SKS

The SKS (Russian: Самозарядный карабин Симонова, СКС, romanized: Samozaryadny karabin Simonova, lit. 'Simonov self-loading carbine') is a semi-automatic carbine designed by Soviet small arms designer Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov in the 1940s. The SKS was first produced in the Soviet Union but was later widely exported and manufactured by various nations. Its distinguishing characteristics include a permanently attached folding bayonet and a hinged, fixed magazine. As the SKS lacked select-fire capability and its magazine was limited to ten rounds, it was rendered obsolete in the Eastern Bloc by the introduction of the AK-47 series of rifles in the 1950s. Nevertheless, SKS carbines continued to see service with the Soviet Border Troops and second-line and reserve army units for decades. The SKS was manufactured at Tula Arsenal from 1949 to 1958, and at the Izhevsk Arsenal from 1953 to 1954. Altogether, the Soviet Union produced 2.7 million SKS carbines. Throughout the Cold War, millions of additional SKS carbines and their derivatives were also manufactured under license in the People's Republic of China, as well as a number of countries allied with the Eastern Bloc. The SKS was exported in vast quantities and found favour with insurgent forces around the world as a utilitarian weapon which was adequate for guerrilla warfare despite its limitations. Beginning in 1988, millions have also been sold on the civilian market in Canada and the United States, where they remain popular as hunting and sporting rifles.