sks 56 User Guide

TC 9-56

DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY TRAINING CIRCULAR

SKS RIFLE

SIMONOV TYPE 56

iEADQUARTERS,

DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY

OCTOBER 1969

THE 7.62~MM SIMONOV SEMIAUTOMATIC

CARBINE (SKS)

General

The Soviet-designed Simonov semiautomatic carbine (fig1 ), a
gas-operated, integral box magazine-fed weapon equipped with a
folding blade bayonet, is now obsolete in the Soviet Army, but is
used by most of the other Eurasian Communist countries. This
weapon has been manufactured in East Germany as the
Karabiner-S (fig 2 ),
56 semiautomatic carbine, in North Korea as the Type 63 carbine,
and in Yugoslavia as the M59/66 rifle. The country of origin can

be determined by the markings. The Soviet and East German
weapons usually carry the year of manufacture and the serial
number on the front left of the receiver; the PRC weapons have
the symbol XhA
PRC Type 56 has a spike bayonet. The North Korean weapons
have “63” stamped into the receiver cover. The East German
version has a hole through the stock for attaching the lower end of
the sling; the others all have sling swivels. The Yugoslav M59/66
(fig 3 ! has a prominent spigot-type grenade launcher permanently
attached to the muzzle and a folding grenade launching sight (fig

4 ) at the rear of the launcher.

in the People’s Republic of China as the Type

(Type 56) located there, and the late

OPERATING HANDLE

I

Wu.9. 511396

SAFtlY

Figure 1 . Soviet Simonov semiautomatic carbine (SKS).

Figure 2 . East German Karabiner-S.

Figure3 .

Figure 4 .

Technical Data

Technical data concerning the SKS carbine will be found in table

II.

Yugoslav M59/66 rifle.

M59/66 gas cutoff.

Operation

a. Grasp the operating handle (fig 1 ), pull it fully to the
rear, and release it. If the magazine is empty, the bolt will remain
open. Insert a stripper clip into the clip guides at the top front of
the bolt carrier, and with the thumb as close as possible to the

base of the top cartridge, press the cartridges off the clip and into
the magazine (fig 5 ). Remove the empty clip. If clipped

Figure 5 . Loading the SKS.

ammunition is not available, individual cartridges can be placed on
top of the magazine follower and pressed down into the magazine

until it is full. Pull operating handle rearward and release it; the

bolt will run forward and chamber a cartridge.

CAUTION: The rifle is now ready to fire!

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b. If the rifle is not to be fired immediately, apply the

safety (fig 1 ) by rotating it forward and upward.

C.

Set the rear sight for the desired range by depressing the

slide catch (fq 1 )

and moving the sight bar along the leaf until
the front edge of the bar is aligned with the line below the number
that corresponds to the range in hundreds of meters. The first
character on the sight leaf is a battle sight setting that is used in
combat, for shooting at ranges up to 300 meters. The Yugoslav
M59/66 has folddown luminous sights (fii 3 ) for use when firing
under poor light conditions; flip these up for use.

d. The front sight is adjustable for zero.

e. To fire the weapon, rotate the safety rearward until it is

parallel to the trigger; then aim, using a normal sight picture, and
press the trigger. The SKS will fire one shot and reload itself; when
the last round has been fued, the bolt will remain open. (The gas

cutoff of the Yugoslav M59/66 must be turned to the right for the
rifle to function. Press the gas cutoff button (fig 4

) down and

swing to the right).

*

f. To unload or clear the SKS, apply the safety, then pull

back the magazine catch (fig 3 )

and allow the magazine to swing
open. Remove all cartridges and close the magazine. Grasp the
operating handle, pull it fully rearward to eject any cartridge that
might have been in the chamber, and release the handle; the bolt
will remain open. Inspect to insure that no cartridges remain in the
magazine, barrel, or receiver.

Close the bolt, either by opening the

magazine again and pulling rearward on the operating handle and

releasing it, or by pressing the magazine platform down slightly
and pulling the operating handle rearward and releasing it. Move
the safety to the ready position, press the trigger and apply the

safety.

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The SKS bayonet is affixed by forcing the hilt to the

g-

rear (against spring pressure) ‘and swinging the bayonet forward
until it locks to the muzzle. This action is reversed to fold the
bayonet in its stowed position.

The Yugoslav M49/56 can launch rifle grenades. The

.h.

grenades must have tail booms of 22-mm inside diameter and if at
all possible, only Yugoslav-made grenades should be launched.
Prior to firing grenades, clear the rifle and cut off the
gas mechanism by pressing in the lock (fig 4

) and rotating it to

the top of the gas cylinder. Lift the grenade sight to its vertical
position. Pull the operating handle rearward until it is caught open
and insert a grenade launching cartridge into the chamber.
(Note: These cartridges are packed in the tail booms of the
Yugoslav grenades.) Under no circumstances can a bulleted
cartridge be used; to do so will cause the grenade to explode on
the launcher. Depress the follower and while holding it down pull
the operating handle rearward then ease it forward. Tap the

operating handle forward to insure that the bolt locked. Slide the
appropriate type grenade fully onto the launcher. To launch the
grenade, move the safety to the fire position, align the appropriate
range arc (fig6 ) with the ogive (largest diameter) of the grenade

and then align the sight and grenade on the target. Press the
trigger.

1. Prior to firing successive rounds, the operating handle

must be smartly drawn rearward to eject the fired cartridge case.
Prior to firing bulleted rounds, fold the grenade sight rearward,
press in the lock (fig 6 ) and rotate it to the right as far as
possible.

Disassembly and Assembly

a. To disassemble the SKS carbine:

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Figure 6

(1) Clear the weapon

(2) Press in on the cover in the butt plate until the
combination tool case is ejected. Unlock the bayonet, let it hang
vertically, and after disengaging the head of the cleaning rod from
the front sight base, pull the cleaning rod out of the rifle.

Note: The East German Karabiner-S does not have a combination tool case
in the butt, nor does it have a cleaning rod; these are carried separately.

(3)

Rotate the receiver cover pin (fig 2 J to a vertical

position and pull it out as far as possible.

M59/66 grenade sight erected.

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