Foreign Weapons: Self-Loading Era
European firearm makers use a different theory than American makers.
By Cameron Hopkins
8/13/10
The famous Russian arms designer Sergey Simonov developed the Samozaryadnyj Karabin Simonova (Simonov Self-Loading Carbine), better known as the SKS, around the then-new 7.62x39 mm cartridge, which came about as part of the whole push for an intermediate “assault rifle” in the Great Patriotic War—what the rest of us call World War II. The SKS uses the Simonov locking system about which Matt Babb is quick to point out, “Some people say this is a weak action.” He pauses for effect. “Folks, this is a miniaturized PTRS anti-tank rifle. It’s a plenty tough action.”
Each student disassembles his own SKS. I lift the take-down lever on the left side of the trunnion, I remove the gas piston and I see how it moves to impact a short-stroke connecting rod that in turn hits the bolt. Ingenious. I’m looking at a short-stroke gas piston system in its purest form. I will see more examples of the short-stroke system as the class progresses.
We detour from rifles to pistols, starting with a Tokarev. It’s reminiscent of an M1911 so I find myself at home as I remove the slide stop, take out a barrel bushing and expose a barrel with a Browning-style pivoting link. Babb tells us to remove the grips via an elegantly simple rotating lever inside the magazine well.
We now remove the trigger pack and disassemble it. And I thought it was hard to get the disconnector and sear back in the M1911. I finally get the Tokarev’s pesky hammer spring to stay in place while I reinsert a pin. I breathe a sign of relief as those ingenious grip panels snick back into place.
The Makarov is a Russian knock-off of the German PP or PPK/s. It’s a simple blowback-operated pistol (meaning it doesn’t have a locked breech), chambered for the 9x18 mm Makarov cartridge. Babb explains a feature on the Makarov that sheds light on a lot of other designs: the magazine release.
“Europeans want a heel-release because they feel that the magazine should be retained with the gun. They’re not into high-speed reloads and leaving mags all over the place,” he says. Another handgun found in the sandbox is the Beretta 951 or Iraqi Tariq pistol, an open-slide design that’s the progenitor of the current 92FS. Tomorrow will be big: We will tackle the AK-47.
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