broken punch pin stuck in sks rear sight

[Kentucky squirrel brains]

Any suggestions on how to get a stuck piece of a broken punch pin out of the hole in the rear sight of an SKS? I tried going through the other side with the remainder of the punch, and with finishing nails and tried poking through with a diamond bit that was smaller than the 1/16th diameter, and it doesn't seem to go through more that half way, and I don't think that the broken piece is that long so this is confusing. I also tried to punch the broken piece in so that I could at least get the sight out and deal with the broken piece after with the sight piece in a vice etc, but it looks like the broken piece is mushroomed out a but so won't go in far enough. My last resort is to put the whole rifle in a drill press and drill it out, but that isn't desirable since the bit would be so small. Annoying as hell as I am trying to get my Kodiak defence mount on there so I can get it ready for hunting season, and now it has become a whole new job from hell.

 

[Hmatt]

Any suggestions on how to get a stuck piece of a broken punch pin out of the hole in the rear sight of an SKS? I tried going through the other side with the remainder of the punch, and with finishing nails and tried poking through with a diamond bit that was smaller than the 1/16th diameter, and it doesn't seem to go through more that half way, and I don't think that the broken piece is that long so this is confusing. I also tried to punch the broken piece in so that I could at least get the sight out and deal with the broken piece after with the sight piece in a vice etc, but it looks like the broken piece is mushroomed out a but so won't go in far enough. My last resort is to put the whole rifle in a drill press and drill it out, but that isn't desirable since the bit would be so small. Annoying as hell as I am trying to get my Kodiak defence mount on there so I can get it ready for hunting season, and now it has become a

YouTube.. you may have gotten yourself into a pickle as you don’t punch it out like you’re saying you tried to do. Try this first.

Only thing you’ll be hunting for is what you shot at if you use an sks

 

[FLHTCUI]

The good news is you have several months to work on it till hunting season really gets under way.
Take a step back breath deep and think it through.

 

[struff55]

generally pins are tapered so you drive them out left to right and in right to left

 

[Ironballsmahoney]

Little bit of heat and some sort of lubricant is your friend. Heat it up, put a little bit of lubricant, pound it out the opposite way you put it in.

 

[barsik]

I would go in with a spring pin punch from the other side. remove any screws that could be misaligning the sight base and leaf. align the sight so the punch can go in all the way to the broken punch those punches are meant to engage only the outer portion of the pin, preventing mushrooming of the pin. in your case, it sounds like the pin has already been mushroomed so it may not work, depending on how badly it has been deformed. it is very difficult to drive a pin that doesn't have a flat head for a punch to drive on it. all you will end up doing is sliding off the pin and wedging into the side of the hole. you might try putting a solid chunk of steel in a vise and getting someone to hold the rifle so the rear sight is resting on the steel block for a solid no bounce rest. after all that your chances are 50/50 at best. good luck.

 

[Brassman66]

Look at the bright side, now you have a perfect excuse to buy a new Rifle.

Cheers

 

[Butcherbill]

generally pins are tapered so you drive them out left to right and in right to left

I don’t remember it being a tapered pin on any of the ones I’ve removed, I’ve always been able to tap them out with a finishing nail once they started moving.

 

[Buck1950]

When I did the sight on my 'New FT' a while back, I was able to drive the pin out BUT it was a PITA ! I was able to use a finish nail, but maybe i was just lucky in the brand I had. The vid above that Hmatt posted assumes you either have the Pin already out OR you have the style that does NOT have a pin AT ALL. Most vids I can find don't show removing the pin, BUT I'd suggest you adapt the style using a clamp on the 'ladder' (that I link here -

Maybe if you use the clamp to relieve some pressure on the pin it will come out ? ? The spring holding the ramp is pretty stiff; And be careful IT doesn't go FLYING AWAY when you do get the ramp off !! They don't tell you that either !!
Anyway, after you get it out you can follow the rest of the vid I linked. It's the method I used to press down the ladder, then push it out with another larger punch. I guess I shoulda made my own vid . . . but it would be X-rated for my comments.
Also, I was installing an Amazon cheap rail, hoping yours is a better quality. Mine needed A LOT of filing OFF the Underside to get it to Zero properly. I just needed to get it down to put a red-dot on for faster acquisition.
Good Luck ! ! !

 

[Buck1950]

PS - Barsik was spot-on about the 'spring-pin punch' but I don't have one. I just used a Princess-punch and a light tack hammer so I wouldn't hit too hard. And I clamped the receiver in a steel-vise to stabilize it against the strikes.
You will need the Correct punch to get the broken part out by driving 'back out' from the other side.

 

[Buck1950]

Here's another thread that goes into removal of the sight, starting at post #33 with butcherbill's posts. I think this is the one that inspired me to remove mine. - https://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/threads/sks-cleaning.2493481/page-2

 

[Markit]

I would do the opposite of heat.

Put it in the freezer for a few hours and then try.