Chinese SKS Jamming Problems

BigGameHunter

BigGameHunter

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I bought an Chinese SKS about 2 years ago. When I bought it I also bought a Crate of ammo. Since I have bought it I have had nothing but problems. The lacquered steel ammo when fired does not even try and extract it just jams right shut requiring a mallet to open the action. After this I tried cleaning up the chamber and still the same problem only not so much locking up but stovepipes.

I bought some Wolf Ammo and although it is a great improvement, it still will stovepipe more than I would like.

It is very frustrating going to the range with a few hundred rounds of ammo and only getting to fire off a few and the rest of the time troubleshooting.

I have not fired it in about a year but a while ago I stripped it right down again. Soaked the parts in solvent and cleaned it right up. I also refinished the stock and put it all back together. It seems to be a bit smoother now but I am still kind of jaded from past experiences.

Is there any help anyone can offer me as I really like the rifle as it seems like if it was reliable I would have a lot of fun with it. Also it is bone stock has no aftermarket magazine or anything else that could be the culprit.

Thanks to anyone who can shed light on this.
 
If the chamber is not chromed, it could of got a rough spot from rust or lacquer.

I would first clean it with a strong solvent "not CLP something stronger lol"

If there is a rough spot, then wrap a chamber brush in steel wool and use a cordless drill and cleaning rod to polish it out.
 
As for stove pipes with wolf ammo

Try more lube and check your return rod to make sure its not backwards or scrap out your gas port.
 
Thank you for the reply

I cleaned it with a industrial degreaser. There is not a drop of cosmo on it at all. The parts are all in the way they should be. I have a ebook on assembly/disassembly and many videos. With my luck I probably got a lemon. I just wish there was a way to make lemonade.

I just want to get it to work the way everyone else says theres do. Would buying some aftermarket parts help? If so what?

I wouldn't want to be the guy who got this rifle as his battle rifle. lol
 
Ahhhh degreaser wont break down lacquer

It does not sound like you have a broken part so try what I said before and got shooting
 
Get a Russian one, better quality

BigGameHunter said:
I bought an Chinese SKS about 2 years ago. When I bought it I also bought a Crate of ammo. Since I have bought it I have had nothing but problems. The lacquered steel ammo when fired does not even try and extract it just jams right shut requiring a mallet to open the action. After this I tried cleaning up the chamber and still the same problem only not so much locking up but stovepipes.

I bought some Wolf Ammo and although it is a great improvement, it still will stovepipe more than I would like.

It is very frustrating going to the range with a few hundred rounds of ammo and only getting to fire off a few and the rest of the time troubleshooting.

I have not fired it in about a year but a while ago I stripped it right down again. Soaked the parts in solvent and cleaned it right up. I also refinished the stock and put it all back together. It seems to be a bit smoother now but I am still kind of jaded from past experiences.

Is there any help anyone can offer me as I really like the rifle as it seems like if it was reliable I would have a lot of fun with it. Also it is bone stock has no aftermarket magazine or anything else that could be the culprit.

Thanks to anyone who can shed light on this.
Click to expand...
 
If you reload or know someone that does make up some dumby rounds about 3 would be nice. Load it up and cycle the bolt by hand. Try to see if you can get it to stovepipe while cycling the action slowly, maybe you can spot the source of the problem. Sometimes very small things can cause big problems.
 
Please post pic's of the front of the bolt assembely, the chamber and also the mag follower and feeding lip's. Also does the op-rod move freely when fireing or is it getting stuck causeing jamming?
 
I have a chinese that I bought that had the exact same problem. It would fire but the bolt would only move slightly(3/8") but not enough to eject(very hard to see but I used a camera and put it in slow motion). I checked EVERYTHING, had LeverArms look over the rifle(even cleaned it for me just to be sure), they said nothings wrong. Lucky i had two of them, started swapping parts and finally when I got to the gas tube, it was the culprit. Everything looked perfect, no pitting, no rust but after a new one from LeverArms, it solved the problem. I bought this rifle back in 2005, could be same batch??
 
Good one 7.62Nato. It could also be op-rod it's the second and smaller piston. Some times it binds and dosn't allow the chamber to close properly. This then as a safety feature will not allow the trigger to drop the hammer so you don't get an out of battery fire. This is easy to check by dis-assembling the gas assembely. Then see if the piston moves back and forwards in the gas tube. Not far but it should move a little bit. Now if it does do this with out a hitch, grab a punch or a screw driver and see if you can move the oprod that is still inside the rifle under the rear sight. If any of these get stuck then relplace it and it should correct the problem. Since you said that you cleaned the chamber and there is nothing out off place with your magazine system and bolt.
 
Thank you Nato and Satain. Your responses are more in line with my issue.

