couple of SKS questions

BrotherRockeye

BrotherRockeye

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my '55 Tula showed up in the mail yesterday.

It sure doesn't have the fit and finish of my Yugo but I like that it's smaller and lighter.
I broke it down to get familiar and noticed right away that the receiver cover was solid as a rock.(and that the recoil spring assembly was in backwards :eek: )
I've heard nothing but bad reviews about the scope mount covers that you can buy as far as fit and maintaining poi.
Question-is there a base or rail that's made to be mounted to the existing cover.(same curve on mating surface)It would be easy enough to D&T.
I was going to go with a Choate mount but that puts the scope in a bad place for stripper use and spent case ejection imo.
Second,I've read all kind of horror stories about the dreaded "slam fire" and see that a spring loaded firing pin is the answer.Makes sense...Of course they were only issue for a short while and cost $35+ shipping to buy one.
Question-has anyone just chucked a standard firing pin in a lathe and took it down,made a shoulder and added a spring...or will I be the first?
Is there any reason I shouldn't try it?
I've studied the pics of both styles and it looks doable...

thoughts please fellas...

*If the scope stuff was covered in the sticky then my bad,I'm stuck on backwoods dialup and couldn't get the pics to load.
 
BrotherRockeye, adding a rail to the cover is just as bad as a replacement cover. give it a wiggle and see how much play is there. The top is also pretty thin so you will need some very short fine thread screws to hold it in place. The drill and tap reciever mounts are hands down worth the time and money, they hold zero and can be set up however you like. A short scope or red dot on the choate can be set back enough to use stripper clips as seen in the SKS optics sticky, and BJS's weaver converta mount is about the same. A scout mount on the rear sight base is a great setup as well, very solid. I ran one for a while with a red dot and liked it. The spring loaded firing pin was only done for a few years, my geuss is it was found to be unneccessary so they eliminated it. You need a really really dirty firing pin to slam fire, I forgot to clean the cosmo out of my first one and fired hundreds of rounds with zero slam fires. Just clean it and put a light film of oil on it. (it wont gum up and slam fire with oil either) If you think you can do your own I say all the power to ya, modifications are always fun! I just dont see it as neccessary and may weaken the firing pin. Whether or not that will be a problem I dont know. But anyways I hope this helps.
 
BrotherRockeye said:
Second,I've read all kind of horror stories about the dreaded "slam fire" and see that a spring loaded firing pin is the answer.Makes sense...Of course they were only issue for a short while and cost $35+ shipping to buy one.
Question-has anyone just chucked a standard firing pin in a lathe and took it down,made a shoulder and added a spring...or will I be the first?
Is there any reason I shouldn't try it?
I've studied the pics of both styles and it looks doable...
Click to expand...


you doing all that to save a lousy 25 dollars ?
 
thanks for the reply supernova,
I like the Choate,positioning was the only issue.
I wouldn't even consider a cover mount but this cover is SOLID!NO wiggle or play.Of course that would likely change with optics hanging off it...Choate it is.
And I guess if slam fires were that big of an issue they would have kept the spring loaded firing pin...
Ok then...rattle test the firing pin and order a Choate! :D
That's pretty easy.

much obliged.
 
I dont think i would try to modify a firing pin,I didn't cheap out and bought one from SKSMAN.com for my sons gun,mine rattled fine but on the boys it stuck alittle even after extensive cleaning. JMHO
 
wtf is wrong with you guys?

-it's not about "cheaping out" or "a lousy $25"

it's about not buying what I can build.It's about pride and a sense of accomplishment!

I'm an hour from the post office and minutes from the shop.

If I can chuck it,turn it down and add a spring,why would I waste the time and money to buy one?

I was wondering if it had been done before is all.If anyone had tried it.

I think I'll stick to the antique forum where folks do for themselves.

you all feel free to just throw money at everything.
 
Calm down.

I have 7 SKS, keep the firing pin clean and you will never slam fire. Think about where the gun was made, where it was to be used, and who was using it in the field. If the Russians didn't think the spring loaded pin was necessary, enough said.

And as far as throwing money at things, some might say that putting optics that are difficult to mount on a simple carbine designed to be used mainly at around 100 yards is throwing money away.
 
BrotherRockeye said:
wtf is wrong with you guys?

-it's not about "cheaping out" or "a lousy $25"

it's about not buying what I can build.It's about pride and a sense of accomplishment!

I'm an hour from the post office and minutes from the shop.

If I can chuck it,turn it down and add a spring,why would I waste the time and money to buy one?

I was wondering if it had been done before is all.If anyone had tried it.

