The Albanian SKS: A Few Different Details
Semiauto Rifles
•
9m 15s
The Albanian SKS is the rarest of the major adoptees of the SKS rifle (Russia, China, Romania, Yugoslavia, Albania), and has a handful of interested details that differ from all other examples of the SKS rifle. The gun came about as the result of Albanian dictator Enver Hoxha’s pivot from Soviet to Chinese alliance in the 1960s. Mao granted Albania a license to produce the Type 56 SKS in 1962, and the country would produce between 15,000 and 20,000 or the rifles by 1978.
Mechanically, the Albanian version is identical to the Chinese Type 56. It differs in a few aesthetic details, however:
- Longer stock and handguards, completely covering the gas tube
- Hook shaped bolt handle
- Curved profile to the magazine body
- Two trapdoors in the buttstock
- Slightly shorter spike bayonet
These may not be hugely important details, but the give the Albanian SKS a different (and I think better) look than the other variations. In addition to the dated examples between 1967 and 1978 (less 1972-75, when no production took place), there are also a batch of undated examples. These may be the early year or years of production, but this is not known for sure.
Up Next in Semiauto Rifles
-
Daewoo K1A1: A Hybrid AR-15 and AR-18
During and after the Korean War, the South Korean military was armed with American weapons - M1 Garands, M1 Carbines, M3/M3A1 Grease Guns, and so on. In the 1970s they wanted to modernize their equipment, and looked to the US. South Korea purchased M16A1 rifles form Colt, and the Daewoo conglomer...
-
Pietta's PPS/50 - A Popular PPSh Plinker
Introduced by the Italian Pietta company in the 1970s (yes, the same Pietta that makes all those reproduction Old West revolvers and lever action rifles), the PPS/50 has been a continuously popular firearm for more than 40 years now. Designed to roughly resemble a Soviet PPSh-41 submachine gun, t...
-
Roth Haenel Model 1899 - The First Se...
While Karel Krnka and Georg Roth were in the process of developing the M1907 pistol, they diverted slightly to apply their patents to a fancy sporting semiauto rifle - the Model 1899. Produced and marketed by Haenel, the 1899 was a long recoil, rotating bolt design chambered for the German 8x45mm...
