Commercial ammo in SKS: Slamfire?

I have 5 SKS's one Chinese one does tend to slamfire every so often with commercial ammo. The other 4 seem to be fine. Only way to find out is to try commercial ammo in yours and see if it happens. There is still lots of Milsurp x39 out there for sale cheap so no problems feeding a SKS proper ammo for a while anyway. Some of the newer stuff like Barnaul and MFS should be fine also.
 
I can see why some people have problems with a slam fire on commercial ammo.. here is a picture of 2 milsurp primers from today at the range..
on a commercial these would be quite a bit deeper..

I might just have to do some reloads with CCI primers if I want to use it as a bush gun..


primers.jpg
 
EL34/6L6 said:
Keep the muzzle pointed downrange when you release the bolt and you won't have anything to worry about. If an extra round or two goes off, just smile and chuckle at your unintended full auto experience and stop fretting about it.
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Woo hoo! my gun malfunctioned lets go see what I hit.

Yeee HAw
 
The SkS was designed and intended to eat military grade ammo, it is safer because the primers are tougher, Commercial primers are generally the cause of a slam fire on a gun that is clean and fully functional.
 
fiddler said:
Your friend needs a lesson on how to clean his bolt/firing pin. A slamfire only happens when the pin does not retract.
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...i'm not this guy's friend...i thoroughly cleaned my pin and bolt on my 2nd sks...i had a slam fire on my first 20 rounds i put through it this past winter...you're stupid and rude...a public insult requires a public apology...
 
Get the Murray pin and install when you are using new production and switch it back and leave it when you are shooting he majority of surplus, that way you are covered. I worry about it for the simple fact that if you cycle the ammo through an SKS just by hand without firing it, even the hard surplus primers will all be dented by the pin. On the softer newer primers it could be enough to set them off. It may not happen but why take the chance. The changing of the pin from original to Murray's to original takes less than a minute. I just do it for peace of mind.
 
Or, use the ammo it was designed to shoot. I never use sp's because I'm not inconvenienced or intimidated by cleaning corrosive, and I would opt for a better hunting rifle than an SKS...everytime.
 
I have had a slam fire in my SKS. I let the firing pin channel get dirty and rusty. Once cleaned, it was just fine.

I use a lot of handloads in it (same primer as commercial) without concern.

However, the federal primer is more sensitive than the others, so if you want to be careful, avoid federal ammo.

Your SKS will make a great back up gun
 
Ganderite said:
I have had a slam fire in my SKS. I let the firing pin channel get dirty and rusty. Once cleaned, it was just fine.

I use a lot of handloads in it (same primer as commercial) without concern.

However, the federal primer is more sensitive than the others, so if you want to be careful, avoid federal ammo.

Your SKS will make a great back up gun
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i don't think you guys are really listening...

...mine was clean...cleaned...then boiling water...then BOILED...then cleaned again...and i got a slam fire...clean the wax out of your ears...when you send it into murray's he hones the inside...why?...because there might be a BURR!...and that's what i did with mine...don't be so GD self-righteous...inquire for once!...something might be beyond your experience...OMG!
 
nw mb said:
i don't think you guys are really listening...

...mine was clean...cleaned...then boiling water...then BOILED...then cleaned again...and i got a slam fire...clean the wax out of your ears...when you send it into murray's he hones the inside...why?...because there might be a BURR!...and that's what i did with mine...don't be so GD self-righteous...inquire for once!...something might be beyond your experience...OMG!
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And don't forget that something might be beyond YOUR experience, either! Many SKS have been produced. Chinese, Russian, on and on it goes. I know that both of my Russians DO NOT slam fire on reloads with CCI primers. I've seen it reported many a time that Federal primers are softer than others... so perhaps this may be an issue. If it is an issue, and you want hunting ammunition for your SKS, either reload with standard CCI primers or purchase surplus ammunition and pull the bullets, mexican match and reinstall expanding bullets.

Concerned about burrs? Well take a gander at your $150 rifle before you take a hunting trip! Gently remove offending burr and sleep sound. Do you really require the services of a gunsmith to gently stone off a protrusion? Sheesh... maybe even test it out with the ammunition you will hunt with... cycle some rounds by hand... diagnose any (or lack thereof) problems from there?

