SKS rifle

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Russian Simonov Type 45 aka the Russian SKS rifle - 7.62x39mm. The Russian SKS has a milled receiver and a blade bayonet. The rifles were issued with hardwood or laminated stocks. This example has a hardwood stock.

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Chinese Type 56 Carbine aka the Chinese SKS rifle - 7.62x39mm. The Chinese SKS has a stamped receiver and a spike bayonet (aka a "pig sticker") much like one of their AK-47 copies - the Type 56 assault rifle. This version, 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.

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Chinese SKS Paratrooper Sporter with thumbhole stock and 10-round magazine - 7.62x39mm

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Yugoslavian SKS M59/66 rifle with blade bayonet and grenade launcher attached to barrel, the variant most seen during the Balkan Wars - 7.62x39mm. The Yugoslavian M59 is nearly identical to the Russian SKS, it is the M59/66 which has the grenade launcher attachment at the end of the barrel.

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Norinco SKS-D - 7.62x39mm

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Chinese SKS-63 with a 20-inch barrel - 7.62x39mm Carbine

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 to have original Russian Type 45 Carbines is not historically implausible. The Soviet Union supplied ComBloc weapons in every hemisphere where there was a Marxist/communist presence.

Specifications

(1945 - Present)

Type: Rifle

Caliber: 7.62x39mm

Capacity: 10 round internal box magazine (other variants use varying-capacity removable box magazines)

Fire Modes: Semiautomatic

The SKS rifle appears in the following films and television series used by the following actors:

Film

Actor	Character	Title	Note	Date
	Taliban militants	Brothers		2009
	Flying Dragon rebels	Tropic Thunder		2008
	Laotian militia leader	Rescue Dawn	Type 56 carbine	2007
	Prison guard	The Condemned	SKS-D model	2006
	Soviet soldiers	The Good Shepherd		2006
	Tajik terrorists	Stealth		2005
Ted Monte	Hanson	Curse of the Komodo	Norinco SKS Sporter	2004
	Sniper	Sniper 3	With scope	2004
	Serbian soldier	The Hunted	Yugoslavian M59/66 variant	2003
	Nigerian rebels and refugees	Tears of the Sun		2003
Rosario Dawson	Mariana	The Rundown	Norinco SKS Sporter	2003
	NVA soldiers	We Were Soldiers		2002
	Serbian and Bosnian	No Man's Land	Yugoslavian M59/66 variant	2001
	NVA soldiers	Rules of Engagement		2000
	Shia rebel	Three Kings		1999
	Militiamen	Savior		1998
	Militiamen	Blues Brothers 2000	With synthetic stock	1998
		American Beauty	Inside Frank's gun cabinet	1998
	Russian soldier	The Peacemaker		1997
	Chinese PAP officer	Red Corner	Type 56 carbine	1997
	NVA soldiers	Dead Presidents	Type 56 carbine	1995
	NVA soldiers	Flight of the Intruder	Type 56 carbine	1991
	NVA soldiers	Born on the Fourth of July	Type 56 carbine	1990
	Resistance fighter	RoboCop 3		1990
	Colombian soldier	Toy Soldiers		1990
	Vietcong fighters	The Iron Triangle		1989
	Vietcong sniper	The Siege of Firebase Gloria		1989
	Soviet soldiers	Red Heat		1988
	Afghan villagers	Rambo III		1988
	NVA soldiers	Hamburger Hill	Type 56 carbine	1987
	NVA soldiers	Platoon	Type 56 carbine	1986
	Soldier	Year of the Dragon		1985
.	NVA soldiers	Uncommon Valor	.	1983	.-		Soviet soldiers	Octopussy	.	1983
.	Zangaran soldier	The Dogs of War	.	1981
	.	The Green Berets	Mounted on a display board	1968
.	Soviet soldier	The War Game		1965
.	East German Border guards	The Spy Who came in from the Cold	.	1965

Television

• The Unit

• VC and NVA units in Tour of Duty

• VC and NVA units in China Beach

• East German soldiers in The War Game (1965)

• Seen used by Serb Soldiers in the Episode "Downed Pilot" in Situation Critical (Yugo SKS Rifle aka M59/66)

• Kate in several episodes of season 6 of Lost

Video Games

Game Title	Appears as	Mods	Notation	Release Date
Project Reality		With & without bayonet		2005
Insurgency				2007
Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain		With inaccurate 50-round magazine and automatic fire		2004
Vietcong				2003
Jagged Alliance 2				1999
Silent Storm: Sentinels		With & without scope		2004
Battlefield: Vietnam				2004

Animation

• Metalocalypse

See Also

• Type 63 Rifle Externally Resembles the SKS Rifle