First Time Shooting My New Russian SKS...A Bit of a Bummer. Trigger Not Resetting

Thank you everyone for your kind feedback and suggestions so far. I don't take for granted the wonderful assistance and advice given by those who have gone before me.

There is one very good youtube video that I thought describes the problem but in looking closely it's not my problem. In his case, he can move the disconnector to a certain point by pushing down on it an still pull the trigger, but the hammer doesn't release. In my case, when I push the disconnector all the way down, the trigger doesn't pull back at all.

In the video, through the side window there is a metal piece moving side to side when the disconnector is pushed and when the trigger is pulled (even if the safety is on). Mine doesn't do that...which is not exactly encouraging. That at least is a sign that something different here. The disconnector does move and pushes down, but in that small viewing window, pushing down the disconnector would cause some small little pin thing to protrude in the window. When pulling the trigger after, that small little pin thing disappears. But of course, in the video, that guy could at least pull and reset the trigger with the safety off. I can't. So at least I know my problem is not needing to file down the top of the disconnector as by simulating travel by pushing it down even to its limit, the trigger is not moving

Now, if something is gummed up, that would be the best case scenario.
 
The first thing I'd do is find someone to lend me a working trigger group (TG) and compare it with the malfunctioning one. This would allow me to try the working TG in my sks, so I could isolate the problem further.
Of course, it sounds like you can just send it back and get another one, so there's that.
 
LarryG said:
The first thing I'd do is find someone to lend me a working trigger group (TG) and compare it with the malfunctioning one. This would allow me to try the working TG in my sks, so I could isolate the problem further.
Of course, it sounds like you can just send it back and get another one, so there's that.
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Retailer didn't say they will take it back - just that they will check with distributor insofar as what can be done. I personally would prefer to do a repair/alignment/adjustment - the rest of the gun is in good shape and everything matches.

I am trying to think what about firing it would cause it to do this. A week of dry firing and function testing never had this problem. But it is weird the progression of how things happened yesterday night. If it got stuck and stayed stuck that is one thing. But it worked again for a further round and then after that it didn't work. Everything in that trigger group is solid metal so it's not like some plastic piece would have broke
 
Make sure the sear that’s in front of the hammer down in the bottom of the trigger group isn’t gummed up it needs to be able to move forward and back
Spray it out good with brake clean and then spray lots of gun oil in there
You don’t want to start filing anything on the trigger group
I had an sks a few years back where there was grit in the trigger group and it took a bunch of cleaning and dousing with gun oil to make it work
 
Deathrawt said:
Make sure the sear that’s in front of the hammer down in the bottom of the trigger group isn’t gummed up it needs to be able to move forward and back
Spray it out good with brake clean and then spray lots of gun oil in there
You don’t want to start filing anything on the trigger group
I had an sks a few years back where there was grit in the trigger group and it took a bunch of cleaning and dousing with gun oil to make it work
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Good to know others have had similar experiences. In your case did your SKS trigger exhibit the same symptoms?


Is there a way to check this given the current condition of the trigger group? It's in cocked position and I am not able to de-#### it. Would just soaking it in brake clean overnight help? Would you recommend brake clean or mineral spirits?
 
thegazelle - I just looked at my earlier post with links and saw the ######## . It was to a blog spot com that I guess isn't allowed, but if you search the 'votefordavid' you can find it. A very thorough explanation of the action with lots of pics.
 
Buck1950 said:
thegazelle - I just looked at my earlier post with links and saw the ######## . It was to a blog spot com that I guess isn't allowed, but if you search the 'votefordavid' you can find it. A very thorough explanation of the action with lots of pics.
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Thank you Buck. Appreciate your time and link. I will check it out.
 
Deathrawt said:
Make sure the sear that’s in front of the hammer down in the bottom of the trigger group isn’t gummed up it needs to be able to move forward and back
Spray it out good with brake clean and then spray lots of gun oil in there
You don’t want to start filing anything on the trigger group
I had an sks a few years back where there was grit in the trigger group and it took a bunch of cleaning and dousing with gun oil to make it work
Click to expand...

