Golden_006
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You would think the Reds wouldve just made more AKs no?
How did we get so many SKSs (no complaints)
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Maverick223
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It is Kalashnikov's fault. They were replaced by the AK and AKM (a vastly superior fighting rifle), leading to a surplus of an unneeded rifle. That led to importers snatching them up at bargain basement prices and selling them for a tidy profit. That's about it.
Golden_006
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What do you mean? Mine is a '58. That's already 11 years after AK. So why didn't the Reds just make more AKs?
carbine85
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I think it had to do with making enough AK's. The SKS was in production and supported by large military forces so why not keep producing them.
Al LaVodka
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And the factories, for the Chinese, were free. Russian idiots. LOL
Almost everything paid for one went to China to buy US debt. American idiots. LOL
Al
Almost everything paid for one went to China to buy US debt. American idiots. LOL
Al
Maverick223
Member
Like carbine85 said, it was a production problem. The SKS had been in production for a while (couple years) when the AK-47 was adopted, the tooling was there and the primary focus was churning out autoloading rifles. Furthermore the AK-47 was a labor intensive and time consuming design, that was more costly and more time consuming than the SKS, this was rectified when it was phased out in favor of the simpler, lighter, and equally effective AKM (in 1961). The AKM was the real "game changer" for the USSR and the rest of the world.
cyclopsshooter
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M16... A1 A2 M4... wanna bet there are some A1s sitting in a state national guard armory somewhere
cyclops, no doubt there's probably some A1s sitting around, but I'd be surprised if the number is huge. Most of the A2s were modded A1s and I thought I read somewhere that conversion parts kits actually outnumbered brand new A2s by a really wide margin.
josh...just josh
Member
I saw a HUGE amount in a munitions storehouse in Fort Jackson about five years ago. There were crates, and crates of them!! I'm sure that there were at least a thousand
When the Red Chinese invaded Vietnam in 1979, their main rifle was the SKS. Their version of the AK (Type 56) was only issued to NCO's and officers. Most of the army carried SKS's, which really weren't phased out until well into the eighties. The Type 81 replaced the SKS and not the Type 56 AK clone. So, the Red Chinese had millions of SKS's being phased out of service in the mid-eighties. They were easily imported into the US whole, rather than in parts kits like most AK clones. The huge numbers meant cheap prices, Back in the early nineties I bought one for something like 80 bucks. Due to a Chinese import ban, the spigot was slowed, but not shut off, with Russian and Ex-Yugo guns taking up the slack. By that time, every Tom, Dick and Harriet had a Simonov and the rifle is a non-American American instution.
aka108
Member
When the SKS's started comming in I bought a Norinco, later on 3 Russians. None cost over 90 bucks. Sold two Russians and gave one to my Son. I kept the Norinco simply because it was the most accurate of the 4 and more accurate than the Arsenal SAM 7 S and Saigas that I own. I can see why the switch from SK to AK was made. The SKS has a lot of moving parts and the AK mechanism is no more complicated that a cap gun from the 1940's. The AK's were cheaper and faster to mfg and probably more reliable in the field due to their basic simplicity.
the SKS was Russia's post war attempt at an assault rifle...using the intermediate 7.62x39mm cartridge...while still using the technology of the time, machined parts and wood funiture. it's what the developed in place of the Western FAL and M14...the made a lot of them because they had the machinery
the technology to produce the took a while to ramp up and come on-line...plus much of the old guard (like any military) still liked the look of wood and milled steel
the technology to produce the took a while to ramp up and come on-line...plus much of the old guard (like any military) still liked the look of wood and milled steel
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Maverick223
Member
Wow, that doesn't sound too intermediate. A necked down 75mm cannon shell?
oops...fingers moving faster than brain
DMK
Member
For one thing, the SKS was formally adopted in 1945 (SKS45), the AK was formally adopted in 1947. It took a few years to get up to full production on both rifles, but the SKS was a more conventional design and not too different to rifles they were already producing. The AK took a little more trial and error. For example, they had difficulties with the stamped receiver at first and went back to milling them from a steel billet until they figured out a better way and adopted the stamped receiver AKM in the late 50's, early 60's.
Once production of the AK ramped up, it replaced the SKS in Soviet frontline units. However, the weapon was still considered sort of a secret weapon. Warsaw Pact states and other communist allies were initially given the materials and engineering to produce the SKS first (actually Mosin Nagants before that). The more trusted allies (or more needed) were given access to the AK when it became available. Eventually, the AK became fairly ubiquitous, but that took a long while after it was adopted.
As far as availability in this country, we got our initial shipments of SKS carbines from the Chinese. they mass produced them (and AKs) for export. Later, the former Warsaw Pact nations dumped their surplus arms for quick cash, Mosin Nagants and SKS being among them. The AKM was still being used until they switched to AK74 types or NATO type weapons, then they dumped de-milled AKMs on the market too (Parts kits).
Once production of the AK ramped up, it replaced the SKS in Soviet frontline units. However, the weapon was still considered sort of a secret weapon. Warsaw Pact states and other communist allies were initially given the materials and engineering to produce the SKS first (actually Mosin Nagants before that). The more trusted allies (or more needed) were given access to the AK when it became available. Eventually, the AK became fairly ubiquitous, but that took a long while after it was adopted.
As far as availability in this country, we got our initial shipments of SKS carbines from the Chinese. they mass produced them (and AKs) for export. Later, the former Warsaw Pact nations dumped their surplus arms for quick cash, Mosin Nagants and SKS being among them. The AKM was still being used until they switched to AK74 types or NATO type weapons, then they dumped de-milled AKMs on the market too (Parts kits).
DMK
Member
Yugoslavia and China still produced the SKS up until the late 70's. China is probably still making them,
I'm not sure why Russia continued to make them after AK-47 production was in full swing. There may have been some political resistance to the new AK (like the M16 vs M14 here), or they may have just decided to hedge their bets and make sure that rifle production would not be completely interrupted if more manufacturing problems cropped up in AK production. Don't forget that in the early to mid 1950's the AK was very high-tech, at least for the Soviets. We were still using the Garand and Thompson Subgun. It does seem that when the AKM was adopted, they had enough confidence in it that they finally stopped SKS production.
Prince Yamato
Member
The Chinese also updated the SKS with a Type 63 or 68 or something like that. It was an SKS that took an AK mag and fired bursts.
The reason the Red Chinese delayed the introduction of a full-auto Assault Rifle for their troops is that their generals were very conservative and afraid that the troops would blast all their ammo away. Although the historical evidence is rather scanty, there are some indications that the Red Chinese did badly against the second-line troops and militia of the Vietnamese. The quality Vietnamese troops were in Cambodia at the time. Someday a brilliant military historian is going to unearth the real truth about the war, which remains shrouded in mystery, propaganda and lies.
ol' scratch
Member
I think they had stopped making the SKS in Russia at that point. You probably have a Chinese. Still a good rifle. I found this online "Production years for Russian SKS's are 1949 thru 1956." The Chinese made them longer and so did other countries.
Edit-You didn't mention you had a Russian, do you have a Chinese?
Edit-You didn't mention you had a Russian, do you have a Chinese?
toivo
Member
But by 1979, shouldn't the Vietnamese have been sitting on a whole lot of M16s that they captured from the ARVN? I've always wondered about that.
DMK
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OK, If that's true then they stopped AK production about three or four years before the AKM was adopted.
Could be Romanian too. They are almost identical to the Russian SKS except for different markings.
Neo-Luddite
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Trade-ups to AK
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