Difference Between Similar Terms and Objects

Difference Between AK 47 and SKS

ak47-sksAK 47 vs SKS

Although most of the inventions that man has created have been used for good, there are some that have been used for destruction. How these inventions are used by man today greatly makes all the difference as to whether these inventions are beneficial or destruction. Take the AK 47 and the SKS, which were both developed in the Soviet Union during the mid-1940s. Today, both the AK 47 and the SKS are being used in countries across the world to protect the general population as well as to strike fear and cause strife among them.

Type of Mechanism

Between the two, the SKS was invented first. The SKS is a semi-automatic rifle which is comprised of a short stroke gas piston, wooden stock, tilting bolt and no pistol grip. On the other hand, the AK 47 is a selective fire, gas operated assault rifle, which is equipped with an under folding metal shoulder stock. The gas operation feature of the AK 47 makes it a lot easier to utilize by soldiers as compared to the SKS, which perhaps is one reason why the AK 47 replaced the SKS as the primary assault rifle used in combat.

Number of Bullets

One of the primary distinctions between the AK 47 and the SKS is the amount of bullets its cartridges contain. Although both rifles are considered to be semi-automatic weapons, meaning that after the bullet is fired, ejects the bullets the empty bullet, reloads and cocks itself ready to be fired again, the SKS is very limited in the number of bullets its cartridges contain. Each cartridge of the SKS contains around 10 bullets per cartridge. On the other hand, the AK 47 is equipped with a cartridge that allows one soldier to fire as much as 600 bullets per minute. This means that soldiers that use the SKS spend a lot more time reloading their weapons as compared to the AK 47.

Civilian Use

Another distinction between the SKS and the AK 47 is its availability for civilian use. While both rifles have the potential to cause harm to human beings, many governments in the world actually permit civilians to own SKS rifles, which is one of the primary weapons of choice used by recreational hunters throughout the world. However, because of the way how the AK 47 has been designed, this is only permitted to be used by military personnel.

Summary:

1.Both the AK 47 and the SKS are assault rifles that allow its user to fire a certain number of bullets without having to reload the weapon each time.
2.The cartridge used in a SKS assault rifle carries a maximum of 10 bullets. AK 47 assault rifles use cartridges that allow a person to fire 600 bullets per minute.
3.Variations of the SKS are now available to civilians which they can use for recreational hunting in certain parts of the world. On the other hand, the AK 47 can only be used by military personnel, making it illegal for civilians to own one.



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1 Comment

  1. This article is misleading in many ways, and is clearly written by someone who has little to no (probably the latter) first hand experience with firearms.

    1) The entire first paragraph is full of sentiment and subjective rhetoric, which would be fine had the article not been entitled “Difference between the SKS and the AK-46.” You personal feelings about the use of either weapon, or of the maladies of the world, have no place in a supposedly technical article comparing two rifles.

    2) “The gas operation feature of the AK 47 makes it a lot easier to utilize by soldiers as compared to the SKS, which perhaps is one reason why the AK 47 replaced the SKS as the primary assault rifle used in combat.” First off, both are gas operated. Second, they were developed simultaneously (though commissioned at different times, ‘46 for SKS, and ‘49 for AK), to fulfill different roles in the Soviet military. The AK-47 was designed as a main battle rifle, while the SKS was designed to be used by supporting/non-front line troops.

    3) The author states that the SKS carries 10 rounds (which is true, unless the magazine is replaced with a 5, 20, 30,or 75round magazine), and that the AK-47 can fire 600 rpm, but never gives a magazine capacity (the author actually used the term ‘cartridge’ in place of magazine, which is incorrect…as the word cartridge would be synonomous wit the word ’round’) for the AK-47 (which is usually 30, but again, magizine size can vary).

    4) Not all AK-47’s are fully automatic. You can walk into just about any gun store in America and find a semiautomatic variation of an AK-47 that is available for sale for civilian use. These weapons, being semiautomatic, are no different in terms of operation than any gas operated hunting rifles offered by Browning, Ruger, Remmington, etc. In fact it is easier to find an AK variant than an SKS, due to the fact that SKS’s were (with the exception of some Chinese models) manufactured only for military use, and are sold as surplus, where many AK manufacturers produce their weapons explicitly for the civilian market, and are still in production today.

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