Brief Operational History

The weapon that would become the SKS-45 has its origins in the 1930's.  The Red Army wanted a self loading rifle.  Many weapons were designed and tested.  Most were found unsatisfactory for one reason or another.  Most of these weapons used the standard M-91 rifle cartridge. (Note: some historians incorrectly blame the 7.62x54R cartridge as being too powerful for a semi-automatic weapon.  If this were true the M-1 Garand would never have existed.  It was far more successful and used the more powerful .30-06 cartridge).

As the trials continued three designs were proving to be the best.  One by F.V. Tokarev, one by N.V. Rukavishnikov, and the design by Simonov.  In the end Tokarev won the competition (in part because of his friendship with Joseph Stalin) and the SVT-38 entered production.

During the war with Finland and in the Great Patriotic War that followed, the problems with Tokarev's SVT-38 and later SVT-40 surfaced.  Simonov submitted another design - the SKS-41.  It never went into production because of the war.  Simonov's fortunes would soon change with the advent of the M-43 intermediate cartridge.  With this new cartridge he began work on what would be known as the SKS-45.  The work was successful and the SKS was to be sent to the front for evaluation. 

The first combat use of the SKS-45 was during the Great Patriotic War.  This was a small pre-production run completed in 1944.  They were sent to the First Byelorussian Front and were quickly embraced by the soldiers who used them.  A few minor changes were then made and the weapon was chosen to be the standard rifle of the Red Army.

When the war ended, SKS production was slowed to almost nothing.  The reason for this was that there were plenty of weapons left over from the war, and rebuilding the country took priority.  Simonov continued to make improvements to his weapon until it reached full production status in 1949 at Tula and in 1953 at Izhevsk..

Unfortunately, the SKS was not to remain a front line weapon for long.  Another weapon, the AK-47 would soon replace it.  When it entered production in 1951 the days of the SKS were clearly numbered.  SKS production ended at Izhevsk in 1954 and at Tula in 1955.  It was then relegated to a ceremonial role with the Soviet (and later Russian) army.  It could be also found in reserve elements into the early 1970's.  

Other nations would find the SKS more useful.  The Soviets exported the weapon around the world.  A few nations even produced their own local variations.    Even today, the SKS carbine can be found in the hands of third world armies throughout Africa and Asia.

Tactical Use and Limitations

The SKS-45 is a rugged and reliable weapon.  Its primary weaknesses lie in the heavy M-43 cartridge.  At medium to long ranges (over 400 meters) the round becomes far less accurate.  This is not a problem for combat in most circumstances - most combat occurs within 300 meters or less, but it should be taken into account.  Its inability to fire in a fully automatic mode is also a major weakness from many people's point of view.

Most armies that used these weapons only did so because they had a higher rate of fire than traditional bolt action rifles.  If a fully automatic weapon was available then they moved on to it.  It was sometimes used as an improvised sniping rifle, but again, it was replaced whenever possible.  Overall, the weapon was an improvement over the rifles it replaced, but was out of date from the start.

Method of Operation

The SKS is a simple gas operated semi-automatic rifle.  When a round is fired, some of the gases that are produced from the burning of the powder enter a small gas port and push on a series of small pistons.  This forces the bolt back.  As the gas pressure drops, the bolt is then pushed forward by a spring.  It then strips another round from the magazine and is ready to fire again.

Deployment Chronology

Here you can see what weapons the SKS carbine replaced and what weapons eventually replaced it.  You can find out more about each weapon by clicking on the links below.

Sources Cited

Here are some of the most informative sources that we have used in compiling this information for you.  We hope you can find them as useful as we have.

• The SKS Type-45 Carbines, by Duncan Long, published by Desert Publications - copyright Duncan Long 1973

• Soviet Small-Arms and Ammunition, by D.N. Bolotin, published by Finnish Arms Museum Foundation 1995