From Internet Movie Firearms Database - Guns in Movies, TV and Video Games

SKS - 7.62x39mm

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

Television

Video Games

Norinco Type 56 Carbine

Norinco Type 56 Carbine - 7.62x39mm

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

Television

Video Games

Game Title Appears as Mods Notation Release Date Battlefield: Vietnam 2004

Norinco SKS-D

Norinco SKS-D - 7.62x39mm

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

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

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

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

Television

Title Actor Character Note/Episode Date The Unit Indonesian rebel "200th Hour" (S1E03) 2006





Zastava M59/66

Zastava M59/66 - 7.62x39mm

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 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

Yugoslavian M59/66 SKS with aftermarket Tapco Intrafuse Stock System furniture - 7.62x39mm

Chinese SKS with aftermarket Tapco Intrafuse Stock System furniture - 7.62x39mm

Video Games





Custom Bullpup SKS

Custom Bullpup SKS - 7.62x39mm

A Russian-made custom bullpup SKS model.

Film

See Also