I think I'll stick to the antique forum where folks do for themselves.

you all feel free to just throw money at everything.
Click to expand...

i understand your mentality, sure chuck it up and giver, but i found as long as you keep the bolt clean there is no issue with slam fires, the bolt is super easy to take apart and should be cleaned after every range session, if you want a project, build a kick ass removeable side mount for it and laugh all the way to the range...good luck:wave:
 
For the cost of a new firing pin go ahead and try it yourself man, worst case it doesn't work, you gave it a shot, and buy a part. You have a backup this way
 
Rockeye no need to go spring loaded

The spring loaded pin is in my opinion a gimmick. Clean all the crap out of the bolt by taking it apart. If you still feel like making chips take .0015 off the diameter of the pin and break the sharp edges on it. As for the mount not one of those reciever cover mounts is worth a pinch of coon sh*t. Go with the Choate or something like it that screws to the lower reciever. If the mount can move even .005 it will make the rifle seem to shoot worse. Happy shooting SKS kick ass.
 
Does anyone know how many battle rifles ever have spring loaded firing pins?
  • AR-15 & Variants = Nope
  • G36 & Variants = Nope
  • M14 & Variants = Nope
  • VZ 58 & Variants = Nope
  • AK 47 & Variants = Nope
  • SVD & Variants = Nope
  • FN FAL & Variants = Nope
  • Sig 550 & Variants = Nope
  • Tavor = Nope
Am I worng on any of these?
The only one I can think of the top of my head but it's not a rifle carbine is the MP5.
 
Exactly Satain, my M1 has a free floating firing pin and has never slam fired commercial ammo, and its got alot more moving mass than the SKS. BrotherRockeye, dont mind the odd guy asking "why bother?" I was told not to bother trying to make my home made scope mount work for my SKS. "not worth it" some said but now its scoped exactly the way I want it. I love sitting in the garage and toying with my guns and machines, improving things to suit my needs. If you want to spin your firing pin up then give er, you can always get a replacement if it doesnt work. Just remember to post pics and info for us to enjoy :)
 
Here is a quote from surplusrifle.com

"Early Russian SKSs had a firing pin design that incorporated a return spring. Why "later" Russians, Chinese and most all others do not have this design and spring, is still a mystery. Without it, slam-fire and uncontrollable full-auto are much more likely! (even with your finger nowhere near the trigger!) Removing all the carbon, dirt, and/or Cosmoline, may not be enough to insure the firing pin doesn’t lock forward. The pic below is a cutaway SKS bolt with firing pin taper, and taper in bottom of hole in bolt, vividly shown. This is where a mechanical "lock-up" can occur, as any tapered pin driven into a similarly tapered hole will likely lock the pin in place."

My SKS slam fired right out of the box. No matter how clean and dry the pin and bolt were. So I put in a "Murray gunsmithing" spring and pin. The slams stopped.
 
Id have say that was a rare incident with a lemon rifle. Like I said earlier I ran mine full of cosmo with no slam fires, and now run them oiled with no slam fires.
 
My guess would be that the origional pin was wrong

If the origional pin was dimensionally incorrect replacing it with the murrays pin solved the problem but not for the reason that you think. If you take the murrays pin out and compare it to the origional with a mic all will be revealed.
 
supernova said:
Id have say that was a rare incident with a lemon rifle. Like I said earlier I ran mine full of cosmo with no slam fires, and now run them oiled with no slam fires.
Click to expand...

Yip

...now go on youtube and lookup "bump fire sks".....some people have lot of imagination.
 
mg4201 said:
If the origional pin was dimensionally incorrect replacing it with the murrays pin solved the problem but not for the reason that you think. If you take the murrays pin out and compare it to the origional with a mic all will be revealed.
Click to expand...

supernova said:
Id have say that was a rare incident with a lemon rifle. Like I said earlier I ran mine full of cosmo with no slam fires, and now run them oiled with no slam fires.
Click to expand...

You have both proved my point. The majority claim that a simple clean bolt and pin will eliminate slams which is untrue. All though I do realize that a company's purpose is to turn a profit, I doubt that Murrays would create a pin "solely" for the purpose of selling it to dolts who don't know how to properly clean their rifle. My rifle is proof that they are not manufactured to exacting tolerances. All I am saying is that for some people, obstructions will cause slams and cleaning will solve the problem but saying it is the only cause is incorrect
 
Satain said:
Does anyone know how many battle rifles ever have spring loaded firing pins?
  • AR-15 & Variants = Nope
  • G36 & Variants = Nope
  • M14 & Variants = Nope
  • VZ 58 & Variants = Nope
  • AK 47 & Variants = Nope
  • SVD & Variants = Nope
  • FN FAL & Variants = Nope
  • Sig 550 & Variants = Nope
  • Tavor = Nope
Am I worng on any of these?
The only one I can think of the top of my head but it's not a rifle carbine is the MP5.
Click to expand...

SVT 40 has spring loaded firing pin!

But no needed on sks, just clean the damn thing and youre good to go!
 
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