Was the SKS a fail?

I think it is an incredible piece of genius design, and was just what the doctor ordered at the time of its design. It's just that the requirements changed just as it went into mass production. Imo, it is the first cqb rifle. The Russians knew more about street and house to house, room to room fighting than anyone at the time it was specd.
 
In the Peoples Republic of China, the Type-56 (SKS) was issued as the semi auto carbine. The Type-56 (AK) was issued as a sub machine gun.

Yes, the AK was named as a sub machine gun. In theory, the SKS was issued as the main battle rifle, not the AK.
They liked the SKS so much, they even made a magazine fed SKS type rifle called the Type-63, to replace both the Type-56 (SKS) and Type-56 (AK). But the Type-63 had its problems and they fell back in favor the of the Type-56 SKS and Type-56 AK.

The SKS was and has always been the main fighting rifle of the Chi-Com and satellite allies. However the AK pattern rifles were much favoured over its semi auto cousin due to its full auto fire power (evident with the IndoChina / Vietnam wars). Later on the Chinese saw the utility of the Type-56 AK, and further developed a (SKS/AK) indigenous hybrid of the Type-81, which in itself is a SKS type selectfire rifle.

The Type-81 essentially continues the SKS legacy, and is the still the main battle rifle of the PRC in large numbers.

The newer Type-95 is slowly phasing in to replace all the 7.62x39 legacy rifles in service, but its a pretty slow process even till this day.
 
Last edited:
Thresher said:
When it came about weapons design was at a crossroads. The US had the Garand and Johnson, Germans were expirimenting with semi auto full size cartrige designs. The russians had the SVT38/40. Most of the long arms in existence on the battlefield were bolt guns, and a semi auto rifle was a step ahead in evolution, however the germans were also due to war experience melding the SMG and rifle into one concept (the assault rifle) and weapons design was taking another road of parallel design. The SKS fit into the semi-auto rifle category, and in that it would have excelled if it had been introduced earlier, and the fact it used an intermediate cartridge arguably put it a step ahead. The AK being shaped off the Germans assault rifle concept overshadowed it, not because the SKS was a failure, but the AK fit russian frontline tactics better, and manufacturing was simpler so that you could crank out more rifles for less cash and time.
Click to expand...

^^ this.
 
The SKS was this close to failure, when along came Tapco to save the day:
yugo%20sks-xtr%20gkbm%20pkg1.jpg_thumbnail1.jpg

This is the kind of system to run.
 
maxman1 said:
The M14 has a charger guide and the C1A1 is the only FAL variant that can be loaded with a charger, thanks to its shorter receiver cover.
Click to expand...

The US T48 and early metric rifles are the other FAL variants that also have the charger guide top cover.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom