SKS
A Military-Grade Semi Automatic Rifle.
The SKS is a semi-automatic weapon in Rust. Its default ammo is the 5.56 Rifle Ammo. It deals 42.5 damage per shot at 400 shots per minute from its 15-round magazine. You craft it at a Level 3 Workbench, and its blueprint costs 100 scrap to research.
About the SKS
A full reload takes 4.4 seconds, and switching to it takes 1.2 seconds. Aiming down the sights narrows its spread from 2.05° to 0.25°, 8.2 times tighter than firing from the hip. Its 15 compatible attachments include a silencer. Mounted in an Auto Turret, it deals 35% of its normal damage.
There are 4 kinds of ammo for it: 5.56 Rifle Ammo, Explosive 5.56 Rifle Ammo, Incendiary 5.56 Rifle Ammo and HV 5.56 Rifle Ammo. With the other ammo types, its damage per second is 110 for the Explosive 5.56 Rifle Ammo and 98 for the HV 5.56 Rifle Ammo. The HV 5.56 Rifle Ammo flies fastest, at 563 m/s, and the Explosive 5.56 Rifle Ammo and Incendiary 5.56 Rifle Ammo slowest, at 281 m/s.
From full condition it fires 400 shots with the 5.56 Rifle Ammo before it breaks, which is 26.7 full magazines. With the Explosive 5.56 Rifle Ammo, which wears the barrel harder, that drops to 134. Recycling it returns the Semi Automatic Body only by chance, 50% of the time.
On the tech tree it sits behind one other unlock, the Reinforced Glass Window. In all, 7 loot sources drop it; the full list of where it drops gives the chance for each.
SKS damage and stats
Loaded with the 5.56 Rifle Ammo, the SKS deals 98 damage per second. The Incendiary 5.56 Rifle Ammo raises it to 110.
How to craft the SKS
Crafting one takes 30 seconds at a Level 3 Workbench and costs 1 × Semi Automatic Body, 2 × Metal Spring, 200 × Metal Fragments and 12 × High Quality Metal.
1 
2 
200 
12 
Level 3 How to get the SKS blueprint
Research it for 100 scrap, or unlock it on the Level 3 tech tree for 2 Blueprint Books in total.
1 Item 
100 Scrap Blueprint 100 
Node 
1 Blueprint Book Unlocked 2 How to repair the SKS
A full repair at a Repair Bench costs 41 × Metal Fragments and 4 × High Quality Metal, and you need its blueprint.
×41 ×4 SKS compared with other semi-automatic weapons
Among the 10 semi-automatic weapons it ranks 4th for damage per second, 5th for damage per shot, 2nd for fire rate and 5th for magazine size.
The closest to it in damage per second are the Semi-Automatic Pistol, Semi-Automatic Rifle, Python Revolver and Revolver.
5.56 Rifle Ammo 42.5 98.1 0.3° 469 ×225–125m 
Explosive 5.56 Rifle Ammo 47.5 109.6 0.8° 281 ×225–125m 
Incendiary 5.56 Rifle Ammo 47.6 109.8 0.3° 281 ×225–125m 
HV 5.56 Rifle Ammo 42.5 98.1 0.3° 563 ×225–125m Damage & DPS are per-shot with the listed ammo; aim cone is the spread in degrees, velocity in m/s.
Variable Zoom Scope –––––+50 %––– 
Burst Module –+30 %-35 %-35 %–-35 %––– 
Extended Magazine –––––––+25 %– 
Weapon flashlight ––––––––– 
Gas Compression Overdrive +20 %-20 %––+30 %+10 %––+20 % 
Holosight ––-20 %–––––– 
Weapon Lasersight ––-20 %-50 %––-90 %–– 
Muzzle Boost –+10 %+0.15+0.5––––– 
Muzzle Brake -15 %–+0.5+2–-50 %-100 %–– 
Simple Handmade Sight ––––––––– 
Oil Filter Silencer -30 %–––-30 %–––– 
Military Silencer -25 %–––-25 %–––– 
Soda Can Silencer -30 %–––-35 %–––– 
8x Zoom Scope –––––+50 %––– 
Targeting Attachment ––––––––– What the SKS recycles into
A green recycler always gives back 1 × Metal Spring, 100 × Metal Fragments and 6 × High Quality Metal for one.
×1 ×100 ×6 50% ×1 ×120 ×7 60% 20% 20% 
×1 ×150 ×9 75% 50% 
×80 ×4 40% 80% 80% Where to find the SKS
Locked Crate has the best chance at 5.6%, followed by Elite Crate at 1.9% and Helicopter Crate at 0.66%.
Stats checked against the Rust game files on 13 November 2026.
