guys
/u/nadeshda signed me up for a year long series of articles here
and im like man thats a lot of articles
so im gonna start talking about guns i like
there are a lot of guns i like so this should last me a while lol
and i figure ill start with the sks
the sks is a good gun
its also from an interesting time in history
which gives it a unique story
it was designed in the soviet union during wwii by a guy named simonov
everybody in wwii had discovered that the rifles theyd been using were more powerful than needed in most of the battles theyd been facing
their soldiers could all shoot out to like 1000 m
but nobody was ever made contact more than like 400 m away
this meant their soldiers were carrying ammunition that was heavier than needed
if they were given a lighter round they could carry more ammo for twice the pew pew
the nazis had created a smaller round to do just that
they called it the 7.92 mm kurz
kurz is how you say short in nazi
it was literally just the 7.92 x 57 mauser round shortened
then they nazis made some rifles to go with it
these were pretty effective at murdering soviets
so the soviets were like aw dang we need to do that
the soviets did a similar thing to the nazis and just shortened their 7.62 x 54r round
this means they can keep some of the machinery for drilling barrels and whatnot so its efficient
they worked on this round in 1943 so it was called the m43
then they needed something to shoot it in
thats when simonov got involved
so simonov had designed some other stuff
and he was experienced with the soviet arsenal system
so for construction techniques he went with arctic birchwood and milled steel
this is more time consuming and heavy and expensive
but soviet industry had been milling things for many years
so it was easy to adapt workers and machinery
but simonov also saw advancements in other countries designs
so he made a rifle that would shoot the new intermediate m43 round
instead of the bolt actions most were using he made it semiautomatic like the american garand
but with the smaller ammunition it held 10 rounds instead of 8
and you could load it with clips but unlike the garand the clip was disposible
the bolt carrier would lock back on an empty magazine and had feed lips so you could slide a new clip right in
it uses a short stroke gas system
that means gas is bled off from the barrel and pushes a piston over the barrel
that piston goes back to push another little piston but doesnt go all the way
then the bolt carrier ejects the spent case and loads a new one
the bolt is kinda neat because it slips down into the receiver to lock
the entire fire control group comes out in one assembly
the whole rifle is really easy to strip and doesnt need any tools to disassemble
it has a compartment in the butt to store a cleaning kit
i love this and think its required on all rifles
so its semi auto
just bang and dont bang
10 rd fixed magazine
loaded by clips or single rounds
its kinda heavy for what it is
which gives it really mild recoil
definitely fun to shoot
has a bayonet that locks forward or back
has around a 400 m range
overall its just a very simple and robust system
it was adopted by the soviets as the sks45 in 1945
and it was given to and produced in many soviet allies
lots of them are available on the us surplus market
lol i wont tell you how much i paid for mine
but lets just say
its tripled in value
invest in guns
but clammy you ask
if its such a great gun why have i never seen it used
well
there was this guy called kalashnikov
he competed against simonov with a carbine of his own
but he sucked and his gun sucked and the sks was picked
so then kalashnikov went back to the drawing board and ended up making the ak47
detachable 30rd magazine
select fire
it was a no brainer
after the ak47 got adopted the sks45 was obsolete
in just two years
but it was still a great gun and was used by second line troops
and by guerrilla armies
the vietcong used them a lot
and youll see them used today for hunting and plinking
its light enough to carry but hits hard enough to take out a deer
in fact the terminal effectiveness and bullet drop is similar to the .30-30
which is another classic deer cartridge
there are tons of aftermarket accessories for it too
most are junk lol
people try to turn them into an ak and it doesnt work out
there are extended magazines
that fail
there are sights and scope attachments that replace the top cover
which wobble all around
basically if you have an sks i suggest you just leave it as originally made
its an excellent carbine and will serve you well just as simonov designed it
pewpew
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Nadeshda ago
This is awesome and I genuinely learnt stuff I did not know... too cool!
@thebuddha, @Expertshitposter @MyDearWatson @EyeoftheChampion @battlefat
Get in here this is some interesting stuff going on!
TheBuddha ago
LOL I was sleeping.
Nadeshda ago
Well hello you! How you doing?
TheBuddha ago
Much the same. You?
Nadeshda ago
Not too shabby Sir! :)
TheBuddha ago
Excellent!
I'm in good spirits, though that's pretty normal for me. I'll probably be cracking jokes on my deathbed and telling people to not worry 'bout it and trying to get them to stop their crying and shit.
Nadeshda ago
You are not dying, lol having mono too will pass and yes the good Spirits indeed are worth pursuing :)
I think your attitude towards it is sometimes melodramatic but sooo funny and is certainly fun to read about, but I am concerned you are not receiving optimal care, you are not a speing chicken you know...
TheBuddha ago
Wrong!
I am too dying!
Just not from mono! ;-)
I am sore as hell today, but my throat is actually less sore than yesterday. I still have no energy. I sat up long enough to write an article and then got prone right afterwards. It sucks, because I'm used to being pretty energetic.
I can deal with the pain, I've got opiates. My daughter says my spleen is a bit more swollen today, but not even remotely dangerously so. It feels like what I picture a heart attack feels like - except I don't know, 'cause I've never had a heart attack. They're kinda in the same area, so it applies pressure to the lung and heart on the left side.
It's the damned lack of energy that gets to me. It's even hard to concentrate.
That part is something I'm not used to. That's the part that really sucks. Pain? I'll get over that. Having no energy? This is wasted time. It's time when I can't even really be productive in much of any capacity.
Man, I'm going to be a grumpy old man, if old age is like that.
Nadeshda ago
You will have to start living through the actions of others when you get older and use your vibrant personality to continue to motivate people to goodness. You getting old will be fine, you just have to shift gears that is all. You could always hire me as your PA, I look after really old people, all the time.
Noo problem... ;)
TheBuddha ago
I'll probably just do lots and lots of cocaine!
I'm gonna be a hit at the bingo hall!
Nadeshda ago
Lol... watch out those bingo ladies are serious and you could cause a riot...
TheBuddha ago
Oh, they are a group of ladies not to be trifled with. Man, I do now kinda want to see old ladies playing bingo on cocaine. I'm pretty sure that'd be the best day ever!
Nadeshda ago
I have a game scheduled for 3:30 on Friday, get yer arse over here, lol :)
TheBuddha ago
?