Good question from the OP, but some in this thread are a little bit scared of the boogey man.
 
nullshine said:
And don't forget that something might be beyond YOUR experience, either! Many SKS have been produced. Chinese, Russian, on and on it goes. I know that both of my Russians DO NOT slam fire on reloads with CCI primers. I've seen it reported many a time that Federal primers are softer than others... so perhaps this may be an issue. If it is an issue, and you want hunting ammunition for your SKS, either reload with standard CCI primers or purchase surplus ammunition and pull the bullets, mexican match and reinstall expanding bullets.

Concerned about burrs? Well take a gander at your $150 rifle before you take a hunting trip! Gently remove offending burr and sleep sound. Do you really require the services of a gunsmith to gently stone off a protrusion? Sheesh... maybe even test it out with the ammunition you will hunt with... cycle some rounds by hand... diagnose any (or lack thereof) problems from there?

Good question from the OP, but some in this thread are a little bit scared of the boogey man.
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That's really the long and short of it. You would likely spend more money on tools or service to fix your gun, rather just DIY, look for said burr, use the proper ammo. In my trade when you hone something it is generally a specialty service like when honing out a hydraulic cylinder that needs to seal with rubber.

honing is over the top, get your standard princess auto needle files and open up that beast and just look, use some glass if you have a hard time seeing, I have a Chinese $50 digital microscope that can look at anything super small and takes a photograph so you can zoom in even further.

Tonnes of options, however on an SKS the above poster is correct. Don't sweat it.
 
nullshine said:
purchase surplus ammunition and pull the bullets, mexican match and reinstall expanding bullets.
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Now your on to something.. I have tons of surplus and I can just pull the bullet, swap and adjust the powder as needed (new powder all together so I know the specifics.. ) I won't be able to use .308 as the neck wont be sized for it.. but I can get .311 bullets to load in them.. then seat and crimp..

the best of both worlds..
 
EL34/6L6 said:
Or, use the ammo it was designed to shoot. I never use sp's because I'm not inconvenienced or intimidated by cleaning corrosive, and I would opt for a better hunting rifle than an SKS...everytime.
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or read the original post.. I'm not inconvenienced by corrosive either. (as that is what its shooting now..) BUT.. steel core FMJ's are not the best for hunting.. I want to use it for hunting.. the reasons are irrelevant. (BTW: I'm tired of using a bolt/scope, and the 2 dozen deer i've taken so far with that combo..)

what I don't want is a slam fire. dirty firing pins are not an issue as I always keep my guns clean and working good.. but that will NOT compensate for a design issue with the SKS and a free floating firing pin..
 
Good man nice choice if you have no issue pulling bullets do it. The Milsurp Primers are there to protect the kids in the Army from slamfire, allows them to make a gun that will operate under a lot of different environmental conditions. For you though different, I would not bother pulling a bullet but it is not out of the question in any way shape or form.
 
I have made Mexican Match hunting ammo in 7.62x39. I also have dies, so it is easy to neck size the empty case to make the neck nice and tight. I do this with the decapper/expander removed, to get maximum neck tension. For the 123 gr Hornday soft points, I just use the original powder charge.

I also had some 150 gr Round Nose bullets for my 303 that I loaded. These are really good. For them I dropped the powder charge 1 gr.

I like Mex Mtch for hunting because I don't have to worry about finding my spent brass.



ckc123 said:
Now your on to something.. I have tons of surplus and I can just pull the bullet, swap and adjust the powder as needed (new powder all together so I know the specifics.. ) I won't be able to use .308 as the neck wont be sized for it.. but I can get .311 bullets to load in them.. then seat and crimp..

the best of both worlds..
Click to expand...
 
The Murray pin will not work well with the surplus ammo. However IF you are worried, use the Murray pin when you shoot commercial ammo and switch back to the normal pin when you use surplus ammo. Clean the FP channel etc in between each pin swap while you have it apart. Not likely you are going to be switching pins on the fly. May be a pain in the butt, but if it puts your mind at ease, why not. The Americans seem to like the Murray pin but they shoot more of the commercial stuff.
 
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