SKS

The SKS (which stands for Samozaryadniy Karabin Simonova, or Simonov Self-Loading Carbine) was developed by the USSR in 1945 and was the first battlefield rifle to use the now ubiquitous 7.62x39 mm round. It was quickly superceded by the AK47 rifle, which was lighter, shorter, and capable of select fire, in contrast to the bulky SKS. The SKS was later exported to Warsaw pact countries and Asia. It was widely used as a terrorist and guerilla weapon prior to the latter's switch to the AK47. Most SKS rifles available for sale in the US today come from Russia, Yugoslavia, Romania, China. A few rare variants come from Albania and also Vietnam. The SKS utilizes a simple returning gas-piston system similar to that of the AK in order to chamber the next round after a round has been fired and has a magazine capacity of 10 rounds. Loading of the SKS is accomplished by use of stripper clips.