How many rounds should an SKS firing pin last?

Gatehouse

Gatehouse

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Just wondering your thoughts. I've broken several of them over the years. Most "regular" pins but 2 of the "Murrays" firing pins too. This is after quite a few thousand rounds, of course.

Just had 2 break in the last week and I'm all out of spares now, so need to get some more ASAP, but just wondering what everyone else thinks?

If someone has some sort of SKS service manual and knows what the service schedule for firing pin replacement might be, that would also be interesting.
 
Seems weird, I have about 4000 rounds through mine an the firing pin is just fine (hope I don't jinx myself). They are pretty robust, where are they breaking? I wonder if there is something else at play here. Maybe post a couple pictures
 
I have heard that some after market firing pins don't last long but I don't know this for a fact , have 3000 through mine , no signs of wear or damage , original firing pin ...
 
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I have multiple SKS rifles. The two breaks were on different rifles. They are all fine for 3000-4000 rounds, that's not an issue. Longest one I had last was a CHinese SKS with god knows how many rounds...Maybe 12000 or even more? It never broke. Ballpark round count on the Russian ones would be 6000-9000.

I'm not panicked about some SKS issue, firing pins always eventually break. More wondering how long others have lasted, and what's the expected life of them as per service manuals? More out of curiosity than anything else. My SKS will often be shot 100-200 rounds with no break, so no doubt that contributes to it.
 
just wanna say this about those murray pins: they are pot metal. It is pretty weak stuff invented to solve a problem that does not exist.

what kind of ammo do you use anyways? brick cased stone primer ?

On the other hand my t56 SKS has seen 4 crates of ammo and that thing is the only sks I shoot these days.
 
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Over the last 2 years I used mostly Chinese copper washed non corrosive that I got from Lever Arms. Only about 6000 rounds left of that, of 45 000 rounds purchased. Before that I used about 10 000 rounds of the great Ukrainian non corrosive ammo Canada Ammo had. It's not an ammo issue, although some may have harder primers or whatever.

And actually, it isn't really "an issue" at all. The SKS is a very robust rifle, and firing pins break on any gun at times.

Interesting to know about Murrays pin pot metal. I never have bought one, but they came with 2 SKS I bought and you might be right about their durability. They didn't seem to last long. Personally, i don't see the need, as the only SKS I had slam firing on me was the result of a worn sear.
 
I'm pretty new here but I reckon Gatehouse might be posting the Canadian endurance record for an SKS firing pin....
 
Canada tail said:
just wanna say this about those murray pins: they are pot metal. what kind of ammo do you use anyways? brick cased stone primer ?

On the other hand my t56 SKS has seen 4 crates of ammo and that thing is the only sks I shoot these days.
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Look at the Murray pin beside the original; way less metal to accommodation the spring. When you reduce a portion of the diameter of anything you create a shoulder; this is a location (even with a fillet) where stress is concentrated. Repetitive stress = fatigue and stuff starts breaking.

Get an original, keep it clean and oiled.
 
Not to sound like an idiot but are you keeping the bolt clean inside and all the grease has been blasted out ?? I'm just wondering if the bolts are dirty inside and the firing pin isn't being allowed to move freely back and forth ? most bolts 1951 on have the free floating firing pins. 49 & 50 can have a spring loaded firing pin . but anyone who has or had 45000 rounds of 762x39 would know all about that . I have never heard of them breaking . or the primers must be really hard . not good .
 
It would make sense that the Chinese pins would look like they last longer as, except for the batch North Sylva just brought in last year, most of the Chinese sks were new, non refurb, whereas the Russian sks were nearly all refurbs. The firing pins could have had thousands of rounds through them already, as long as they were still spec., I doubt if the Russians would have replaced them.
 
Well my paranoid side just ordered 3 firing pins and 2 recoil spring assemblies, just to have around, if I never use them I can always sell them years from now!
 
Whereabouts does one buy these spare parts for the sks? Firing pin, recoil spring, extractor, etc..
 
Meroh said:
Look at the Murray pin beside the original; way less metal to accommodation the spring. When you reduce a portion of the diameter of anything you create a shoulder; this is a location (even with a fillet) where stress is concentrated. Repetitive stress = fatigue and stuff starts breaking.

Get an original, keep it clean and oiled.
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exactly. those murray pins are as weak as tooth picks. I cannot even count how many time I hear about the murrays snapped in half and lodged in the bolt.
 
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