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).
A carbine is a long gun that has a barrel shortened from its original length. Most modern carbines are rifles that are compact versions of a longer rifle or are rifles chambered for less powerful cartridges.
An M4 carbine, a common AR-15–style carbine. The M4 is the shorter, lighter carbine variant of the M16 rifle.
Harquebusier, carbine-armed cavalry, 17th century
Carbine model 1793, used by the French Army during the French Revolutionary Wars
Chauchat-Ribeyrolles