Karabiner-S the mysterious (and rare) East German SKS: the Chinese SKS is a dime a dozen, but if you see one of these, be ready to reach for the checkbook; it's the rarest variant in this country.

There are literally hundreds of thousands of SKS carbines in the United States. Most of these are Chinese, even though they can no longer be imported, and it has been reported by advanced collectors that there are possibly more than 50 variants of the ChiCom SKS.

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There are also significant quantities of two types from Yugoslavia, numerous examples from Russia, mostly arsenal refinished at the Izhevsky Mekhanichesky Zavod (aka Baikal) facility in Izhevsk, Russia, and small numbers from Romania and Albania/Extremely rare are specimens from North Korea and North Vietnam.

But most uncommon of all are those manufactured in East Germany. It has been speculated that there may be less than 100 East German SKS carbines in this country.

Designed by Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov, the Russian SKS-45 (Ssamosarjadnyi Karabin Simonov--Self-loading Carbine Simonov, 1945) was designed from the very beginning as a semiautomatic-only weapon. The first production series rifle for the 7.62x39mm cartridge, the SKS is nothing more than a scaled-down version of Simonov's World War II PTRS caliber 14.5x114mm semiautomatic antitank rifle and a continuation of developmental work on the caliber 7.62x54R Model 1941 SKS.

In addition to the important change of caliber, the SKS-41's muzzle brake was deleted due to the adoption of an integral, knife-type, folding bayonet. The metal casing covering the gas port was replaced with a detachable gas cylinder, integral with the upper handguard, and the stripper clip guides were transferred from the upper part of the receiver body to the front part of the bolt carrier.

The very first SKS-45 carbines produced were sent to troops fighting on the First Byelorussian Front and to the Vistrel officers-training academy. Simonov introduced a number of changes in the design based upon reports from the front, before its official adoption by the Red Army in 1949.

Production in the Soviet Union ceased in the mid-1950s, but as indicated above, the SKS was manufactured well after that time in East Germany (Karabiner-S or Karabiner Simonov), Yugoslavia, North Korea (Type 63), North Vietnam, Romania, Albania and the People's Republic of China (PRC). Known as the Type 56 Carbine in the PRC (People's Republic of China), it was one of the first Soviet weapons systems produced in Mainland China. Their total production likely exceeded that of all other countries combined.

In the case of the East German Karabiner-S, very little is actually known and much of what we think we know is based upon undocumented speculation. By 1955, series production of the SKS in the Soviet Union had almost completely terminated, as it was replaced throughout the Red Army by Mikhail Kalashnikov's AK47 selective-fire assault rifle in the same caliber as the SKS.

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It is believed that SKS series production commenced in East Germany (Deutsche Demokratische Republik [DDR]--German Democratic Republic) at approximately the same time it was terminated in the USSR. It's even quite possible that tooling was transferred from the USSR to the DDR.

It was that year that the USSR declared that the DDR was fully sovereign, although Soviet occupation forces remained in East German territory, based on the four-power Potsdam Agreement, while British, Canadian, French and American forces remained in the Federal Republic of Germany in the west.

It is thought that the Karabiner-S was manufactured at the former J.P. Sauer & Sohn facility in Suhl. However, there is no actual documentation that it was manufactured there or at any other factory in East Germany. There are also rumors that it was manufactured at more than one facility.

The specimen I have in my collection, which appears to have markings similar to those reported to me by other collectors, is lightly rollmarked on the left side of the receiver as follows, "MfNV" over "la" within a circle of dots, followed by "K96" in a rectangle and then the serial number, which is "60U8810."

The acronym "MfNV" stands for Ministerium fur Nationale Verteidigung (Ministry for National Defense). The significance of "la" and "K96" in a rectangle is unknown. Even part of the serial number is enigmatic on the Karabiner-S. It's possible that "60" refers to the year of manufacture, but no one seems to be certain about that.

As with many small arms produced by Germany during World War II, the serial numbers were combined with a letter prefix or suffix and went from "1" to "9999" and then started over again with the next letter in the alphabet.

No one I have discussed this with has examined an East German SKS with a serial number prefix higher than the letter "U." If this is indeed the last serial number letter prefix, then it indicates that approximately 200,000 of these rifles were produced.

