Bite Me, Brady! #1

As part of my pledge to find ways to piss off Paul Helmke, I wish to dedicate this post and others that will follow to him. Not out of any benign motives, however. I do it to show the differing facets of gun ownership and to thumb my nose at his attempts to ban and take away my guns.

I am not a gun owner that can be pigeonholed. Like portraying hunters as beer guzzling, irresponsible rednecks with their bolt action "high powered" hunting (read: sniper) rifles or government fearing militia members with their "evil black rifles" prepared at any moment to hole up and take on the evil Government. Or a well-heeled competition pistol shooter who is a Doctor or Lawyer in their day job and fires off ammunition worth more than some people make in a month.

I hate stereotypes. I know, because I am one. I am, truly and honestly, a red-headed, left-handed stepchild. Not many people can own up to that one.

I dislike those that try to splinter and categorize gun owners. I despise gun owners that decide some fights don't warrant their interest because "their" guns wouldn't be affected. Unlike them, I have a dog in every fight. Pistols, revolvers, smallbore rifles, milsurps, hunting rifles and EBRs, I have them all.

So when Paul Helmke is going after any gun, I care. I will fight for them all. I refuse to let stereotypes and assumptions about "who would own what" win the day and fracture what should be a single show of gun owner strength and solidarity.

As a result, I bring you the gun that defies being stereotyped. It is a fitting choice for this first entry. It's semi-automatic. It looks evil but, sadly, it doesn't have the "evil features" Helmke and his misguided ilk associates with those pesky "assault weapons". But, wait, it does! But the BATFE considers it a historical collectors item. But it fires a "deadly, high powered" cartridge that is meant kill people! But people use it to hunt deer. And it has a wood stock like you associate with good, old-fashioned hunting guns. But it has a separate gas tube that bears a striking resemblance to another very well-known gun in the world.

To ban it would to ban pretty much any semi-automatic because this gun practically dares the gun grabbers to go after it. And they try to but do it on the edges. To come right out and name it as an "assault weapon" out-of-hand would be to put almost every rifle at risk somehow. It is the gun that gives the gun grabbers and banners the vapors.

I am, of course, talking about the SKS.

The SKS was designed during World War II by Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov as a replacement for the venerable Mosin-Nagant bolt-action rifle. SKS stands for "Self-loading Carbine, Simonov's System or Samozaryadniy Karabin sistemi Simonova). It saw limited action by the Red Army towards the end of the war and was adopted as the standard Soviet infantry rifle after the war.

The SKS fires the 7.62x39mm ammunition designed in 1943 as a new breed of "intermediate power" cartridges using the knowledge gleaned from the lessons of infantry warfare that were taught during the war.

The SKS was never designed as a fully-automatic rifle. It is semi-automatic like its closest American counterpart, the M1 Garand. It is equipped with a fixed 10 round magazine fed by stripper clips through the top of the action and has a permanently attached bayonet. The Russians were big on infantry charges and close-in assaults and the design of the SKS reflects this philosophy well.

The SKS only saw front-line service with the Russian Army for two years before it was replaced en-masse by the Avtomat Kalishnikova 1947, better known as the AK-47. As a result, the SKS quickly reverted to second-line use and was widely exported to satellite Communist states throughout the Cold War. Even today, the handsome SKS is used as a ceremonial weapon in Russian units much in the same way the M1 Garand is used here.

Like the AK-47, the SKS is designed for field use. It is cheap, rugged and virtually indestructable. It shoots under practically all conditions and requires no tools other than an unfired round (note: for detail stripping only, no tools for field stripping) to disassemble for cleaning or servicing. As an all-round rifle, the SKS is a great choice. Depending on the ammunition used, it is perfectly suitable as a home defense weapon, an SHTF (Shit Hits The Fan) gun or as a medium game hunting rifle at short distances (100-150 yards).

The SKS often represents the first foray by many people into Russian/Communist weapons. Because of its cousin, the AK-47, the SKS tends to be forgotten and slips into the shadows because of the notoreity of Kalishnikov's design. As a result, it doesn't tend to attract the negative attention that the AK-47 variants do. Most who own them like them as fun, reliable shooters. A target rifle it isn't. Minute-of-looter accuracy is the best you can expect of it.

The rifle pictured is my own SKS. It is the Yugoslavian M59/66 version which is easily found at gun shows and through dealers at very inexpensive prices ($130-$200 on average) for unfired examples.

The Yugo (as this version is often referred to as) differs from the standard Russian pattern SKS in that it has an integral grenade launcher on the muzzle (what looks like a large flashhider on the end) along with the launcher sight as well as glow-in-the-dark flip-up night sights. The Yugo lacks the chrome-lined barrel typically found on other SKS variants and is a little heavier. Other than those differences, it is just like a standard SKS. Yugoslavia manufactured these rifles on their own tooling in the 1950s and stored them for decades. Now they are coming here in droves at very inexpensive prices as C&R (curio and relic) firearms.

