The Samozaryadny Karabin sistemy Simonova, 1945 (SKS) is probably one of the most underrated rifles in milsurp wishlists. I've never been a huge fan of the AK-47 because of it's ergonomics and recoil but love the 7.62x39 round. In my quest to get something chambered in that round, I discovered the SKS.
Designed by Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov in 1943 as a replacement for the heavier, harder-hitting Mosin Nagant, the SKS is a gas-operated rifle that has a spring-loaded bolt carrier and a gas piston rod that work to unlock and cycle the action via gas pressure exerting pressure against them. [paraphrased from wikipedia].
It features a 10-round internal magazine that can be fed via stripper clips or manually loaded 1 round at a time. Most will come with a bayonet or spike attached to the barrel and Yugos frequently include a cool grenade launcher attachment.
The SKS is way more ergonomic (for me) than tha AK-47 and a lot easier to handle. I've hit 12" plates at 250 yards fairly consistently with this guy and own 2....a Yugo SKS and a Chinese Norinco (pictured below).
