Not impressed with my Izhevsk SKS

CZ_Brno

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Bought a 1954 Russian SKS Laminate, Izhevsk from a dealer here for $260.00 including shipping.

The magazine capacity is limited by an internal pin on the follower.

So I ordered in some some LCW ammo and took the gun to the range.

It jams up steady. It'll fire 2 or 3 rounds if I'm lucky, and the tip of the cartridge jams below the chamber.

I'm guessing the gun would have worked fine if it hadn't been pinned. Or maybe the spring is weak?

Any way of getting this fixed?
 
Take a look at the pin and see if it is binding the follower and not allowing it to swivel. There's been a few threads on this I've seen and they were all due to the way the magazines were pinned.
 
Take a look at the pin and see if it is binding the follower and not allowing it to swivel. There's been a few threads on this I've seen and they were all due to the way the magazines were pinned.

That would be my guess as well , some SKSs with the internal pin sometimes have problems . I have four SKSs all pinned through the bottom of the mag by a rivet ,and have had no issues.......
 
Yes, pinned follower must have some ability to rotate. This is a common problem/complaint with this pinning method. Visually, its great, functionally, not so much.
 
does your follower rotate freely? if it does, more investigation is required. If it binds, that is your problem. I would use a dremel to make a small cut in the limiting material so that there is a gap between the follower arm and the limiting material allowing it to rotate freely once again.
 
I have a couple other SKS's that are pinned through the bottom of the magazine by a rivet. What I have noticed now is that the little tab at the end swings freely on both of those. I haven't shot those guns yet but will be soon.

On the pinned follower on the gun I'm having trouble with the tab is very stiff to move due to the pin rubbing it (not show in below pictures).


sks025.jpg


Tab that sticks.
sp15.jpg
 
CZ_Brno. I have/had SKS's covering four different pinning methods. Your pinning method is a common compaint as it sometimes prevents the follower from pivoting freely, thus causing the trouble that you speak of. I tried a number of different ways of freeing up the pivot point (short of removing the follower and re-pinning), but to no avail. I am now using an aftermarket pinned magazine. I look forward to hearing about your success in a fix.
 
All 3 of my SKS's have had this pin, had zero issues.

I would recommend removing the pin that holes the pin in and using a small file to open the follower arm a bit. so all that's holding the small cross pin in is the follower it's self.
 
How hard is it to tap out the small rivet holding the pin?

I played around with it some with some oil and wiggling back and forth and I think the tab is pivoting a little more freely but is still more stiff then my other SKS's that don't have the pinned follower. I'll take it back to the range before too long and test it again.
 
When I first got my sks I was disappointed I had the small rivet in the bottom of my magazine (not frankenpinned) and not the pin on the follower. After reading this thread I am no longer disappointed.
 
Yet again bogus leftist feel good gun laws screwing us over! This stupid pin is suppose to make the public safer ? really? No they are just laws to slowly chip away at the block until we have nothing left . The SKS should have had the same internal magazine exemption as the M1 garand at least , so stupid.
 
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When I first got my sks I was disappointed I had the small rivet in the bottom of my magazine (not frankenpinned) and not the pin on the follower. After reading this thread I am no longer disappointed.

Mine as well.

It's barely noticeable, doesn't damage the original serial number, and it's 100% functional. Don't know why they aren't all done this way!
 
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