New SKS firing problems

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Steev

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I took my SKS out for the first time today and was using czech surplus ammo.

Most of the 40 rounds I fired off didn't fire and after waiting 10 seconds I rechambered the cartridge and they would all fire the 2nd time.

Is this a problem with the ammuntion or could the firing pin be not pushing out enough?

When it worked it worked flawlessly. I had a good run of 5 successful shots near the end.
 
it could be a number of things. The first bit you should look at would be the firing pin.

get a pinhole punch and a light hammer and take the bolt apart and pull out the pin and give it a good clean inside and out. It could be carbon buildup inside the bolt itself that is the issue. To get at the small end, let it soak in the solvent for a good whiule, say 15 minutes or more, then use some pipe cleaners or tiny brass brushes it you have them and clean it out.

Another problem could be the ammunition itself, take a look on the lip of the bullet for the numbers, that's the year it was made. I saw a buddy with some stuff made in 1965 and had that problem with it.

Failing that, it could be a problem with the trigger assembly. if the firing pin thing doesn't solve the issue, give the trigger assembly a good cleaning, if you're brave enough to take it apart.
 
i had the same problem today. 50% of my shots missed. it looks like the firing pin is hitting though. the guy i was with was using the same ammo and he had maybe a 10% failure rate. the pin seems to be moving quite freely and rattles. i do recall hearing it could be another issue... ?
 
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If your gun is new - disassemble the bolt and clean the cosmoline out of it .
It should " rattle " around when reassembled .
If you have about 1000 rounds out the pipe either the firing pin channel is gummed up ( take it apart and clean it ) or the firing pin tip has been hammered flat and needs to be recontured or replaced .
 
4 of my buddy's and I all bought SKS's at the same time. Me and one of my buddy's fully dissasembled them and cleaned all the cosmo out of it. The next day we all went to the range. Me and my buddy that cleaned our guns had no issues with firing while the other two had duds every seconed or third shot. So I field stripped the two faulty guns we noticed that the firing pins were either gummed up or the pin itelf needed to be rounded off abit as it was flat. I would look into the firing pin to be the culprit. Also make sure u clean the gun after shooting surplus. The gas chamber as well as firing pin will start rusting if you don't.

Vince
 
We'll the ones that me and my buddy's bought are surplus from Lever Arms. Ours were mainly numbers matching. Mine was all matching with a screw in barrel. Still packed in cosmoline and seemed to be "new" unfired
 
As been mentioned already, first thing to do is clean the bolt and firing pin. Removing the firing pin is the best way to make sure it's super clean. I've also used brake cleaner on an assembled bolt. Just spray like mad until it's clean and rattles. Don't oil the bolt or firing pin. Clean and dry.
 
Mine is from lever arms as well.. I took it apart and cleaned it out pretty good. The first load it failed nearly all of them, on the second and third about half and after that it seemed to improve greatly..

I have cleaned it again since then, and next time I think it will be fine.

Perhaps it needed to be broken in?
 
Steev said:
Mine is from lever arms as well.. I took it apart and cleaned it out pretty good. The first load it failed nearly all of them, on the second and third about half and after that it seemed to improve greatly..

I have cleaned it again since then, and next time I think it will be fine.

Perhaps it needed to be broken in?
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sounds familiar. i'm thinking running a few rounds through mine should get it going a bit more consistant. the pin and assembly isn't going to get any cleaner.might have a gunsmith have a quick look at it first though, instead of wasting a trip out to the bush only to be annoyed
 
I've found the easiest way to clean the bolt is throw it in a pot of boiling water for a little while. Seems to do the trick, just don't be cooking any food in the pot afterwards...
 
had a gunsmith take a quick look at my sks today. turns out the pin was flattened out. problem solved in 5 minutes. i'll take it out and fire a few shots off in the next day or two,i figure that probs behind me
 
like i said, the firing pin was sharpened but i'm still getting at least 50% failed shots. other than running a bunch of rounds through it and hope it improves, what esle can i look for?
 
Try another kind of ammo, the Czech stuff has HARD military primers, sometimes they do need 2 or even 3 impacts before touching off. What was the weather like ? Was it excessively cold when you went out shooting ?
 
The tip of the firing pin is SUPPOSED to be flat. It was manufactured that way. SKS rifles do not have a firing pin retracting spring, and the firing pin will tap the primer every time that the bolt slams shut on a round. Military ammunition has hard primers, and along with the flat tipped firing pin, this serves to pretty much reduce the chance of slamfires. If the firing pin is "sharpened" or rounded, the chance of a slamfire is greatly increased, particularly if commercial ammunition is used. Commercial ammunition generally has softer primers than Bloc M43 ammunition.
As an experiment, fire one round, then remove and inspect the round that was chambered. Do you see a firing pin imprint?
AK rifles also have a flat tipped firing pin for the same reason.
If your pin has been sharpened or rounded, get a replacement.
 
RobSmith said:
Try another kind of ammo, the Czech stuff has HARD military primers, sometimes they do need 2 or even 3 impacts before touching off. What was the weather like ? Was it excessively cold when you went out shooting ?
Click to expand...
it was -5 out, i wondered the samething. there was three sks rifles being used, one rarely had issues another was 40% fail rate, mine was at least 50% fail. two full mags with not one fire.

i stick with the milsurp ammo only. i had the gunsmith at lever look it over and he thought sharpening the pin would fix the issue, guess not.

i'll replace the pin, but from what i've seen it's not the cause of the prob.
also there's a bit of a feed problem as well, maybe that has something to do with it?
 
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