Cleaning the SKS in wartime situation

When your barrel becomes inaccurate (so right away) just pick up the other guys and use it. P.S. The average life span of a foot soldier is much less the the life of his rifles barrel. (Vietnam was like 7 minutes) Just a cheery thought to ponder
 
profeser said:
Hey guys I have a hypothetical question. If all you had in a war time situation was an sks and corrosive ammo . How would you clean your sks properly so it didn't rust.
Click to expand...

Strange question, you need to clean SKS as per army regulation using provided bottle with cleaning solution and oil.
 
scan said:
Strange question, you need to clean SKS as per army regulation using provided bottle with cleaning solution and oil.
Click to expand...

That's correct. The solution cleaning kit for the SKS:

6dzvP7k.jpg
 
Knotted boot lace and some easily attainable oil ( cooking,engine, auto transmission) clean with petrol ( Diesel fuel ,lamp oil,paint thinner,kitchen cleaners,) wipe it down ,remove grit/ carbon,. Candel wax,a barre of soap animal fat lightly applied for lube . Do what you have to with what you got!
 
Last edited:
I would find discarded stripper clips with Norinco Non corrosive, but still not trust it, but it will still clear most of the Soviet Corrosive out. End of fight look for dirty engine oil to lubricate SKS machinery. Enemy is fully lubricated with dirty old corrosive 7.62.
 
This will come as a surprise to many but the SKS will run dry as a popcorn fart and be absolutely reliable.

Will this cause wear? Of course, but the question was about in the field and I presume under harsh conditions.

I've seen rifles, such as the SKS, FN FAL, AK47, Mosin, Mauser, Lee Enfield dug out of honey pits, tossed into a pond and left overnight, so the crud will clean off easily. A good rinse in clean water and let it dry (or not) and it's good to go again.

Corrosive ammo was all that was available for those rifles, good clean water was a bare minimum but it works well to keep the corrosive contaminants affect to a minimum and as often as not, is usually enough for all practical purposes.

If you're talking about a weekend in the field, plinking at rocks, etc, take along a good cleaning kit and a cloth to lay out all of your parts on, after disassembling the piece, so you don't lose them in the dirt/grass.

Lots of the stuff mentioned here will work just fine. Most cleaning products are made from commonly available components and just colored or doctored to look like something else.

Grease or any other lube should be used sparingly and only on moving surfaces.

Corrosive is only a bugaboo if the shooter/operator neglects their duty to clean it up asap after use.

The salts aren't going to cause corrosion immediately, so unless you live in or are in extreme humidity, you can usually get away with letting it go until the next morning, especially if the present time is inappropriate.
 
Jim Fuller always says that the Soviets would dump their rifles in water as soon as they came across a stream or pond. I've done it a few times too, just let the whole rifle soak for a minute, then disassemble it and leave out to air dry for a couple hours, then wipe down the internals with a oily rad and oil the moving parts, then reassemble. If you're actually in combat I would shake dry as best I could and keep going, there should still be enough lube in the gun to run well, and then do a more thorough cleaning when time is available.
 
Vertebrae said:
Jim Fuller always says that the Soviets would dump their rifles in water as soon as they came across a stream or pond. I've done it a few times too, just let the whole rifle soak for a minute, then disassemble it and leave out to air dry for a couple hours, then wipe down the internals with a oily rad and oil the moving parts, then reassemble. If you're actually in combat I would shake dry as best I could and keep going, there should still be enough lube in the gun to run well, and then do a more thorough cleaning when time is available.
Click to expand...

I can tell you from personal experience, very few of those rifles get disassembled, after a quench, if there is any chance at all that they're going to be needed, a stripped rifle becomes a club under stressful conditions.

The people I knew, just threw them into any available water, fully loaded and sloshed them around a bit. Didn't bother to dry them off or wipe down with an oily cloth, which they all had in their kit bag. The fine detailing was put off until it was safe to do so.

Now, if we're talking about back yard maneuvers, that's a whole different ball game. The OP asked how the rifles were taken care of by the troopie under stressful conditions.

There just isn't time for all of the niceties under those circumstances.
 
Having an SKS in modern conflict, I mean full scale civil war. Probably wont need to clean it much because person using it wont last too long if they are actively partaking in said conflict. Oil of any kind will do I think. Speaking of another possible issue called mechanical repairs - pair of priers and a multi tool will do. Personal experience. I had one major failure while shooting on my friends land. Rear of main spring popped behind the piece that holds it under pressure, rifle kept going for a couple of rounds and chewing that spring until rifle stopped functioning. Took it from the our firing line, opened it up, couple of coils got mangled. Took rear spring assembly apart, used a pair of pliers to cut damaged rings off, put it back together, went back shooting. That was probably 5-6 years ago. Never had to buy new spring. Still have that rifle, still works. Run of the mill bubbafied Tapco SKS, my regular "shooting gun". Thousands of rounds down the bore but I do take care of it and it only failed that one time. It's still alive.
 
In my experience with corrosive ammo and SKS or similar rifles like T-81or long ago AK47....

In summer conditions when it is reasonably dry, rust isn't much of an issue with corrosive ammo. When conditions are humid, rust grows fast.

But guns still keep banging with rust if you keep them banging. :)
 
Gatehouse said:
In my experience with corrosive ammo and SKS or similar rifles like T-81or long ago AK47....

In summer conditions when it is reasonably dry, rust isn't much of an issue with corrosive ammo. When conditions are humid, rust grows fast.

But guns still keep banging with rust if you keep them banging. :)
Click to expand...

SVT is especially notorious for that but yea, most of comblock rifles wont choke and will “clean” own barrels if you fire them. Other than barrel and gas system they are not terribly affected by rust.
 
VuDu666 said:
Having an SKS in modern conflict, I mean full scale civil war. Probably wont need to clean it much because person using it wont last too long if they are actively partaking in said conflict. Oil of any kind will do I think. Speaking of another possible issue called mechanical repairs - pair of priers and a multi tool will do. Personal experience. I had one major failure while shooting on my friends land. Rear of main spring popped behind the piece that holds it under pressure, rifle kept going for a couple of rounds and chewing that spring until rifle stopped functioning. Took it from the our firing line, opened it up, couple of coils got mangled. Took rear spring assembly apart, used a pair of pliers to cut damaged rings off, put it back together, went back shooting. That was probably 5-6 years ago. Never had to buy new spring. Still have that rifle, still works. Run of the mill bubbafied Tapco SKS, my regular "shooting gun". Thousands of rounds down the bore but I do take care of it and it only failed that one time. It's still alive.
Click to expand...

So what makes you think a person who's familiar with the SKS would be undergunned or at a disadvantage in a modern conflict, any more or less than a person with a more modern firearm????
 
bearhunter said:
So what makes you think a person who's familiar with the SKS would be undergunned or at a disadvantage in a modern conflict, any more or less than a person with a more modern firearm????
Click to expand...

Heavier, lower capacity, slower to reload and in many cases, less accurate than modern carbines…Precisely the reason it is not in front line service in modern armies.
 
Innavedaw said:
Heavier, lower capacity, slower to reload and in many cases, less accurate than modern carbines…Precisely the reason it is not in front line service in modern armies.
Click to expand...

This is what makes me think that. Its very reliable and durable rifle, I build quality to be better than an AK, it feels more solid, maybe because it's machined but it cant really compete with modern military rifles. Its a good survival carbine for sure but going up against lets say regular military with one is probably be a suicide. I modified mine to accept modified mags that dont have the beak and technically can hold up to 40 rounds but still...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom