Non Firing SKS

Spearhunter

Spearhunter

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Ajax ON
A few weeks ago, I took my SKS to the range for the first time. It worked 100% and I was very happy with it. I went home, took everything apart and cleaned them. I didn't take the firing pin out of the bolt but immersed the bolt in cleaning solution. Upon assembly, I checked the pin and it was moving freely in the bolt.

Yesterday I was back at the range and to my dismay, the rifle would not fire. Every round I ejected had a light imprint of the firing pin but not hard enough to detonate the primer. After 2 rounds I took the bolt out to ensure the firing pin was not stuck. It was still clean and moving freely in the bolt. The spring appeared to be fine, with the wriggly end near the bolt cover.

I tried 8 successive rounds and all 8 failed to fire. All had a mark from the firing pin but appeared very light. :confused:

Any advise what might be wrong? Thank you.
 
Is it Chinese?

I had a Chinese SKS, and the pin that holds the bbl into the receiver broke, causing the bbl to move out a few mm's, resulting in it not working.

My 'smith told me they use a hydraulic press to seat the bbl's, and w/o one, they are irrepairable...

Anyways, that's my only expirence with that!
 
Norton said:
Spring assembly in backwards?
The coiled end (wriggly end) of the recoil spring assembly that has the retainer clip on it is installed into the rear of the bolt carrier, leaving the straight end of the spring exposed.
Click to expand...

My AHA moment. I had put it in backwards :mad: Didn't realize it could make a difference.

Sorry for the confusion folks. The spring I am referring to is the recoil spring. This is a Tula SKS with NO spring on the firing pin.

It dry fires ok, with a resounding click. But when loaded, I notice a light click. Maybe that is always the case since one does not hear anything other than the muzzle blast if all things worked.

I will reverse that spring and hopefully enjoy my time at the range next time.
 
Why would the recoil spring have any effect on the striking of the primer? Unless the bolt carrier doesn't seat fully forward... have you had a chance to fire it again?
 
No I haven't but I am almost sure that was the reason.

The wriggly end of the spring assembly was where there was most compression with the spring closely spaced together. The other end where the spring was straight and the coils uniformly spaced has less compression. By positioning the wriggly end behind the bolt carrier, you allow all that compression to slam the carrier hard enough to detonate the primer.
 
As long as the action was closed, I can't see the recoil spring having anything to do with the way the hammer hits the firing pin. Stranger things have happened though. I look forward to a range test.
 
is this a relatively new sks? some are packed in grease so tight that inside the bolt where the firing pin is. take out the firing pin and spring. use engine degreaser to remove the grease, then lace it with oil. and try it again. i have seen 2 sks's with that exact problem.
 
CTS said:
If reversing the spring does not work for you, then take a look at my problem as it sounds to be EXACTLY like your problem. It was working perfectly then all of a sudden after a cleaning it just stopped. It ended up being the hammer spring for me. Good luck!!

http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=328161&highlight=sks+firing
Click to expand...

Well I might just have to look into your thread. It's been a while since my last post and I only managed to bring the SKS to the range today. All I got was a click and no bang :(

I reversed the recoil spring but either way wasn't working. I also noticed the recoil spring jumped out when I removed the bolt cover. Not sure if it had anything to do with my problem.
 
So was it the only reason?
Spearhunter said:
My AHA moment. I had put it in backwards :mad: Didn't realize it could make a difference.

Sorry for the confusion folks. The spring I am referring to is the recoil spring. This is a Tula SKS with NO spring on the firing pin.

It dry fires ok, with a resounding click. But when loaded, I notice a light click. Maybe that is always the case since one does not hear anything other than the muzzle blast if all things worked.

I will reverse that spring and hopefully enjoy my time at the range next time.
Click to expand...
 
Spearhunter said:
No, it looks like that was not the reason as it still wouldn't fire.
There is just a slight indentation on the primer which tells me the firing pin is not hitting the primer hard enough.
Click to expand...
The indentation could be from the action closing as these are free floating pins. Sort of the same idea with the M14's leaving dent's on primers.
Exam the trigger group. Pay close attention to the spring's & make sure that none are broken. Then make sure that the dissconect bar is funtioning. To do this;
Remove the bolt, bolt carrier & rear cover assembely but have the rest of the rifle assembled. Then place a nicheal on the dissconnect bar, then using a screw driver to apply the preasure. Now pull the trigger. If the hammer drops then you know that it has something to do with your bolt or bolt carrier. Now if the hammer dosn't drop then it's the dissconnect bar that is worn out or there is an issue with the sear. Try this test first and post back.
 
So from what I've read, your SKS worked fine before but stopped working after you disassembled it for cleaning. Did you attempt to disassemble the trigger group? If yes, maybe something went wrong there?

What do you mean the recoil spring jumped out when removing the bolt cover? The bolt cover is always under tension from the main spring and will push on the bolt cover when you release it. Just make sure when you re-assemble that the wiggly end of the main spring goes into the bolt carrier. However, from your test this doesn't seem to be the problem.

If dry-firing works, and live-fire leaves a dimple on the primer, then I would seriously look into taking apart your bolt to inspect and clean it thoroughly.

After that, if it still doesn't fire, then I would point a finger at the trigger group, as explained by Satain.

No professional experience, just thinking out loud.

Hope it works out for you man, and keep us updated.
 
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