This Soviet SKS was made at Tula in 1954, as shown by the Tula star-and-arrow mark and the 1954 date on the receiver, and is chambered in 7.62×39. It carries import serial RL0139xx with the KBI, Inc. of Harrisburg, PA import mark, along with its original Soviet serial ЛП 67xx. All numbers are matching as stamped, with no re-numbered components. The rifle is in like new condition with a mirror bore. It wears a laminated stock and handguard, retains its folding blade bayonet and cleaning rod, and comes complete with its original sling.
The SKS was recommended for general service as the SKS-45 at the end of the Second World War, and by the end of the 1940s it had superseded the various Mosin Nagant models as the standard Soviet infantry rifle. Soviet production ran at Tula Arsenal from 1949 to 1958 and at the Izhevsk Arsenal from 1953 to 1954, for a total of about 2.7 million carbines. Through the 1950s the AK-47 gradually replaced the SKS as the standard service rifle of the Soviet Army. The SKS is a gas-operated semi-automatic fed from a fixed ten-round magazine, with a folding bayonet hinged beneath a chrome-lined barrel. Beginning in 1988, SKS carbines were sold on the civilian market in the United States and Canada. A 1954 Tula rifle dates from the two years when both Soviet arsenals were building the SKS.
Specifications
Manufacturer: Tula Arsenal
Importer: KBI, Inc., Harrisburg, PA
Country of origin: Soviet Union
Year: 1954
Model: SKS-45
Action: Gas-operated semi-automatic
Caliber: 7.62×39
Serial: RL0139xx (import); ЛП 67xx (original)
Matching: All numbers matching as stamped; no re-numbered components
Condition: Like new
Stock: Laminated stock and handguard
Bore: Mirror bore
Features: Tula star-and-arrow mark and 1954 date on receiver; folding blade bayonet; cleaning rod
Included: Original sling