Speculating even further, if production commenced in 1955 and "U" was the last serial number letter prefix, then it would be logical to assume that "60" might very well indicate 1960 and thus the last year of production.

If so, then only 200,000 rifles manufactured in a five to six year period would further indicate a relatively low priority for the Karabiner-S. Be advised, however, that SKS authority Adrian Van Dyk has an East German SKS with a letter "E" serial number prefix that is also preceded by "60," as a consequence, other possibilities are that all Karabiner-S rifles were manufactured in 1960, which is somewhat unlikely, or that "60" does not refer to the year of manufacture.

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It's sometimes difficult for collectors to be mindful of the fact that arsenals, especially in wartime, did not manufacture small arms with subsequent collectors' neat and tidy "pigeonholes" in mind. This is really true of World-War-II-era small arms from Germany.

What happened to these rifles? How were they utilized in East Germany? Were any of them sent to other countries? How did even a handful get to the United States? When it comes to parade and; dismounted drill, the AK47 and its derivatives are exceptionally unwieldy, largely because of the 30-round magazine protruding out the magazine well. So for the same reason is the M16.

And thus, for ceremonial functions we still find the .30 M1 Garand and M14 rifles very much in use in the United States. By the very same token, the relatively compact SKS with its gleaming bayonet was, and is today, preferred by former Warsaw Pact countries for parades and other ceremonial functions. Most of the photographs on file of the East German SKS show military, and in a few instances police, marching in parades and guarding national monuments and government buildings.

Subsequently, and prior, to the former DDR joining the Federal Republic of Germany on 3 October 1990, what happened to the inventory of the Karabiner-S? Since small arms in caliber 7.62x39mm were not logistically compatible with the caliber 5.56x45mm and 7.62x51mm small arms of the Federal Republic, large numbers were physically destroyed.

Huge stockpiles of 7.62x39mm ammunition were disassembled, with the propellant charges used for agricultural fertilizer and the steel cases chopped into scrap. Substantial quantities of the East German MPiKMS-74 Kalashnikov-type rifle were also scrapped.

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Recently, fellow writer and highly regarded trainer Ken Hackathorn, during a training assignment in Europe, spoke to an individual of about 48 years of age who was a soldier in the former East German army. He told Ken that about 20 years ago (which would be approximately the time the Socialist Unity Party lost its majority in the Volkskammer [the East German parliament]) he escorted "many truckloads" of SKS rifles to a depot to be destroyed.

How did the handful in the United States get here? None were brought in by authorized importers. Some East German SKS rifles were apparently sent to Vietnam during the war. A few of these came to the U.S. with "capture papers" such as military forms DD603 and DD603-1 (Registration of War Trophy Firearms) or with documents from the Provost Marshal and/or firearms export licenses from the South Vietnamese government.

One Internet website (always a very dangerous place to obtain legitimate firearms information, technical or historical) alleges that in 1991 the Federal Republic of Germany gave Croatia huge stockpiles of both the Karabiner-S and MPiKMS-74 rifles, as well as other weaponry.

This is untrue and preposterous. Yugoslavia made substantial quantities of an indigenous SKS, the Models 59 and 59/66 and the wooden-stocked M70B1 and folding-stock M70AB2 AKM assault rifles. I worked with the Croatian armed forces on several occasions in the mid-1980s in Bosnia-Herzegovina and had access to all of their depots. I never saw a single SKS or AKM of any origin other than Yugoslavia. Some Karabiner-S specimens may have come into the USA from Canada, but there is no documented proof of that.

While it is most certainly an SKS45-type, the East German Karabiner-S has several small but interesting characteristics that are peculiar to it alone, in addition to the receiver markings. Most instantly apparent is the sling and its location on the Karabiner-S.

The quite distinctive light gray web sling is attached to the left side of the stock in a manner similar to that found on the World-War-II-era K98k bolt-action rifle. While almost all SKS-45 carbines have a fixed sling loop attached to the left side of the gas block, in most cases the rear sling swivel is attached to the buttstock on its underside by two wood screws. The Karabiner-S has a slot in the side of the buttstock in the style of the K98k Mauser.

Another somewhat odd characteristic of the East German SKS-45 is the absence of a cleaning rod mounted on the underside of the barrel. Further, the usual spring-loaded buttplate trap for the storage of cleaning equipment is also missing.