I bought some Brakleen tonight and will saturate the TG in it and leave it overnight. I will be pleasantly surprised if this was the issue, but I certainly don't want to rule anything out, as the bolt assembly's firing pin channel was seized solidly - and even when I got that darn firing pin retaining pin out, the firing pin wouldn't come out by hand - I had to use pliers to pull it out and it was caked with cosmoline, crud, debris, and black bits of who knows what. The channel was pretty rough. So I suppose if that's how the bolt was, the TG could conceivably be the same. I did boil the bolt assembly when it was seized and just like the TG, with maybe some cosmoline floating, it didn't free up anything until I took it apart. I am hoping the Brakleen comes through here - guess it can't hurt but after boiling the thing this morning, it didn't yield a different result
 
You might have to get a penetrating oil like kroil and let it work it’s way into all the nooks and cranny
I just pulled the trigger group out of an sks and you need a small screwdriver to push the sear in front of the disconector and hammer forward and then while holding the sear in the forward position push down on the disconnector. That should release the hammer from the cocked position
 
Deathrawt said:
You might have to get a penetrating oil like kroil and let it work it’s way into all the nooks and cranny
I just pulled the trigger group out of an sks and you need a small screwdriver to push the sear in front of the disconector and hammer forward and then while holding the sear in the forward position push down on the disconnector. That should release the hammer from the cocked position
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Thanks. I am going to try this tomorrow when my son is back - that way he can hold the hammer with one hand, work the trigger with the other while I use the screwdriver with one hand and activate the disconnector in the other. Trigger group currently in the Brakleen bath.

So based on what I see, that sear should move back and forth based on the resistance of that forward spring that I guess functions both to provide resistance to the sear and provide spring pressure for the magazine latch. So I basically stick a screwdriver into the top of the sear (the square hole) and pull it forward, while I push down on the disconnector and then have my son hold the hammer while pulling the trigger once safety is disengaged.

So if I remember right, the hammer base rotates in a circular fashion and the edge of the sear is what is keeping it from releasing. So what I am essentially will be doing is removing that support space so the circular hammer base swings forward. If that is more or less how it works, that makes sense. I am not really clear on what the disconnector does and how it factors into the process.

Let's say that I manage to get the hammer uncocked. What should I check next? Take that cross pin off the front so I can release that spring and sear and take the hammer out?

Thanks for the input, feedback and assistance. This is really greatly appreciated.
 
thegazelle, look at the vote for dave article. It shows still pics of all the parts and their interaction. The disconnector is what holds the hammer back when the sear is pushed forward by the trigger bar, avoiding 'out-of-battery' accidents.
 
Interesting...had my son help me this morning (by the way Happy Canada Day everyone) and he was holding the hammer down while I was moving the disconnect bar around while getting a feel for the trigger. Never was able to get to that point where we could feel the hammer release but then get caught by the disconnect bar.

So we tried what the other member was indicating which is to push the sear forward with a screwdriver. I am not sure whether I should be pulling it towards the front of the TG with a screwdriver from the top, or doing it some other way, but not sure if it is the spring pressure of the front spring, but I don't sense I am able to move the sear at all. Perhaps it's stuck, I don't know, but from the top moving it by screwdriver seems to not work as based on the smooth curved angle of the top of the sear the screwdriver just keeps slipping out. At this point, I am just trying to find some way to decock this so I can remove the front pins, the spring and then hopefully remove the sear to see if that area is gunked up. Now this was after giving it a Brakleen bath last night (I emptied a whole can of brakleen in the TG and let it soak for a bit). If the sear is not moving at all, that may explain the problem with not able to manoever the disconnect rod/bar and trigger to get it to the point where the hammer releases somewhat...and may explain why with a screwdriver, the sear is not moving forward, but I may be doing it wrong or the spring holding it is tight.

EDIT: Pretty sure the problem is the sear not moving which is keeping the hammer cocked - I finally moved it forward via the viewing window and had my son operate the disconnect rod while I had my other hand on the hammer. Got it at one point where the hammer dropped. Not to take the front pins out and have a look at the sear and that entire channel. It's all gummed up, that will be the issue...

