(Incidentally, my wife was with me and she enjoyed firing the SKS, too. My hand, wrist, arm, and elbow all love that bolt the way my wife loves a day at the spa. Speaking of the bolt, I’m usually sad to reach the end of each magazine, but the opposite was true in this case, as any opportunity to work the SKS’ magnificent bolt conjures the type of pure, uncompromised, “clickity-clack” kinetic joy that made me love guns as a kid. The SKS cycled fast with the 123-grain 7.62X39 Winchester Target & Range FMJ ammo I used – so fast that even when I tried to look, I never once saw the bolt move. But after the first few magazines I was completely accustomed to it. The trigger felt a little light at first (especially toward the end of its travel). String after string, I consistently grouped my shots tight on the target while enjoying a “Chinese copy” that couldn’t possibly be of much lower quality than the Russian original. I couldn’t have asked for a better sight picture, and no changes to elevation or windage were needed. For this feat, I credit the gun’s balance, along with the ringed-post front sight and the adjustable tangent-leaf rear sight, which were both outstanding. As more of a handgun guy, I hadn’t fired a rifle – any rifle – in years. Īfter quickly wising up and inserting my ear plugs, I surveyed the target to find that my first five shots (fired standing, from 30 yards) were all snuggly grouped inside the “10” ring, with one shot a quarter-inch from the bull’s eye. They were still in my shirt pocket, right where I’d placed them before loading the magazine. For the first time in my life, I had forgotten to insert ear protection before firing a gun. As I took my eye protection off and reached into my ears to remove my ear plugs I felt. “Recoil is great, but it’s louder than I thought,” I said to myself.

Without thinking about what I usually do immediately after chambering the first round prior to aiming and firing, I raised the rifle, lined up the sights, and squeezed its trigger. I quickly the discovered the problem and fixed it however, my usual range routine was now compromised. Therefore, during my initial cycling of the action, the top cartridge wasn’t high enough up for the bolt to collect it and place it in the chamber. The first time I loaded the SKS (with only five rounds), the bottom-most cartridge didn’t sit on the proper side of the lever-arm follower inside the magazine. My method worked reliably and allayed my fear of digital duress however, an unexpected physical malady nonetheless resulted. Why? Criticize this fear as unfounded, but I’ve always worried about the possibility of a bolt slamming forward on my thumb (a la “M-1 thumb”). However, as you’ll see in the video, I loaded the SKS upside down, with the bolt closed. You insert the rounds one by one into the fixed 10-round magazine while the bolt is locked open. Loading the SKS is a straightforward affair. Even before you load the permanently-attached, front-hinged magazine (Stalin worried about troops losing them), the minimalism of the gun’s external controls are a delight.

Despite firing a 7.62X39 cartridge, the weapon’s lack of recoil is startling. As modern carbines go, it’s a little heavy. Other than the trigger and bolt, the SKS offers simply a magazine catch, a safety, and a take-down lever. The all-business functionality of Simonov’s design is apparent the moment the gun falls into your hands. But don’t get the idea that function follows form with the SKS nothing could be further from the truth. If supremely lacquered and dressed to the nines, it’s easy to see how an SKS could proudly serve as part of any soldier’s ceremonial regalia. Although the parallel-to-the-barrel gas tube does resemble its far-more-famous successor, the SKS somehow looks more refined than the AK, much like an M-1 Garand looks statelier than even the sleekest M-16. The gun looked wonderful in the late-afternoon sunlight-the rifle’s full-length wooden stock and folding spike-style bayonet subtly undermining its Soviet-era utilitarian aesthetics. I recently spent some quality time with a 25-year-old Norinco-built “Chinese Type 56” SKS. So what, exactly, happens to good guns when they get one-upped by firearms that are newer, better, and more relevant? According to several references I consulted, they become “ceremonial arms.” For this task, I believe the Norinco SKS is extremely well-suited.

Norinco sks year manufactured