Does this tell us anything? Could it be that the Karabiner-S was never intended for anything other that parade and ceremonial functions and that it was never meant to be issued to troops in the field? We'll never know for sure, but it's an intriguing thought.

But, the Karabiner-S exhibits many more features quite characteristic of the entire SKS-45 series. Overall length is 40.2 inches (1021mm). Barrel length is 20.4 inches (518mm) with four-groove broached rifling and a 1:9.45 right-hand twist. The weight, empty, is approximately 8,8 pounds (4.0kg).

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Like the original Soviet version, the bore and chamber are chrome-lined, an attribute of most ComBloc small arms. A heavy, reinforcing crossbolt passes through the stock just ahead of the magazine, under the chamber.

There are usually one or two smaller crosspins reinforcing the front end of the stock. They are missing on the East German Karabiner-S--could this be another indication it was not intended for heavy use in the field? The folding bayonet of the Karabiner-S is a blade-type of the Soviet pattern with a standard chrome-plated blade.

The front sight is an adjustable (for both windage and elevation) post-type, protected by a substantial hood with a hole in the top for insertion of an elevation adjusting tool. The open U-notch, sliding tangent-type rear sight is adjustable for range in 100-meter increments from 100 to 1,000 meters. The latter distance is well beyond the wound ballistics effectiveness of the cartridge.

A second 300-meter battle position (marked "SV"--the exact meaning of which is unknown) is the battle sight setting, used in combat for all ranges out to 300 meters.

The SKS is most conveniently loaded by retracting the cocking handle until the bolt is locked rearward by the spring-loaded hold-open device (which is activated by the integral magazine's follower), and placing a 10-round stripper clip into the charger guide machined into the top forward end of the bolt carrier. Push down with the thumb until all the cartridges are loaded into the magazine.

After removing the stripper clip, pull back on the retracting handle and release it smartly. The bolt and carrier will fly forward, chambering the first round. Individual rounds can also be loaded. The magazine can be unloaded by pressing the magazine catch. The magazine housing and follower will pivot downward, dumping the cartridges on the ground.

The poor accuracy often attributed to shoulder-mounted ComBloc firearms is very much a function of the lack of match-grade ammunition. I have fired AK100 series rifles chambered for the 5.56x45mm NATO round using FN ammunition and found the accuracy to be every bit up to AR-15/M16 standards.

Empty cases are usually expelled 3 to 4 feet to the front and right of the SKS. Muzzle blast and the flash signature are approximately those of the AK47. As a consequence of its weight--heavy by today's standards--and the intermediate-size cartridge for which it is chambered, perceived recoil is inconsequential.

I have fired thousands of rounds through SKS carbines of every make and description and have to date experienced only one stoppage--a failure to extract from a specimen with a badly corroded chamber. There were no stoppages of any kind during our test and evaluation of the East German Karabiner-S. Failures can be induced in the SKS series only through outrageous neglect.

The entire SKS-45 series was robust and reliable. However, the lust for a weapon with the full-auto option, like the subsequent Kalashnikov series, is overpowering for the average soldier, who considers his ability to dispense a long, automatic hail of bullets out the muzzle of his rifle to be his best possible insurance policy on the battlefield, although in reality it most often is not.

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Incredibly rare in the United States, specimens of the East German Karabiner-S sell for $1,500 to $2,000, depending upon condition, on the extremely rare occasions one is offered for sale. They represent the "Holy Grail" for an SKS or ComBloc small arms collector.

The author would like to express his sincere gratitude to Adrian Van Dyk, a recognized authority on the SKS-45 series, for information he provided to this article and who is conducting research on this topic and would very much appreciate hearing from anyone with information on this subject. Adrian can be reached at sksnut@sbcglobal.net.

The SKS-45 Series Method of Operation

As previously stated, the SKS-45 is semiautomatic only. It is gas-operated and locked by a tilting block. There is no gas regulator. Its bolt mechanism strongly resembles that of the German World War II StG44/45, which was used with great effect against the Red Army hordes on the Eastern Front. The receiver was machined from a solid billet of ordnance steel.

