Dry firing a sks
- Thread starter MosinNagantM44
- Start date
The sks is made to be used by conscripts peasants against bad Imperialists pigs...
SKS firing pins are sturdy enough that you will get dead before you broke them so you will not break them just dry firing from time to time.Jocelyn
.30/06 FTW
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Thunder Bay, Ontario
Let's just say, by the time it breaks zombies will be feasting on you and somebody else will have taken it!
Personally... I would not do it. If you look at a cutaway of an sks bolt, you will see that all but the very earliest russian models have a floating firing pin that is tapered at the end, and portrudes down into a tapered cavity where the tip portrudes through the hole in the bolt face.
As any machinist will tell you, a tapered pin in a tapered hole is going to end up in a snug fit. This can be bad. Repeated dry firing causes the questionable metal of the bolt face or firing pin, or both, to slightly peen over time. It can enlarge the bolt hole or just cause a tight enough fit that the firing pin will finally stick (esp when dirty or rusty) with the tip PORTRUDING!
This now changes the operation of your closed bolt semiauto rifle into an open bolt full auto. Yee haa! You will note the enormous muzzle rise as you empty your 5 round clip. Imagine the airplanes you would be shooting at if you had a 30 round mag
My cousin in LA had this very thing happen. Back in the good ol days, when Californians kept plenty of loaded weapons about, he racked a round into the chamber in his bedroom. It slam fired the remaining 3 rounds he had in it through his wall and into his mothers fur coats in the closet.. with the last high round into a ceiling beam. No one called the cops... lol And this is in a nice suburb outside of Beverly Hills. God Bless the USA.
Be careful with your firing pin. I just ordered a new non-floating stainless pin, WITH a rebound spring for about $40 shipped. It came from Murrays Gun shop in Texas. Google it. He has retro fit hammers and triggers and stuff too. Neat.
Enjoy the rifle. Also bear in mind the stock trigger can let go when bumped really hard sometimes. They often don't have really good sear engagement, even though the trigger can feel like you are pulling a cinder block with fishing line and your index finger. I tend to really have this thing ready and down range before I chamber a round. Mind you I have also made some safety mods to the sear and now the firing pin, so my specific Chinese example is pretty safe now
As any machinist will tell you, a tapered pin in a tapered hole is going to end up in a snug fit. This can be bad. Repeated dry firing causes the questionable metal of the bolt face or firing pin, or both, to slightly peen over time. It can enlarge the bolt hole or just cause a tight enough fit that the firing pin will finally stick (esp when dirty or rusty) with the tip PORTRUDING!
This now changes the operation of your closed bolt semiauto rifle into an open bolt full auto. Yee haa! You will note the enormous muzzle rise as you empty your 5 round clip. Imagine the airplanes you would be shooting at if you had a 30 round mag
My cousin in LA had this very thing happen. Back in the good ol days, when Californians kept plenty of loaded weapons about, he racked a round into the chamber in his bedroom. It slam fired the remaining 3 rounds he had in it through his wall and into his mothers fur coats in the closet.. with the last high round into a ceiling beam. No one called the cops... lol And this is in a nice suburb outside of Beverly Hills. God Bless the USA.
Be careful with your firing pin. I just ordered a new non-floating stainless pin, WITH a rebound spring for about $40 shipped. It came from Murrays Gun shop in Texas. Google it. He has retro fit hammers and triggers and stuff too. Neat.
Enjoy the rifle. Also bear in mind the stock trigger can let go when bumped really hard sometimes. They often don't have really good sear engagement, even though the trigger can feel like you are pulling a cinder block with fishing line and your index finger. I tend to really have this thing ready and down range before I chamber a round. Mind you I have also made some safety mods to the sear and now the firing pin, so my specific Chinese example is pretty safe now
I had a problem dry firing my 50/51 russian tula.... after several dry fires, the firing pin would rub on the "firing pin lock" and cause it rotate out of place. once rotated out, the "pin lock" edge would jam into the bolt carrier and cause the whole bolt/carrier assembly to jam just out of battery. would then need a hammer or excessive force to get the whole thing to pry loose.
I switched the firing pin with my dads 54 tula firing pin and no more dry fire problems (better pin shape/design on later models)
I switched the firing pin with my dads 54 tula firing pin and no more dry fire problems (better pin shape/design on later models)
