Russian SKS stovepipes last round

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TreeOfWoe

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Hi everyone,

I've taken my stock 1953 Tula Russian SKS to the range a few times now, and put about 500 rds through it so far. Now and then (maybe every 20 clips or so? Seems to be somewhat random), I get a stovepipe on the last live round in the magazine. The round gets caught between the chamber and the bolt carrier with the bullet facing up, with part of the casing dented in by the bolt carrier. I've only been shooting the non-corrosive Norinco ammo from Canadaammo.com... any ideas what could be causing this? Problem with the magazine perhaps? I am considering getting a new magazine, but feel bad about it as all of the parts are matching on this gun.
 
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This ammo seems to be loaded low for some reason. I was shooting some of it yesterday and a lot of time, my bolt wouldnt hold open on the last round and I experience the same stovepipe, out of a CZ858. I switched to my regular chinese corrosive copperwashed, problem solved !
 
Norinco shoots better than Barnaul FMJ or SP from my 4 SKS's at 100 yrds. The shells ejecting are rather comical they fly up to 30-40 ft in any direction. Yesterday I was having a laugh raining parabolic arch shells on my shooting partners lol

One SKS did give me a couple of stovepipe with barnaul. Easily cleared pulled the handle rack and keep firing at Imperialism.
 
Many SKS will have a stovepipe from time to time or even on a regular basis. It seems to get better after putting a couple of thousand rounds thru.
There might be some possibility that the grey or green lacquer coated casings are sticking in the chamber a little in comparasion to copper washed.
 
Hmm, I've been shooting the copper washed though. But good to hear it isn't a big deal. So far, it's been a simple matter of pulling back the bolt carrier and clearing the round, so its just an annoyance.
 
How is your mag pinned? Through the base baseplate or through the follower with a big pin? If the pin sits proud of the top of the follower that might be the problem, I had this issue on one of mine. Solved the problem when I filed the pin flush with the follower, you have to centre punch it to flare the pin so it won't fall out.
 
Very likely this is the problem. Follower pinned mags are prettier but often have problems with last shell and with the pins falling out.

Butcherbill said:
How is your mag pinned? Through the base baseplate or through the follower with a big pin? If the pin sits proud of the top of the follower that might be the problem, I had this issue on one of mine. Solved the problem when I filed the pin flush with the follower, you have to centre punch it to flare the pin so it won't fall out.
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PinkyPlinker said:
Is your recoil spring in the right way? Squiggly end goes in first.
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Yes.

Butcherbill said:
How is your mag pinned? Through the base baseplate or through the follower with a big pin? If the pin sits proud of the top of the follower that might be the problem, I had this issue on one of mine. Solved the problem when I filed the pin flush with the follower, you have to centre punch it to flare the pin so it won't fall out.
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Through the base of the magazine, big ugly pin that limits the follower. Maybe it's the source of the issue?

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^nope that is the other style of pin he is talking about. Not the pin through the follower. I do think it could be a follower issue of some kind.

Do you load the mag like hickok45? if so and your first round isn't on the proper side it will stovepipe.

(he loads with the mag open and rifle upside down dropping loose rounds in then closing the mag.)
 
Not the style of follower I had to fix, I have the big block like yours on another and it's never given me problems. Does your follower pivot smoothly, if not that could be the issue. Otherwise I'd look at trying different ammo and see if the problem goes away, is the gas tube fit tight or loose? Does the problem only happen on the last round?
 
PinkyPlinker said:
Does the follower pivot freely on the arm? looking less likely that it is a mag problem.
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Yeah, it does move freely. Can pivot maybe 30 degrees or so in either direction. It's centered with the chambered, but have a little bit of give maybe 1mm to each side (my SKS is a little bit loose fitting with parts).

Butcherbill said:
Not the style of follower I had to fix, I have the big block like yours on another and it's never given me problems. Does your follower pivot smoothly, if not that could be the issue. Otherwise I'd look at trying different ammo and see if the problem goes away, is the gas tube fit tight or loose? Does the problem only happen on the last round?
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Yep, only on the last round every time out of a 5 rd stripper clip. I've been loading from stripper clips only and putting in individual rounds from the top, only has happened with stripper clips (don't load like hickok!). The gas tube fits fairly tight but it is not perfectly aligned, and the top has a small gap of about <half a millimeter. I've been putting little dabs of oil on the gas port a little bit where that small gap occurs. Seems to just be the way the machining aligns. I can rock the upper handguard back and forth but the gas tube itself is very snug. Do you think it could be the problem? I've attached a pic.

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I reread your OP. It stovepipes with the primer end up? Weird. I'd think the only way it could do that is if the last round is angled downward. Have a good look at the feed lip on the side the last round is on. Either it is pointing the last round downward or the follower is pointing it down.

It isn't a gas system problem as it is charging far enough to pick up the round.
 
PinkyPlinker said:
I reread your OP. It stovepipes with the primer end up? Weird. I'd think the only way it could do that is if the last round is angled downward. Have a good look at the feed lip on the side the last round is on. Either it is pointing the last round downward or the follower is pointing it down.

It isn't a gas system problem as it is charging far enough to pick up the round.
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Sorry, I was mistaken. It stovepipes with the bullet up! Not sure why I said that - edited now.
Yeah, weird. And most stripper clips load and fire all rounds just fine. I want to say it's the ammo but then why only on the last round in the magazine?
 
SA85M1 said:
Could be the mag spring is/has weakened...easy fix..
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Just a matter of buying a replacement spring then eh?

Actually, you're right, it must be weak. If I lean my SKS upright (i.e. at the range), the magazine lid closes, and I noticed other with other SKS's I've seen at the range, the follower is visible and the magazine is wide open even when the firearm is upright.
 
Since it's only the last round I'd say the gas system is not the problem, I bet it's a mag issue since it's only the last round. That was the case with mine as well, always the last round when it malfunctioned. You might be on to it with the mag spring but it have a real good look at the mag overall, do you have any snap caps or dummy rounds you can manually cycle through?
 
Definitely a mag issue. My buddys SKS does exactly this too with the factory mag. Occasionally he'll get a round sticking up out of the gun, with the bolt carrier putting a nice dent into the case.

Buy a Tapco Mag, and see if that fixes your problem, it did for my friend. Even if you dont want one of those ugly duckbill mags, they are cheap, and it will tell you if the current mag is the problem or not.
 
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