My Yugo was obtained from Bailey's Gun Shop in Tazwell, VA at The Nation's Gun Show in the summer of 2005. On a condition scale, I would rate it a 7-8 on the NRA scale. Unlike the unissued rifles you'll find at other dealers (avoid Dark Sun Surplus, lousy customer service), my rifle show signs of having been used in combat. The bore is somewhat dark and the rifling shows wear. Not worn down to the point of being a wall-hanger but it definitely was a shooter in its previous life.

What sold me on the rifle was the stock. The stock on my rifle is carved. The following pictures provide close-ups of the carving.

This is not uncommon with rifles from the Bosnian conflict. The Bosnians and Croats were desperate for weapons as the conflict unfolded and many SKS rifles found their way into their hands. They were much more loose in their discipline than the Yugoslav Army and carving/personalizing weapons was not uncommon (it was strictly forbidden in the Yugoslav Army).

From the carving, I am reasonably certain my rifle saw battle. I was curious enough about the history of my rifle to translate the carvings.

The prominent name on the stock, "Ropah", translates as "Death Rattle". I would assume this is the name given to my rifle by the person who carried it into battle. Given the dings on the stock and the general level of wear, I am sure my rifle did fire rounds in anger. Possibly even at my friends who at one point did a tour in Bosnia.

On the opposite side of the stock under the gas tube are smaller names. These are as follows:

• "Mutic" which translates as "Mischief Maker".
• "Kriko" which translates as "scream or cry".
• "Mule" which translates (as in English) as "Mule" or "Little Mule".
  

Suffice it to say, my rifle definitely has character. As a result, I have decided to keep my rifle in its stock condition. I did get parts to modify it (a new stock, scope mount, etc) but didn't like what it did to the rifle and found that it was a fine shooter as-is. Also by keeping it in its original trim, it honors its past history. This rifle was someone's companion and lifeline in battle and it does deserve to be honored as such even if it was on a side you or I may not agree with.

A Worldwide Request: If you recognize the carvings on this rifle as being done by someone you know or you were the one who did it, I would love to hear from you! The more history I can learn about who carried this rifle, where it saw action and the day-to-day life of the soldier who used it would be wonderful to have. This is not a run-of-the-mill, unissued SKS. Someone, somewhere, knows the story of my rifle. I would very much like to learn its story. I make you the promise that this rifle is being cared for and is being preserved as you carried it. I only added the sling. If you know Ropah's story, please e-mail me at the link on my blog or leave a comment.

Folks like the Brady Campaign, Ceasefire and the Violence Policy Center wring their hands with the SKS. It doesn't fit neatly into one category. The SKS represents an evolutionary middle ground between bolt-action combat rifles from WW1 and WW2 and the first true assault rifles in the form of the StG44 and AK-47. As a result, it is neither but exists in a class by itself.

Because the BATFE has classified it as a "Curio and Relic" because of its historical significance, it is allowed (in fact, required) to retain features that would otherwise make it non-importable. The gub banners can't ban it as a "assault weapon" because it isn't one. Or from their point of view, doesn't really look like one. That wood stock is a killer.

To ban the SKS would to also ban the M1 Garand for the same reasons. It doesn't have a detachable magazine so you can't get it there like you can an AK (except for the rare Norinco SKS versions that could accept AK mags and are treated as "assault weapons").

It has the fixed bayonet which they can point to and say "Ah hah!". Until you point out the lack of drive-by bayonettings that occur each year in bad neighborhoods.

The Yugo has the grenade launcher but where do you find grenades for it? Oh wait, you can't! And if you manage to scrape a couple up, start filling out your ATF "Destructive Device" paperwork, pay the taxes and get the explosive vault ready. Not exactly a problem is it? All the launcher does it make the rifle look evil. Evil! Evil! Evil!

And no pistol grip. Damn it , I can't spray fire it from the hip. I'm going to have to use the sights and fire it from the shoulder.

But it is no more deadly than your average deer rifle. A Remington .30-30 and the SKS are about equal on that score.

I think Simonov would be proud of the conflict his design has created. Not in the sense of war but in psychology. Not bad for a weapon that saw service for only two years. Since the Cold War was all about image, posturing and psychology, perhaps that is a fitting tribute for the SKS. It is doing what it was designed to do but in a new realm over 60 years after its creation.

What do you think, Mr. Helmke? Hate it that I have such an evil, deadly man killing machine in my house? Ready to spring out at a moment's notice, load itself and start spraying, one round per pull of the trigger at a time. Just being around it makes me feel like a crazed, ready-to-snap, out-of-control killer. Must. Resist.

Or maybe it is just a nice, rugged, dependable rifle with a history to be honored. Today is another day that it hasn't loaded itself and gone out and hurt people. Just like yesterday and the day before. If anything, I have done the world a favor. By my owning it, this rifle will never again see a battlefield and do harm to anyone.

You should be grateful I have this SKS, Mr. Helmke. I am preventing gun violence by owning it. But you probably won't see it that way. You probably just see it as malevolent evil cast in steel and wood. You don't care about its history, its role or those it may have protected and fought with. You just see it as an object of hatred. Not difficult given the fact that you and your friends choose to ignore history on so many things.

I think if Ropah could speak, it would tell you "Bite Me!" too.