problems diassembling rusty SKS M21

collector67

collector67

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Hi all,
I am attempting to diassemble and repair my buddy's M21 (is that a Norinco SKS for the civilian market? It has the aftermarket Draganov stock) and I am having great difficulty in removing the trigger group and reciever cover. The problem is this: he fired a bunch of corrosive ammo through it about 5 years ago, and didn't bother cleaning it. The reciever has one of those funky chinese scope mounts spotwelded onto it, and it has two tiny little hex screws in place of the normal receiver release latch. I removed them, but the damn cover wont budge, even after tapping it with a hammer.
I also tried to pop the trigger group out; the release notch seems to push inwards, but it refuses to pop out. (safety on)
I am following all the normal takedown procedures that work fine with my 2 Russian SKS's, and I am wondering if the entire innards of this rifle are rusted tight....the gas piston is seized in the tube-I am attempting to free it by soaking it in penetrating fluid. Has anyone had an experience like this before? Am I wasting my time trying to work on this rifle, or is there a different method to field strip the M21?
PLEASE HELP ME!!!!
 
The M21 was the sanitized version of the Military Chi-Com SKS56. Too bad,it's been turned into a paper weight,they are a bit rare if complete. It should come apart like any SKS,nothing out of the ordinary with them from what I've seen. Try picking up some Sea-Foam Deep Creep and giving it a good blast a few days in a row. Try knocking the receiver cover forward,also see if you can get a punch in the hole and pry up too. The trigger guards are often a bite,even in new aftermarket stocks. See if it will wiggle around a bit back and forth and side to side while you're taping the release pin down.
 
Does the action cycle at least ? If it does, spray the crap out of the rifle with CLP and leave it alone fore a few days. If it's rust that's holding it together (unlikely), this should loosen things up. More likely is the stock had some sort of bedding job done and squeezes everything together to the point where you're having a hard time taking it appart. Sounds like the receiver cover is held in place by a non-standard/custom manner. Can you see thru the hole where the original takedown lever would have been to make sure there's not a half-pin still buried in there ?

I know that some guys resorted to using a tighter fitting pin in order to try to take the "slop" out of the cover, if this guy did that, you may have to drive this pin ou with a punch and hammer.
 
Hose down the offending parts with G96, and leave it for a day.

Make sure the safety is on and get back to tapping with a brass punch on the trigger release pin...some are very tight even if they are non rusted. Make sure the Rear sight is well padded on a bench or in a padded vice or you could damage it while doing this.

If anything the gas tube is probably toast as well as these are not chromed.

But these carbines are tough so it could very well be salvage able.

Let us know what you find.
 
Whew-after 3 and a half hours of extensive cleaning I finally got my buddies' SKS completed. My biggest worry was the gas tube and piston; after an overnight soaking with "Releasall", a gentle tap with a punch on the rear shaft made the piston drop out. However, even after many patches and CLP, it still would not slide back and forth freely in the tube, so I made a tube of emery cloth and ever so gently scrubbed the front part where it was sticking. (the piston itself had a nice "collar" of rust which I removed with CLP and steel wool.) It now has free play, but I am worried about a few visible score marks from where the piston sat for so long. I am going to highly recommend that my buddy gets a new gas tube/hand guard, and maybe a new piston while he's at it.
My bad, the reciever cover was held in place by a threaded insert, a few taps with a punch, and it dropped right out.
I think the last time he cleaned this rifle, he must have used a lot of grease, because it was everywhere; the firing pin was caked solid with it. (slamfires, anyone?) In a way, it was a good thing, because apart from the gas cylinder and piston and a few contact marks on the bolt and carrier, there wasn't a lot of rust on this SKS. I managed to finally release the trigger group by wedging it into a vise and driving a scewdriver into the indent while pulling as hard as I could. I think the problem was with this goofy ass Choate Dragonov stock. The thing fits as well as Michael Jackson's nose did...I hate this ugly thing!!!
I really appreciate your guys' input with my problem...Many thanks
 
collector67 said:
I think the last time he cleaned this rifle, he must have used a lot of grease, because it was everywhere; the firing pin was caked solid with it. (slamfires, anyone?) In a way, it was a good thing, because apart from the gas cylinder and piston and a few contact marks on the bolt and carrier, there wasn't a lot of rust on this SKS.
Click to expand...


As you can tell the grease is probably the only thing that saved this rifle.

So when you put it back together don't be afraid to oil what pivots and grease what slides. Bare metal on metal is ALWAYS a bad thing.

It also makes for an easier clean-up after corrosive ammo use as well....think of it as an oil change for your car. :)
 
I've yet to see <any> firearm made inoperable by shooting corrosive and not cleaning it. I used to be rather anal about keeping my own (Yugo) SKS squeaky clean. But as time passed, I skipped a cleaning session, then another, then another. Any rust that ever forms cleans right up. Only thing I do is spray the innards and the inside of the gas tube with CLP before throwing it back in the safe, actual takedown and "cleaning" has pretty much become a once a year thing.
 
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