If asked about the 7.62x39mm cartridge (aka the 7.62 Soviet and .30 Russian Short), the first firearm that comes to mind is almost certainly the Avtomat Kalashnikova, i.e., the AK-47 assault rifle. The AK-47 is no doubt the most famous and most ubiquitous gun in the .30 Russian Short caliber, with over 75 million specimens (including variants) in circulation produced by nearly 100 nations.

However, the Kalashnikov rifle was not the weapon that gave birth to the 7.62x39mm round; it was the SKS carbine. While not a household name like the AK, the SKS carbine is a very well-known firearm in its own right.

Where It Began: Sergey Gavrilovich Simonov

As is true of many Soviet-era weapons systems—from the aforementioned Kalashnikov rifle to the Pistolet Makarova (Makarov Pistol) and the Mikoyan-Gurevich (MiG) series of fighter planes, the Samozaryadny karabin sistemy Simonova (self-loading carbine of the Simonov system) is named for its designer: Sergey Gavrilovich Simonov (April 9, 1894-May 6, 1986). Simonov designed the SKS in 1945. His reasons for designing the SKS and the 7.62x399 cartridge are described in a May 2021 article for NRA American Rifleman:

“[T]he Russian military began to look for a new self-loading carbine chambered for a new, less powerful cartridge compared to the 7.62×54 mm that was standard at the time … In 1943, the Red Army developed and adopted a less powerful cartridge compared to the 7.62×54 mm R, the 7.62×39 mm M1943, and sought a new semi-automatic rifle chambered for the new cartridge. Simonov downsized the operating system of the large PTRS-41 around the smaller cartridge into a semi-automatic carbine, which was accepted by the end of the war and adopted in 1949 as the Self-loading Carbine System Simonov 1945, or SKS-45… The SKS-45 is a gas-operated carbine with a conventional layout for the time, with a wood stock covering most of the body. The bolt carrier is spring loaded, using the pressure of the gas-driven operating rod to unlock the bolt.”

Specifications of the SKS

Unlike the AK-47 with its detachable “banana clip” box magazine, the Simoniv carbine loads more like the M1 Garand: from the top of the receiver via stripper clips into a fixed internal magazine. The SKS also differs from the AK insofar as being semiauto-only, with a sustained rate of fire of thirty-five to forty rounds per minute. Additional specs and vital stats: The SKS has a barrel length of 22 inches (generates a muzzle velocity of 2,411 fps); an overall length of 44 inches; and an empty weight of 8.5 lbs.

More than 15 million SKSs have been produced around the world; this equates to a mere 20 percent of the AK’s production, but it is still a very impressive production tally in its own right. 

SKS Operational History

The SKS was adopted as the standard service rifle of the Red Army, replacing the SVT-40, but it was replaced in turn by the more famous AK in 1949. Simonov’s most famous invention continued to see Soviet service throughout the Cold War with border guards, internal forces, and reserves, as well as in other Communist countries that started building them under license, such as China, Yugoslavia, and most infamously Vietnam.

Personal Experiences with the SKS

The SKS was my first-ever rifle purchase and indeed my first long gun purchase of any kind, so it has a permanent soft spot in my heart. In July 1994, one month shy of my nineteenth birthday, I bought a Norinco SKS from Paul Cole’s Gun World and Target Range (nowadays known simply as The Target Range) in Van Nuys, California. I paid $139.00 for it, equivalent to $280.60 today.

In the twelve years that I owned that weapon, I put roughly 3,000 rounds through her. In addition to providing me optimal accuracy—not comparable to 7.62x54mmR or .223 Remington/5.56x45mm, but more than adequate—and ease of maintenance, I don’t recall any jams or misfires. The only malady that I recall was an occasional “doubling” when the recoil would inadvertently bounce my trigger finger against the trigger too rapidly for me to take an aimed follow-up shot. 

As is true of my sentiments about the Kalashnikov, compared with the M-16A2 that I was issued in my U.S. Air Force Security Forces days, I appreciate the SKS’s reliability and its simplicity when it comes to fieldstripping and reassembly. There are no small parts to deal with, unlike the M16 fieldstrip (firing pin retaining pin, square cam pin, extractor, and spring assembly, ugh, what a pain!).

Bol’shoye spasibo (“Thank you very much”), Sergey Gavrilovich!

About the Author: Christian D. Orr 

Christian D. Orr is a Senior Defense Editor for National Security Journal (NSJ). He is a former Air Force Security Forces officer, Federal law enforcement officer, and private military contractor (with assignments worked in Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kosovo, Japan, Germany, and the Pentagon). Chris holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Southern California (USC) and an M.A. in Intelligence Studies (concentration in Terrorism Studies) from American Military University (AMU). He has also been published in The Daily Torch , The Journal of Intelligence and Cyber Security, and Simple Flying. Last but not least, he is a Companion of the Order of the Naval Order of the United States (NOUS).