Besides the famous AK-47, the CKC rifle is also a weapon model mentioned many times in the history of the heroic Vietnam People's Army.
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| CKC rifle is the main name in Vietnam based on the abbreviation from the Russian language Самозарядный карабин системы Симонова - meaning Simonov automatic loading rifle. English documents call it SKS when transcribing the Cyrillic writing system into English - Samozaryadnyj Karabin Simonova. CKC is also associated with the name of AK-47 as a legendary weapon duo associated with the image of the Soviet Union throughout the Cold War. Photo source: military-today. |
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| The project to develop a semi-automatic rifle to replace the Mosin-Nagant was carried out by the Soviet Union since 1943 and Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov - the father of CKC was one of the designers assigned to this task. Accordingly, he had to design a completely new semi-automatic rifle prototype using 7.62x39mm M43 bullets instead of the 7.62x54mm MMR bullets currently used by the Soviet Army. Photo source: Wikipedia. |
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| The need to own a Soviet 7.62x39mm rifle came from the actual requirements on the battlefield when most infantry gun battles were within the range of 300-700m instead of 1,000m as initially thought by Soviet generals. Photo source: military-today. |
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| Therefore, the rifle models using 7.62x54mm bullets do not fully demonstrate their effectiveness, and they themselves are too heavy and large in size to help soldiers be more mobile on the battlefield, especially in narrow environments. Before the CKC rifle, Sergei Simonov also owned two other famous designs, the SVT-40 and AVS-36, but they both used 7.62x54mm bullets. Photo source: Pinterest. |
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| The first CKC prototype to be mass produced was the CKC-45 in late 1944 and early 1945, the CKC entered World War II quite late when the war was almost over. The first battle with the CKC was on the Belarusian Front with a small number of equipped vehicles but they received positive reviews from the soldiers using them leading to mass adoption. Photo source: Tumblr. |
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| But it wasn’t until 1949, four years after the war, that the CKC semi-automatic rifle was officially adopted. However, it only served as a stepping stone for another new Soviet weapon, the AK-47 assault rifle created by Mikhail Kalashnikov. Production of the CKC was also slow and it didn’t really become as widely used as the AK-47 in the period that followed. Photo source: military-today. |
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| Compared to modern gun models, the CKC has the characteristics of a modern assault rifle but has the appearance of a basic rifle model in World War II. The fact that the gun body is made mostly of wood partly reflects this, although the CKC has significant improvements compared to its predecessors. Photo source: military-today. |
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| A CKC weighs about 3.8kg including ammunition and its wheelbase is more than 1m with a 520mm long barrel. It is made mainly of wood and steel with a simple design but requires a more complicated machining process than some contemporary rifles. Photo source: 7-62.com |
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| The CKC uses a short-stroke gas mechanism, with the first bullet being fired by a quantity of gunpowder gas extracted and pushed into the gas tube, creating a force to push back the ammunition hook assembly. This assembly moves back and immediately pushes the old shell out, compresses the rear spring, then bounces back thanks to the elastic force and hooks the next bullet into the breech, ready for the next shot. Photo source: military-today. |
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| As mentioned above, the CKC rifle uses standard 7.62x39mm ammunition, but it is not equipped with a removable magazine, but instead is a fixed magazine with a capacity of 10 rounds, accompanied by a 10-round clip for the CKC. This is also one of the reasons why the CKC is not appreciated. Photo source: military-today. |
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| In addition, the CKC gun was also equipped with a fixed bayonet on this design which was always present in the rifle models during World War II and remained intact until the time of the CKC. Photo source: military-today. |
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| One highlight of the CKC is its standard mechanical sight, which is similar in design to the AK-47, with a range measuring from 100-1,000m. Meanwhile, the effective range of this gun is only about 400m and its sight is also limited to a distance of 300m, with a maximum rate of fire of 400 rounds/minute and 40 rounds/minute in real conditions. Photo source: military-today. |
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| To date, the CKC is the most produced semi-automatic rifle in the world, with over 15 million units produced, not to mention its illegal variants in many countries. And like the AK-47, the CKC has participated in almost every war since World War II until now, it is still widely used in the Middle East and Africa thanks to the use of the same ammunition as the AK-47. Photo source: military-today. |
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| Vietnam is also one of the countries equipped with a large number of CKC rifles. It was equipped by our army from the late 1950s to the early 1960s and is still in operation today. The CKC is currently only equipped for militia units or honor guard units of the Vietnam People's Armed Forces. Photo source: military-today. |
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| Besides the AK-47, the CKC was also the fear of the American army and its henchmen during the Vietnam War because of the effective combat ability of this rifle in guerrilla warfare. And before the appearance of the M16, the American M14 automatic rifle was completely inferior to the CKC. Photo source: AR15.com |
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| After 70 years of operation, the CKC is still known as one of the immortal weapons, along with the AK-47, as they have proven to be effective on the battlefield in many different aspects. And what a soldier needs in a gun that is always by his side is present on the CKC or Ak-47, helping them to last forever. Photo source: Pinterest. |
According to Kienthuc.net
