Gunsmith that works on SKS triggers?

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Peril

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As the title states, I am looking for a gunsmith that knows how to do the trigger job on an sks. I found several in the states, as well as instructional videos (which I find a bit daunting as a newcomer to the hobby.

http://www.kivaari.com/SKS Target Match.htm

this gentleman from US does it but he said that canadian customers get the triggers seized by the customs.

Would appreciate any info.
 
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Are you looking for one to change the sear engagement from neutral/negative to positive? I was looking into this this afternoon as well, and it's good information to know about possible trigger seizure at the border.
 
thegazelle said:
Are you looking for one to change the sear engagement from neutral/negative to positive? I was looking into this this afternoon as well, and it's good information to know about possible trigger seizure at the border.
Click to expand...

This quote from the site I've linked:

"KS trigger groups have an excellent design thanks to Mr. Simonov. The problem lies with their hasty assembly which precludes extracting the potential from the design. This becomes even more important when you realize that the "safety" merely blocks the trigger lever and does not secure either the hammer or the sear. Their safety and performance can be greatly improved with reduced pull, reduced creep, smoothness, repeatability, and clear 2 stage operation."

I want all that. There is a 45 minute video on youtube that shows the steps, but the most I've ever done with guns is replace a worn indexing post so I don't even dream of doing a proper job there.
 
Yeah I hear ya. I had my daughter take some video of the hammer as I was pulling the trigger (recoil spring and receiver cover were off) and I have been watching it in slow mo (painful). So mine has a neutral sear engagement, which I later found is indicative of most Russian SKSes. I would still like to get this to positive for increased safety's sake, but with zero gunsmithing skills and zero tools, I ain't about to attempt this myself. My trigger pull is heavy (5-6 pounds) and gritty but that's to be expected - I have heard lightening it may not be great from a safety perspective - but removing some creep may be what I am after. It is funny that I read your post around the same time I was looking to see if anyone in Canada does this work. If you do find someone, please post back. I do realize most people just buy and use their SKS, but in doing some quick preliminaries, I wanted to see if I can get two of the common safety concerns addressed - the first one I already addressed with taking apart the bolt/firing pin assembly and cleaning it (it was sludged up bad at and the pin was stuck in the protruding position - even when I got the retaining pin out - a labourious task - I had to still pull the pin out with pliers - that's how gummed up and stuck it was - cosomoline + grit/grime/sediment)
 
You can do a lot to improve an sks trigger by first completely disassembling it and making sure to clean all surfaces. I’ve had a bunch that someone “cleaned” all the cosmoline out of but left some in the trigger group. Second get a high grit sandpaper and polish all the moving surfaces where they interact/move against each other.
Re-profiling the sear is a bit more intensive and not a lot of replacement trigger parts readily available if you really screw up. On mine I decreased the length of sear engagement (decreases the length of the pull, making a more crisp trigger) and made sure it was slightly positive.
 
I'm all for light triggers if I'm confident they'll improve the performance of gun. Can't say as I've ever considered it for an SKS, and all of the ones I've shot felt about the same. (small sampling, maybe 4-5 rifles over the years) I'd be curious how a DIY job might improve matters, anyone care to post a before/after?
 
I think just like the OP, I am leery of taking apart the trigger assembly completely. I just watched a lengthy video on it and it is far beyond what my skillset is, and what I am comfortable to do. I have a propensity to take something apart and not be able to reassemble.

That said, the post above has it correct about cleaning the cosmoline - for me I cleaned the cosmoline off everything but the trigger aside from light external wipe or any surfaces I can reach. It doesn't look that bad, but who knows...some have mentioned maybe fast boiling the whole assembly as it will remove the cosmoline as well as any kind of debris.
 
Webley No.5 said:
You can do a lot to improve an sks trigger by first completely disassembling it and making sure to clean all surfaces. I’ve had a bunch that someone “cleaned” all the cosmoline out of but left some in the trigger group. Second get a high grit sandpaper and polish all the moving surfaces where they interact/move against each other.
Re-profiling the sear is a bit more intensive and not a lot of replacement trigger parts readily available if you really screw up. On mine I decreased the length of sear engagement (decreases the length of the pull, making a more crisp trigger) and made sure it was slightly positive.
Click to expand...

The most common advice I found was to soak it in kerosene overnight and then give it a thorough clean. I got some 2k grit sandpaper handy too. Going to give this a try soon.
 
2k grit sand paper? Highest I keep on hand is 1000 and that’s almost useless (it does have use but I’ve never used it without a coarse grit first). Some trigger groups have chatter marks on pieces from machines, I’d suggest starting around 400grit if you can feel imperfections. Make sure to polish the rails that the sear rides in and the sear. If you want to polish or adjust the sear engagement surfaces I suggest a good whetstone/grindstone as sandpaper is harder to do nice flat surfaces. But yeah take springs out and just move every moving piece in the trigger, if it feels gritty, polish the offending surfaces. A trigger job in my experience is a lot of disassembly, polishing, reassembling, testing and repeat.

Also in answer to your question about where to find a trigger group, the answer is they sell fast because people A) have a trigger that they think is below average so they want a replacement. B) Had a below average trigger that they altered and made worse.
 
Its an SKS. If you want a better trigger, get a better rifle.

A better trigger on an SKS isn't gong to turn a turd into a clover leaf shooter.

FWIW I have an SKS.
 
Grab some Autosol... 10$ at Canadian Tire. Use a bunch of Qtips to polish the grooves on the sear with Autosol and the rails it moves on. Itll take 5 mins and turn out better than sandpaper unless Igor left a bunch of 0.5mm burs in the sear grooves. Do a mineral spirits cleaning of the trigger group, down to all spring surfaces. Lightly oil each part, preferably by hand. This gave my Russian SKS a nice smooth two stage pull with minimal creep. Keep in mind autosol will strip the finish if you apply it carelessly, but your sear grooves/rails may have been bare of it from the get go, as was mine. Autosol will do what high grit sandpaper does, and more:)

You can Dremel out the pin holes to speed up future takedown/assembly of the trigger group. Use a cylinder-shaped Dremel engraving/carving bit that fits the pins hole, without a hammer's encouragement. 4k or 2k RPM for 3 or 5 seconds should do the trick, results may vary. Took me six hours to disassemble my first SKS trigger group, tight bastard pins they were. Now it takes five minutes or less, the pins knock out with two to three solid taps but aint moving lol. Highly reccomend you do this the first time... Otherwise you might spend six hours disassembling the trigger group you just reassembled, because you put your safety spring back in upside down, just like me.

Dont feel discouraged by how daunting the trigger group looks. I was uncertain about even disassembling it at first, but I took it slow, learned a lot, and ended up getting my moneys worth for that 500$ SKS. There's a lot of good advice in this thread and on CGN from experienced people that can help you in fixing any imperfections specific to your rifle. My rifle was all matching and from what I can tell it was hardly previously enjoyed, if at all. Dont take this as gospel for every SKS, its the bare minimum work for an ideal example. If I can do it, I am certain you can as well. There is always the gunsmith route if you dont wanna risk it though. Hope this helps:cheers::cheers:
 
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