufactured by a wide variety of Chinese state factories; the primary manufacturer is Factory 296, now known as Chongqing Jianshe Group.
Early Type 56 rifles are very similar to the Russian SKS-45, with a milled trigger group, blade bayonet, and long lug threaded barrel. Later Type 56s have a stamped sheet metal trigger group, short lug threaded or pressed and pinned barrel and a spike bayonet (a.k.a. a "pig sticker") much like the Type 56 assault rifle. The later versions, like many imported SKS rifles, have the infamous 'orange cratewood' stocks, probably the lowest quality wood in any mass produced rifle, save for the last ditch Arisaka Type 99 rifles at the end of WW2. Many SKS rifles during the Vietnam War were issued with reddish plastic stocks, because of the incidents of 'wood rot' in the humid SE Asian jungles.
=== Film ===
Title 	Actor 	Character 	Note 	Date
Mad Max: Fury Road 	Charlize Theron	Imperator Furiosa 	 	2015
Mad Max: Fury Road 	Tom Hardy 	Max Rockatansky 	 	2015
Mad Max: Fury Road 	Zoe Kravitz 	Toast 	 	2015
White Soldier 	 	Việt Minh soldiers 	 	2014
Brothers 	 	Taliban militants 	 	2009
Rescue Dawn 	 	Laotian militia leader	 	2007
Sniper 3 	 	Sniper 	With scope	2004
Belly of the Beast 	 	Abu Karaf men 	 	2003
Rules of Engagement 	 	NVA soldiers 	 	2000
Red Corner 	 	Chinese PAP officer 	 	1997
Dead Presidents 	 	NVA soldiers 	 	1995
Open Fire 	 	A terrorist 	 	1994
Flight of the Intruder 	 	NVA soldiers 	 	1991
Born on the Fourth of July	 	NVA soldiers 	 	1989
The Iron Triangle 	 	Vietcong fighters 	 	1989
Hamburger Hill 	 	NVA soldiers 	 	1987
Platoon 	 	NVA soldiers 	 	1986
The Annihilators 	 	Viet Cong fighter 	 	1985
Uncommon Valor 	 	NVA soldiers 	 	1983
Dark of the Sun 	Jim Brown 	Sgt. Ruffo 	 	1968
Dark of the Sun 	Peter Carsten 	Capt. Henlein 	 	1968
=== Television ===
Title 	Actor 	Character 	Note/Episode 	Date
M*A*S*H	Mako 	North Korean soldier	The Best of Enemies (S9E01)11-17-1980	1980
Lost 	Evangeline Lilly	Kate Austen 	. 	2004-2010
Lost 	Terry O'Quinn 	John Locke 	. 	2004-2010
Lost 	Andrew Divoff 	Mikhail Bakunin 	. 	2004-2010
===Video Games===
Game Title 	Appears as	Mods	Notation	Release Date
Battlefield: Vietnam	 	 	 	2004
==SKS-D==
The SKS-D is a version of the Chinese SKS imported into USA that are capable of using detachable AK magazines. They come in either standard length or "paratrooper" length (16.5") barrels (such barrels were never actually used by the Chinese military, and were only found on American imports), though some sources say they only come in standard length. While multiple Chinese export SKS models can use AK magazines, the SKS-D is one of the earliest to enter US. The SKS-D is a "pre-ban" model with a bayonet lug and removable spike bayonet and a standard military-style stock.
Due to recycling old parts, some SKS-D models still have stripper clip guides, even though they cannot use stripper clips at all due to not having a bolt hold open.
The name SKS-D was actually not an official name (the rifles lack unique markings), but was coined by American dealers in order to differentiate these models from fixed magazine models, with D standing for "Detachable".
=== Film ===
Title 	Actor	Character 	Note	Date
RoboCop 3 	 	Resistance fighter	 	1993
The Condemned	 	Prison guard 	 	2006
=== Animation ===
Title 	Character	Note 	Date
Boondocks, The	 	Para barrel, drum magazine, no bayonet - seen in Ed III's weapon cache	2005-
===Video Games===
Game Title 	Appears as	Mods 	Notation 	Release Date
Insurgency 	SKS 	w/ various attachments	20-round magazines, short barrel, no bayonet 	2014
Insurgency: Sandstorm	SKS 	w/ various attachments	20-round magazines, unusable bayonet 	2014
Into the Radius VR 	"SKS" 	w/ various attachments	10 or 30-round AKM magazines, could mount bayonet in earlier versions of the game	2020
==SKS Sporter==
The SKS Sporter is a post-ban model of Norinco's export SKS rifles. They have a "paratrooper" length barrel with no bayonets and most have a thick thumbhole stock (earlier Sporters are reported to have military-styled stocks). The rifle was imported for only a few years before it was banned.
