Russian SKS

[Magiccarpetrides]

Heres my question...why would you want an SKS for $400 when you can buy an AK for the same? I see the affection when they were $200 or less, but now whats the benefit or is it a "just because" kinda thing?

[mousegunner]

It's the collector bug. The SKS comes from many different countries, many variations, and people have fun collecting them. And a few years ago they were cheap!

[Guest 70below]

Personally, I have more fun shooting an SKS than an AK........just has a different feel to it to me. I love the history of them, and the design is so close to a lot of WWII designs in many ways. Its like shooting a mini-SVT.

[Guest crotalus01]

Heres my question...why would you want an SKS for $400 when you can buy an AK for the same? I see the affection when they were $200 or less, but now whats the benefit or is it a "just because" kinda thing?

From what I have seen in the past year or so, AKs have gone up in price just like SKSs. Most of the AKs I have seen lately were starting at around $600 and going up.

[Moped]

Saw AK's under $500 at the Show here in Knoxville today. SKS's were anywhere from $250 up to $400. Almost bought an AK74 with two of the bakelite mags and 400 rounds of ammo for $600. Just didn't know if that was a good deal or not. I don't know a lot about AK74s.

[extremescene]

sks and AK are different beasts in my opinion. Not much similar, for better or worse, except the caliber. everyone should probably own both eventually!

[deafdogdief]

sks and AK are different beasts in my opinion. Not much similar, for better or worse, except the caliber. everyone should probably own both eventually!

Heres my question...why would you want an SKS for $400 when you can buy an AK for the same? I see the affection when they were $200 or less, but now whats the benefit or is it a "just because" kinda thing?

$400 in SKS gets a lot more than $400 in AK47. You're talking getting a Russian SKS and a Romanian AK47. Quality differences are huge, mainly milled vs stamped and threaded vs. pinned. Collinp the AK is built on the SKS design. How are they not similar?

[G27]

Collinp the AK is built on the SKS design.

Err, not so much.

[Guest 70below]

SKS is closer to the AVS/SVT design........the AK was a significant departure at the time from their design path. They do have some similarities, but vast differences.

[extremescene]

Collinp the AK is built on the SKS design. How are they not similar?

it would be a shorter list for you to tell me the similarities rather than me explain the differences.

[deafdogdief]

it would be a shorter list for you to tell me the similarities rather than me explain the differences.

I am aware of the differences, but remove the SKS from history and the AK would not exist in my understanding. I could be wrong.

[Moped]

I thought they were design at almost the same time. The SKS was not the main Russian Front line weapon for very long. Maybe less than 5 years before it was replaced by the AK-47. Then the Russians turned almost all the SKS's over to their satellite states. Later on they started sending them Aks.

The SKS was never a very prominent weapon. That's not to say they were aren't any good. Just that they were pretty much obsolete when they were adopted. Mostly because of of their lack of a removable magazine.

[Guest gcrookston]

The SKS dates back to early 1945. However Simonov had been working on the principles of the rifle design and the 7.62x39 round as far back as the early 1930's. The AVS-36 would be it's closest parent. A self-loading, piston driven/tilting bolt rifle adopted in 1936 with limited success, many of the design characteristics of the SKS are derivative of the AVS.

Indeed, the SKS is in form a scaled down version of the 14.5x114 PTRS, a successful Simonov designed anti-tank rifle of 1941 which is in many respects and much improved and scaled up AVS.

The 7.62x39 was first adopted in 1943 and is most closely related to the 7.92Kurtz round developed independently by the Germans using the same philosophy (take a full size round and cut it down).

The Kalashnikov design started in 1944, supposedly without ever examining an StG44 "SturmGeweher" or Storm Rifle, which is a gas operated breach block weapon.

The AK-47 is also a gas operated breach block...

Interestingly, Kalashnikov entered a design based upon the M1 Garand in the competition in 1943 for a rifle chambering the 7.62x39. Kalashnikov's design lost to Simonov's SKS.

To say the AK owes nothing of it's design to the SKS is not correct. But it owes much, much more to the StG44.

[Guest 70below]

Good info! Thanks!

[Moped]

I'd like to have several of those weapons in that photograph! That's make for a hell of a collection! I see a SVT, a M14, a 98K and that StG44! And is that some sort of Berreta submachinegun maybe?