Its rather conventional method of operation is as follows. Upon firing and after the bullet passes the gas port (which at about .136" in diameter is quite large--that of the 30 M1 Garand, for example, is only .081"), in this instance located only 3 inches from the muzzle, a portion of the gases are diverted and directed against the head of the three-ring piston. The piston drives a short, spring-loaded tappet under the rear sight base back against the bolt carrier.

After the bolt carrier has moved rearward about a quarter-inch, a cam on its inner stop contacts a projection on top of the bolt, lifting the rear of the bolt out of its seat in the box-shaped receiver body. The bolt and its carrier now travel rearward as a unit.

The large and more than adequate extractor claw withdraws the empty case from the chamber and holds it to the bolt face until it strikes the fixed ejector and is expelled. All rearward movement ceases when the end of the bolt carrier strikes the inner wall of the receiver.

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As the recoil spring drives the bolt and carrier forward, the bolt strips a round from the integral, 10-round, staggered-column magazine. When the cartridge has been chambered,' the extractor snaps in place over the cartridge groove and all forward movement of the bolt terminates.

The bolt carrier continues to move forward a short distance, camming the rear of the bolt into its seat in the receiver. The firing pin is not retracted and thus free to fly forward during the counter-recoil stroke, so U.S.-manufactured commercial ammunition with primers more sensitive than MilSpec should be avoided or the weapon may fire out of battery. The bolt, as it seats, forces the trigger mechanism's safety sear down.

The SKS trigger is overly complex. It consists of a hammer and spring, trigger and trigger bar, sear and sear spring, disconnector and a safety sear that prevents the hammer from striking the firing pin until action is completely locked. Trigger pull weights on these rifles are usually only somewhat over 5 pounds, but extremely spongy.

Avoid tampering with the SKS trigger mechanism to reduce the pull weight or more likely than not you'll end up with an unregistered machine gun. The safety is located conveniently behind the trigger on the right side. When rotated up to the safe position, the safety blocks all trigger movement.

Bibliography

The Simonov SKS-45 Semi-Automatic Carbine, compiled and edited by Wyant Lamont and Stephen Fuller, copyright 1981, Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 8-83774, 218 pages with numerous black & white and four-color illustrations, Military Arms Research Service, P.O. Box 26772, San Jose, CA--out of print.

The SKS Carbine (CKC45g), by Steve Kehaya and Joe Poyer, Copyright, 1996, 2000 and 2003, 4th revised and expanded edition, ISBN 1-882391-14-4, North Cape Publications, Inc., P.O. Box 1027, Tustin, CA 92781, phone: 800-745-9714, e-mail: ncape@ix.netcom.com, website: www.northcapepubs.com. 200 pages with numerous black & white illustrations, $19.95.

East German

Karabiner-S

Specifications

Caliber: 7.62x39mm.

Operation: Gas- no regulator, locked-breech with tilting bolt, semiautomatic only.

Feed mechanism: Integral 10-round, staggered-column magazine, loaded by means of 10-round stripper clips or with individual rounds.

Barrel: Four grooves with a right-hand twist of one turn in 9.45 inches (240mm).

Barrel length (rifled portion plus chamber): 20.4 inches (518mm).

Overall length: 40.2 inches (1,021mm); M59/66A1 with grenade launcher: 44.1 inches (1,120mm).

Weight, empty: 8.8 pounds (4.0 kg).

Sights: Front post adjustable for windage and elevation zero, protected by hood; sliding tangent-type rear sight with open U-notch adjustable for range in 100-meter increments from 100 to 1,000 meters with a 300-meter battle-sight setting marked "SV."

Finish: Metal surfaces, except for some bolt group components left "in-the-white," salt blued.

Furniture: Hardwood of unknown origin.

Status: No longer in production or use-most were destroyed.

Manufacturer: Purportedly J.P. Sauer & Sohn, Suhl.

Price: Rarely offered for sale, $1,500 to $2,000.

T&E summary: Robust and reliable but of limited appeal to the infantry because of the subsequent selective-fire MPiK. MPiKS and MPiKMS-74 Kalashnikov-type alternatives. Used principally for ceremonial purposes in the former DDR. Incredibly rare and desirable to collectors.

Text and photos by Peter G. Kokalis

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Title Annotation:	ChiCom SKS
Author:	Kokalis, Peter G.
Publication:	Shotgun News
Geographic Code:	1USA
Date:	Oct 10, 2010
Words:	3153
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