As for the OP-ROD it does move but it is very stiff. The gas piston is mirror polished and the tube is cleaned up of any burrs and rough spots. The chamber was cleaned up as well with scotchbrite and is very smooth when cycling a round manually and there is what appears to be plenty of room.

It never jams if I just fill the mag up and cycle rounds through it however as soon as it is fired and the casing expands i guess that is when the round (always with the lacquered ones and 50/50 with wolf rounds). Can you sand the lacquer off the casings? I mean I have 800 rounds left and it would be a waste to not use them. (I gave away about 2-300 of them for other people with SKS's to try). In my buddies Yugo they worked better but still a couple hiccups with them.

How much play can a chamber have? It was tight before now that it is cleaned up it slides out very easy.


The gas tube and piston slide nicely however if it goes all the way to the end of the tube like if i left it fall down the tube like if i am holding the tube/piston vertically it will bind up but I don't think that is a problem because when it is shooting the rod end does not go that far out of the tube anyways.

I wish I didn't have to drive an hour to test it out all the time. I would just go to where I shoot my 22-250 and .223 but there is the whole .275 rule. Is there any way I could just build a bullet trap and test it out without driving an hour only to be disappointed every time?

I was wondering if I should just buy a new piston/tube and OP-ROD and see what happens. How much do they run? I don't really want to spend over 50 bucks as the rifle itself was only 150.

Like I said I always liked the SKS/AK firearms and purchased it basically because I was told they were bombproof and some of the most reliable guns out there. Anyways thanks for the help and hopefully I can turn this thing back into a gun instead of a pile of stamped steel and cheap wood.

One more thing. It is possible to take these guns down to the bare metal and blue them instead of the parkerized/whatever finish is one them? or is the material too rough cause I was thinking that would help smooth it out as with a side/side comparison of the YUGO and the CH. one the YUGO is a lot smoother and obviously a better built rifle.
 
I have a problem with my well used russian sks about 15 years ago.The gun would fire but failed to extract. The gas tube was very loose on the gas block so i guessed there was too much gas pressure lost to cycle the action properly. I have replaced the gas tube and the problem never show up anymore. So maybe you need to replace the gas tube?
 
"I was wondering if I should just buy a new piston/tube and OP-ROD and see what happens. How much do they run? I don't really want to spend over 50 bucks as the rifle itself was only 150."

I'm an equal opportunity firearm owner - never met one I didn't like =)

Having said that, dump it. Put it up on the EE or kick it out locally, being sure to outline your issues for the new buyer. Take the $$$ you get for the lemon and buy yourself something that works.

Maybe try out Westrifle SKS? He's new and keen to prove himself here, so I doubt very much you'll get another piece of crap.

There are so many good ones out there, it seems kinda pointless to saddle yourself with a junker.
 
Delta, that is a good suggestion however I don't want to burden someone else with my problem unless it was a gunsmith or something. I think I am gonna give it one more shot maybe get a new piston/tube. If that doesn't work I might just leave it in the back of the cabinet until I have enough money to possibly get a Russian.

Is there any possible way that the springs just need to be broken in on it? Like they are all tight. I noticed after dry firing the daylights out of it and racking the slide that all of those parts have smoothed out. I was just wondering if I haven't put enough successful rounds down the pipe to work in the OP-ROD/return spring?
 
The problem sounds like the op-rod spring is no good or it could be a worn out extractor spring. Please dis-assemble the bolt and exam the extractor and take a picture for me also measure the op-rod spring and tell me how long it is.
 
so it could be possible that it came with a bunk spring? I just figured before they bathed them in cosmoline that they refurbished them or whatever with newer parts. I will take some pics tommorrow when I go over to my cousins to get it.
 
make sure that the recoil spring is installed properly in the bolt carrier.the straight part of the spring should be aft(showing) when you slide it into the bolt carrier(the squigly or warped end of the spring goes in first).
between the piston/tube and the chamber there is another spring loaded plunger that could be in need of cleaning/oiling.the takedown lever for the gas tube-if you push it all the way up the plunger/spring will fly out.make sure you place your finger in front of the plunger/spring to stop it from flying over hells half acre.to reinstall plunger/spring push these parts in with a punch and lower the takedown lever to the upper detent.
 
"Delta, that is a good suggestion however I don't want to burden someone else with my problem unless it was a gunsmith or something. I think I am gonna give it one more shot maybe get a new piston/tube."

Fair enough. There are some folks out there who like being saddled with this kind of problem - it's a challenge I guess =D

Your OP makes it pretty clear that this is a pretty significant source of frustration for you and shooting is supposed to be FUN not annoying.

EDIT: Toyboy makes a good point as well. It's easy to flip the spring assy.
 
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