Simonov SKS, Soviet manufacture

What this entry covers

The entry reads, in full, "Russian (U.S.S.R.), Simonov, semiautomatic rifle, Model SKS, cal. 7.62 x 39, of Soviet manufacture."¹. Its one limiting phrase is "of Soviet manufacture": it states no years, no serial range and no configuration requirement¹. The production years shown on this page are therefore editorial, not ATF's¹.

SKS-pattern carbines made in other countries are not described by "of Soviet manufacture"¹. Three of them have Section II entries of their own, each with its own conditions: the Albanian SKS⁵, the Romanian Model 56⁶ and the Yugoslavian M59 and M59/66⁷. Simonov's earlier AVS36 automatic rifle is a different weapon listed in Section IV⁸.

Identifying it

• Tula. Tula's mark is a star enclosing an arrow, stamped with the year on the receiver cover; carbines of 1955–56 have a small star on the receiver's left side instead².
• Izhevsk. Izhevsk carbines are marked with an arrow in a triangle inside a circle, plus the date².
• Stocks. Birch is the usual original stock wood; laminated original stocks appear only in late Tula production².
• Rebuild marks. Many imported Soviet carbines went through an arsenal rebuild. Signs include a box with a line inside or a diamond, blued or black-painted parts, crossed-out or mismatched serial numbers, and replacement laminated stocks².
• Importer serials. Some carbines have an extra serial number added by the importer, a response to an ATF directive about recording serials that contain Cyrillic characters².

The factory mark and the Cyrillic serial are the usual evidence for the entry's "of Soviet manufacture" condition^1,2.

Common confusions

• Chinese Type 56. This is the SKS most often seen in the United States; most were commercial carbines made for the U.S. market rather than military surplus².
• Other licensed and derived versions. SKS carbines were also made in Albania, East Germany, North Korea, Romania, Vietnam and Yugoslavia, with small differences in detail².
• Chinese Type 63. This rifle looks similar but has a 20-round detachable magazine and a projection ahead of the gas regulator⁴.
• Production dates. Small Arms Review gives Tula 1949 to 1956 and Izhevsk 1953 to 1954². Modern Firearms also ends Soviet production in 1956 but dates the Izhevsk run 1952 to 1955³. An American Rifleman article differs, giving Tula production as 1945 to 1958⁹. The range shown on this page starts with the trial carbines ordered from Tula in 1946³ and ends with the 1956 end of Soviet production^2,3.

History

Simonov's carbine grew out of wartime work. A trial batch of more than a thousand was ordered from Tula in 1946 and 1947, and the carbine was adopted in 1949³. It is a gas-operated self-loader with a ten-round fixed magazine and a folding bayonet attached to the barrel⁴. The Soviet Army preferred the Kalashnikov from 1955, and about two and a half million SKS carbines were made in the USSR³.

Further reading

• Frank Iannamico's The SKS Rifle² is the most detailed of these on Soviet factory and rebuild marks, and it covers the foreign variants.
• Maxim Popenker's Modern Firearms article³ traces the design's development and the Tula and Izhevsk production.
• The Small Arms Survey identification sheet⁴ gives a quick guide to telling the SKS from its derivatives by barrel, gas regulator, magazine and bayonet.