SKS
Videos
The SKS is a semi-automatic rifle designed by Soviet small arms designer Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov in 1945.
An SKS from the collections of Armémuseum, Stockholm, Sweden
SKS with the magazine closed (top) and open. The magazine release is circled.
An SKS-type bayonet in its closed (folded back) and open positions.
A field-stripped SKS carbine (disassembled into major components for cleaning).
Gas-operated reloading
Videos
Gas-operation is a system of operation used to provide energy to operate locked breech, autoloading firearms. In gas-operation, a portion of high-pressure gas from the cartridge being fired is used to power a mechanism to dispose of the spent case and insert a new cartridge into the chamber. Energy from the gas is harnessed through either a port in the barrel or a trap at the muzzle. This high-pressure gas impinges on a surface such as a piston head to provide motion for unlocking of the action, extraction of the spent case, ejection, cocking of the hammer or striker, chambering of a fresh cartridge, and locking of the action.
Long stroke gas piston, from an AK-74
Short stroke gas piston and bolt carrier group, from a gas piston AR-15