Norinco exported many other models of post-ban SKS rifles, such as the SKS-M or the SKS-63. The post-ban SKS rifles generally feature either a thumbhole stock or a Monte Carlo stock. The difference between the models if often minor and inconsistently reported. The SKS Sporter can be identified with its unique side sling loop and its corresponding lack of a bottom sling loop.
=== Film ===
Title 	Actor 	Character	Note	Date
The Rundown 	Rosario Dawson	Mariana 	 	2003
Curse of the Komodo	Ted Monte 	Hanson 	 	2004
=== Television ===
Title 	Actor	Character 	Note/Episode 	Date
The Unit	 	Indonesian rebel	"200th Hour" (S1E03)	2006
== Zastava M59/66==
Zastava Arms of Yugoslavia produced their own SKS rifles since 1959. The earliest model, PAP M59 (PAP stood for "Polu-automatska puška"; Semi-automatic rifle), was nearly identical to the Russian SKS. The second model, M59/66, produced from 1967 to 1989, featured a distinctive 22mm rifle grenade launcher at the end of the barrel. Many M59 rifles were converted to M59/66 during refurbishment. Another variant known as the M59/66A1 is identical to the M59/66 but featured night sights.
=== Film ===
Title 	Actor	Character 	Note	Date
Savior 	 	Militiamen 	 	1998
No Man's Land 	 	Serbian and Bosnian	 	2001
The Hunted 	 	Serbian soldier 	 	2003
The Good Shepherd	 	Soviet soldiers 	 	2006
===Television===
Title 	Actor	Character 	Note/Episode 	Date
Situation Critical	 	Serb Soldiers	"Downed Pilot" (S01E05)	2007
===Video Games===
Game Title 	Appears as	Mods 	Notation 	Release Date
Jagged Alliance: Back in Action	SKS 	w/ bayonet and grenade launcher	 	2012
World of Guns: Gun Disassembly 	SKS M59/66	w/ bayonet and PU scope 	incorrectly a Soviet Union weapon 	2014
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 	SKS 	various optional attachments 	w/ polymer chassis and detachable magazines; added in Season 3	2019
==SKS in Tapco Intrafuse Stock System ==
===Video Games===
Game Title 	Appears as 	Mods 	Notation 	Release Date
Battlefield Play4Free 	 	 	With 20-round magazine and PSO-1 scope 	2011
Battlefield 3 	 	 	With detachable 20-round magazine and optional PKS-07 scope	2011
Battlefield 4 	 	 	With detachable 20-round magazine 	2013
Hot Dogs, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades	"SKS Modern"	 	With detachable 20-round magazine 	2016
Playerunknown's Battlegrounds 	SKS 	various sights, muzzle devices and magazines	With detachable 10/20-round magazines 	2017
==Custom Bullpup SKS==
A Russian-made custom bullpup SKS model.
===Film===
Title 	Actor 	Character	Note	Date
Hooked (Na Igre) 	Sergey Chirkov 	Vampire 	 	2009
Hooked (Na Igre) 	Pavel Priluchnyy	Doc 	 	2009
Hooked 2. Next Level (Na Igre 2. Novyy Uroven)	Sergey Chirkov 	Vampire 	 	2010
Hooked 2. Next Level (Na Igre 2. Novyy Uroven)	Pavel Priluchnyy	Doc 	 	2010
Nightingale the Robber (Solovey-Razboynik) 	Igor Jijikine 	Agent N7 	 	2012
=See Also=
* Izhevsk Machinebuilding Plant - A list of all firearms manufactured by Izhmash.
* Type 63 Rifle - (Externally Resembles the SKS Rifle)
Category:Gun 
Category:Rifle
Category:Carbine
Category:Bullpup