EDIT 2: The sear did not come out easily - I had to use a screwdriver to gently pry it out - looks like the channel on which the sear rides have debris and stuff caked along the inside. Gonna clean it all out now
 
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Yeehaw! A great Canada Day treat for me!

Problem is fixed. Reassembled everything (the mainspring on the hammer rod or whatever it's called required an insane amount of strength to put back in with the hammer upon reassembly - must have blown a few blood vessels doing it).

Once I put the sear back and saw it riding a lot better (not perfect but a lot better) on the channel rails, I knew that part of the problem, if not the whole problem was fixed. I didn't take out the disconnector assembly though I could have since it was another pin, but I didn't think that was the issue, so I left it. The front two pins holding the magazine release spring wasn't too bad - the new vise helped.

I didn't even bother testing it outside the gun. Slapped it back into the gun, installed the bolt and recoil spring and cover - did a dry fire function test -VOILA. The satisfying sound of the click. Put it on safe. Trigger blocked. Pulled bolt back, another dry fire (I don't have snap caps for this caliber), another click. Put it back on safe. Gave the rifle a good kiss, and put it back in the safe.

So in this case, it was the sear that was seized.

Now the only thing that maybe I shouldn't have done was to put a screwdriver into that viewing hole to start pushing out the sear. But without doing that, it wouldn't have come out on its own. Even when I got it moving, I had to keep using a screwdriver to move it forward millimeters at a time until I saw the clearance on the bottom and then I was able to get a flathead in the bottom and then move it out the rest of the way. Once I cleaned it, cleaned the channels and relubed the channel rails, the sear went in just fine and have much more movement than it seizing before. I just hope with my screwdriver moves, I didn't damage the angled side that faces the hammer. I don't think I did, but I did put scratches on the surface.

I would suspect when I fire this next, I shouldn't see a repeat of what was happening.

So recommendation to anyone who get an SKS - if the bolt assembly / firing pin was as seriously seized as mine was and I had to take it apart and even pry out the firing pin with pliers (even when the retaining pin was removed) - chances are that that level of gunk and debris and grime and crud did not spare the trigger group. Surprisingly the take apart up to the sear and the mainspring and hammer rod or whatever it's called (which I also cleaned - that had crud all over it) wasn't as bad as I thought. If a skillness and handi-less monkey like me can do it, it should be a breeze for everyone else.

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EDIT - An interesting and positive byproduct of taking out the sear and spring and cleaning out that channel - the magazine release latch is so smooth now. Previously, it would be very gritty when pressing down on the release lever and sometimes it required a lot of force to get it so it releases the magazine door. Now it's nice and springy and opens with very little effort exerted.
 

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New sks, so much crud firing pin is seized, didn’t clean trigger group, trigger doesn’t work, what’s wrong with my rifle lol. Glad you got it working they’re solid rifle.
 
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The biggest thing i learned from gutting, studying and modifying SKS trigger groups is that its got to be one of thee most unsafe triggers in existence! 18th century flintlocks have a smarter and safer trigger mechanism lol
 
Murray 3-D said:
The biggest thing i learned from gutting, studying and modifying SKS trigger groups is that its got to be one of thee most unsafe triggers in existence! 18th century flintlocks have a smarter and safer trigger mechanism lol
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It has to be the classic case of of a fire control group that was flat-out <<ruined>> by committee!
If you just look at the hammer, it's easy to see how it might have been designed as a garand-style hammer-trigger/sear-disconnector, but then it needed to have a 2½" sear transfer bar (because traditional stock layout), and then the s/a disconnector has to be a protrusion on the hammer, but apparently that didn't always work, so they added the rebound disconnector, someone thought they really needed a battery safety disconnector so the dumb kids couldn't drop the hammer on an almost closed bolt, I'm probably forgetting something else dumb....
 
Many trigger mechanisms with rotating hammers have a sear which engages a notch in the hammer.
The SKS uses a different approach. No notch. The sear blocks the hammer from moving. To fire, it is pushed out from under the hammer. No sharp edges or notches to chip or wear. A downside is a trigger pull that is usually, long, heavy and creepy.
 
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