Original Item: Only One Available. This is 1950s Cold War / Vietnam War Era U.S. military issue Soviet SKS training replica rifle. The military calls these rifles Rubber Ducks. This is full size, true to weight, non-firing replica made of hard rubber, molded from an original. The top of the receiver is marked with a circle in a triangle about the year 1954 for Izhevsk Mechanical Plant, a major firearms manufacturer founded in Izhevsk in 1942 for manufacturing small arms.

These were used for training by the military so they would not ruin a real rifle and as a safety precaution to prevent accidental discharges. It measures 40 inches long, and is in good condition. There are scuffs, cuts and missing paint from use. Otherwise, the rubber is solid and is very detailed without any cracks or splitting.

Ready to hang on your wall and display!

The SKS is a semi-automatic rifle designed by Soviet small arms designer Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov in 1945.

The SKS was first produced in the Soviet Union but was later widely exported and manufactured by various nations. Its distinguishing characteristics include a permanently attached folding bayonet and a hinged, fixed magazine. As the SKS lacked select-fire capability and its magazine was limited to ten rounds, it was rendered obsolete in the Soviet Armed Forces by the introduction of the AK-47 in the 1950s. Nevertheless, SKS carbines continued to see service with the Soviet Border Troops, Internal Troops, and second-line and reserve army units for decades.

The SKS was manufactured at Tula Arsenal from 1945 to 1958, and at the Izhevsk Arsenal from 1953 to 1954, resulting in a total Soviet production of about 2.7 million. Throughout the Cold War, millions of additional SKS carbines and their derivatives were also manufactured under license in the People's Republic of China, as well as a number of countries allied with the Eastern Bloc. The SKS was exported in vast quantities and found favor with insurgent forces around the world as a light, handy weapon which was adequate for guerrilla warfare despite its conventional limitations. Beginning in 1988, millions were also sold on the civilian market in North America, where they remain popular as hunting and sporting rifles.