Firearms experts pointed out some of the features in the grainy photo, suggesting that the rifle is actually a Soviet cousin of the AK, the SKS. It was designed in the 1940s by another famous ...

Millions of Soviet rifles were made during the war, and it remained the main small arm of the largest mobilized army in history with some 17.4 million being manufactured from 1941 to 1945.

Millions of Soviet rifles were made during the war, and it remained the main small arm of the largest mobilized army in history with some 17.4 million being manufactured from 1941 to 1945.

This program came from the careful study of Soviet sniper tactics, while the predominate amount of Finnish sniper rifles were captured Soviet M/91-30 and SVT-40 types equipped with Russian optics.