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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 1943 by Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov. It was a widely exported weapon, with many foreign copies including the Chinese Type 56 Carbine.
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.
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.
SKS
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Death of Stalin | Red Army soldiers | 2017 | ||
| NKVD soldiers | ||||
| Mad Max: Fury Road | Charlize Theron | Furiosa | 2015 | |
| Into the Forest | Michael Eklund | Stan | 2015 | |
| 22 Minutes (22 minuty) | Somali Pirates | 2014 | ||
| The Fugitive (Kyuryuyoiekh) | Georgiy Bessonov | Barmaley | OP-SKS | 2014 |
| Yevgeniy Pivovarov | Yakov | |||
| Julustan Semyonov | Misha | |||
| Dmitrii Davydov | Hunter 1 | |||
| Ivan Neustroyev | Hunter 2 | |||
| Pawnshop (Lombard) | Denis Nikiforov | Mark | 2013 | |
| Quagmire (Kuta) | Georgiy Bessonov | Andrey | OP-SKS | 2012 |
| Vladislav Portnyagin | Sasha | |||
| Nikolay Soldatov | Pyotr Osipovich | |||
| Machine Gun Preacher | Ikagene Mogotusi | Sniper | 2011 | |
| Largo Winch II | Burmese freedom fighters | 2011 | ||
| Home (Dom) | Vladimir Epifantsev | Pashka Shamanov | OP-SKS hunting carbine | 2011 |
| Ivan Dobronravov | Andrey Shamanov | |||
| Sergey Garmash | Viktor Shamanov | |||
| 71: Into the Fire | Student soldiers | 2010 | ||
| North Korean soldiers | ||||
| The Debt | Extras | East German Border Guards | 2010 | |
| Sam Worthington | Young David | |||
| The Golden Mean (Zolotoe sechenie) | Royal Cambodian guardian | 2010 | ||
| The Book of Eli | Carnegie's thug | w/detachable magazine | 2010 | |
| Tropic Thunder | Flying Dragon rebels | 2008 | ||
| Wild Field (Dikoe pole) | Aleksandr Arefyev | Bandit | 2008 | |
| Tins (Konservy) | Aleksey Serebryakov | Usoltsev (Solyonyy) | OP-SKS | 2007 |
| The Good Shepherd | Soviet soldiers | 2006 | ||
| The Battle of Long Tan | Vietcong | with underfolding bayonet | 2006 | |
| Stealth | Tajik terrorists | 2005 | ||
| Tears of the Sun | Nigerian rebels and refugees | 2003 | ||
| Detention | A terrorist | 2003 | ||
| We Were Soldiers | NVA soldiers | 2002 | ||
| The Mission | Keiji Sato | Assassin | with Choate Dragunov stock and scope | 1999 |
| Arlington Road | Hunter Burkes | Hutch Parsons | without underfolding bayonet | 1999 |
| Three Kings | Shia rebel | 1999 | ||
| Blues Brothers 2000 | Militiamen | With synthetic stock | 1998 | |
| American Beauty | Inside Frank's gun cabinet | 1998 | ||
| Composition for Victory Day (Sochinenie ko Dnyu Pobedy) | Honor guards | 1998 | ||
| The Peacemaker | Russian soldier | 1997 | ||
| Ricochet (Rikoshet) | A criminal | OP-SKS | 1997 | |
| Deserter (Dezertir) | Viktor Demertash | Murab | Without folding bayonet | 1997 |
| Brigands and cult fighters | ||||
| The Quest | Dobbs' men and Turks | 1996 | ||
| Robocop 3 | A resistance fighter | 1993 | ||
| Toy Soldiers | Colombian soldiers | 1991 | ||
| The Siege of Firebase Gloria | Vietcong sniper | 1989 | ||
| Red Heat | Soviet soldiers | 1988 | ||
| Rambo III | Afghan villagers | 1988 | ||
| Coordinates of Death (Koordinaty smerti) | Viet Cong guerrillas | 1985 | ||
| Year of the Dragon | Soldier | 1985 | ||
| Octopussy | Soviet soldiers | 1983 | ||
| Kamal Khan's guards | ||||
| The Dogs of War | Zangaran soldier | 1981 | ||
| In Flight are the Night Witches (V nebe 'Nochnye vedmy') | Soviet marines | 1981 | ||
| Coming Home | Bruce Dern | Bob Hyde | minus wood furniture | 1978 |
| Coming Home | Jon Voight | Luke Martin | minus wood furniture | 1978 |
| Don't Cry, Girl (Ne plach, devchonka) | Oleg Sologub | Pvt. Andrey Vorobey | 1977 | |
| And on the Pacific... (I na Tikhom Okeane...) | Soviet soldiers | 1974 | ||
| Listen on the Other Side (Daisny tserguudee sonsotsgoo!) | Mongolian soldier | 1971 | ||
| The Green Berets | Mounted on a display board | 1968 | ||
| The Air Seller (Prodavetz vozdukha) | Bayley's Guards | 1968 | ||
| The War Game | Soviet soldier | 1965 | ||
| The Spy Who came in from the Cold | East German Border guards | 1965 | ||
| Gloomy Morning (Khmuroe utro) | White Army soldiers | Heavily anachronistic | 1959 | |
| Maksim Perepelitsa | Soviet soldiers | 1955 |
Television
| Title | Actor | Character | Note/Episode | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The War Game | East German 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 | Chechen terrorists/ "In Loco Parentis" (S2E20) | 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 Jackal (Shakal) | Seen in the Militsiya armoury | 2016 | ||
| The Crown | Egyptian Army | episode: "Misadventure" (S02E01) | 2017 |
Video Games
| Game Title | Appears as | Mods | Notation | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vietcong | 2003 | |||
| 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 | 2014 | ||
| Contract Wars | 2014 | |||
| Squad | 2015 | |||
| Hot Dogs, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades | "SKS Classic" | Classic version has bayonet. | 2016 | |
| Escape from Tarkov | Simonov Semi-Automatic Carbine SKS 7.62x39 Simonov Semi-Automatic Carbine SKS 7.62x39 Hunting Rifle Version |
Dovetail mount(for OP version),tread adapter and Hexagon sound suppressor, TAPCO INTRAFUSE and Fab Defence UAS stocks, 10-round internal box mag and 20, 35-round detachable mags | without bayonet | 2016 |
| Rising Storm 2: Vietnam | "SKS-45" | 2017 |
Norinco 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).
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 | |||
| 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 |
Norinco SKS-D
The Norinco 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 |
Norinco SKS Sporter
The Norinco 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 produced 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Hunted | Serbian soldier | 2003 | ||
| No Man's Land | Serbian and Bosnian | 2001 | ||
| Savior | Militiamen | 1998 |
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 |
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | SKS | various optional attachments | added in Season 3 | 2019 |
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.
- Norinco - A list of all firearms manufactured by Norinco.
- Type 63 Rifle - (Externally Resembles the SKS Rifle)