“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.
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