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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.
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: 8.5 lbs (3.9 kg)
- Length: 40.2 in (102.1 cm)
- Barrel length: 20.5 in (52.1 cm)
- 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
The SKS rifle and variants can be seen in the following films, television series, video games, and anime used by the following actors:
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 | ||
| Kamal Khan's guards | ||||
| 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 |
| Brigands and cult fighters | ||||
| 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 | |
| Sam Worthington | Young David | |||
| 71: Into the Fire | Student soldiers | 2010 | ||
| North Korean soldiers | ||||
| Home (Dom) | Vladimir Epifantsev | Pashka Shamanov | OP-SKS hunting carbine | 2011 |
| Ivan Dobronravov | Andrey Shamanov | |||
| Sergey Garmash | Viktor Shamanov | |||
| Largo Winch II | Burmese freedom fighters | 2011 | ||
| Machine Gun Preacher | Ikagene Mogotusi | Sniper | 2011 | |
| Quagmire (Kuta) | Georgiy Bessonov | Andrey | OP-SKS | 2012 |
| Vladislav Portnyagin | Sasha | |||
| Nikolay Soldatov | Pyotr Osipovich | |||
| 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 |
| Yevgeniy Pivovarov | Yakov | |||
| Julustan Semyonov | Misha | |||
| Dmitrii Davydov | Hunter 1 | |||
| Ivan Neustroyev | Hunter 2 | |||
| 22 Minutes (22 minuty) | Somali Pirates | 2014 | ||
| Into the Forest | Michael Eklund | Stan | 2015 | |
| Mad Max: Fury Road | Charlize Theron | Furiosa | 2015 | |
| Zoë Kravitz | Toast the Knowing | |||
| Red Billabong | James Straiton | Jason | 2016 | |
| The Death of Stalin | Red Army soldiers | 2017 | ||
| NKVD soldiers | ||||
| Onoda: 10,000 Nights in the Jungle | Filipino Hunters and soldiers | 2021 | ||
| Jemuel Satumba | A Hunter |
Television
| Title | Actor | Character | Note/Episode | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The War Game | East German soldiers | 1965 | ||
| Soviet soldiers | ||||
| 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 |
| David Simeon | Pvt. Latimer | |||
| Republican Security Forces | ||||
| 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 | Chechen terrorists/ "In Loco Parentis" (S2E20) | 2007 | ||
| The Company | Hungarian freedom fighters and governmental forces | 2007 | ||
| Iris | Seung Hyun Choi | Vick | Choate stock | 2009 |
| Tae-hee Kim | Choi Seung-hee | |||
| IRIS snipers | ||||
| Missing | Russian soldier | "Rain on the Evil and on the Good" (S1E10) | 2012 | |
| Ash (Pepel) | Aleksandr Lazarev (III) | "Pepel"'s henchman | 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 |
| 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 | ||
| Rising Storm 2: Vietnam | "SKS-45" | 2017 | ||
| Vigor | 2018 | |||
| State of Decay 2 | 2018 | |||
| Cruelty Squad | "ZKZ Transactional Rifle" | 2021 | ||
| Far Cry 6 | 2021 |
Anime
| Title | Character | Notes | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upotte!! | 2012 |
SVS-53 / SKS-30 / SKS-31
Specifications
(1941 - prototype)
- Type: Rifle
- Caliber: 7.62x54mmR
- Capacity: 5 / 10-round
- Fire Modes: Semi-Auto
The SVS-53 / SKS-30 / SKS-31 and variants can be seen in the following films, television series, video games, and anime used by the following actors:
Video Games
| Game Title | Appears as | Mods | Notation | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enlisted | SKS-31 | 2021 |
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 | |
| Tom Hardy | Max Rockatansky | |||
| Zoe Kravitz | Toast | |||
| 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 | |
| Pavel Priluchnyy | Doc | |||
| Hooked 2. Next Level (Na Igre 2. Novyy Uroven) | Sergey Chirkov | Vampire | 2010 | |
| Pavel Priluchnyy | Doc | |||
| 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)