Re-Barreling SKS possible

Clobbersauras said:
I have a factory 16.5 inch 7.62x39 barrel I've been waiting to put n the right rifle...yes I know it would make it restricted but I have an e-mail from a CFC tech saying it's legal to do so. Don't see many 16.5 SKS's in Canuck land:dancingbanana:
Click to expand...

not too common, it will look better on a SKS-D .
 
DAR 701 said:
Not worried about the pressure at all. If an AK front trunion designed for the 7.62x39mm can take the pressure of 5.56, SKS will handle it with no problem. For the bolt face, take a small ring, insert in bolt face, MIG, grind a bit, relieve extractor slightly to grab on. The ring of course needs a slot in it for the extractor to grab the case rim.

I will also be remotely test firing the rifle for the first few rounds... if anything goes wrong I shall be about 20 feet away.

There will be lots of pictures when it is done and even some video of the LAR15 mags getting a workout, assuming the rifle will work!
Click to expand...

I wouldn;t MIG the bolt if it were me. Better idea to silver solder it.
 
MIG = very high heat, to melting point of steel in the area of the weld. Silver solder = red heat, probably over a fairly wide area of the bolt nose. Either will affect whatever temper exists. Is there any reason that the boltface area needs to be hardened and tempered? Is this something to worry about? Locking shoulder at rear is a different situation.
Perhaps a heat control paste would localize any changes.
 
I told my guy about the silver solder. Turns out he used low temp silver solder to install the ring so all is well! Not sure it would matter much at the tip of the bolt but better safe than sorry!
 
Some progress pics:

First up is the modified bolt, you can see the reducing ring silver soldered in.

100_1267.jpg


Next is a shot of the rifle. Remington 700 barrel has been threaded, lathed and installed, just needs a quick run with the .223 reamer for the final chambering. Mag is inserted as a mockup, needs a sheet metal mag well with ar15 mag release fabbed up. Its getting closer!

100_1271.jpg
 
Last edited:
DAR 701 said:
Some progress pics:

First up is the modified bolt, you can see the reducing ring silver soldered in.

100_1267.jpg


Next is a shot of the rifle. Remington 700 barrel has been threaded, lathed and installed, just needs a quick run with the .223 reamer for the final chambering. Mag is inserted as a mockup, needs a sheet metal mag well with ar15 mag release fabbed up. Its getting closer!

100_1271.jpg
Click to expand...

WOW. You have to post more pics as it progresses! It would look killer with a t6 stock. It shouldn't be to0 hard to fab up the mag well, someone could make a buisness out of this it it proves to be reliable....a new cnc machined bolt would be a must but that's not impossible to do....
 
Last edited:
It was coming along pretty good, but now it has stalled a bit. The current problem is feeding. The AR15 magazine feeds straight ahead, whereas the SKS mag feed lips angle the rounds slightly. If we had another 1/4" like the AR15 does it would feed fine. Have relieved the bolt slightly on the bottom which has seemed to help and my buddy and I are contemplating putting a small cut on the bottom of the barrel to act as a ramp. Once he gets past this little snafu, he can make the magwell and the gun should be ready to roll. The final chambering has also been completed and the headspace set...

Edit:

This is the style of cut that I think would work on the SKS.

IMG_0523.jpg
 
Last edited:
Speckfire said:
Very nice project. Was the 5.56 AK mag considered alongside the AR-15 mag for this project?
Click to expand...

It was, ever so briefly. Project would have been done a lot sooner with the 556 AK mag, esp. if we had used a SKS-D as a donor rifle(which would have bumped the price up by another 300 bucks). The AK mag would have the right angles for feeding. The downside to the AK556 mag is that they are pricey (nearly 90 dollars for a 30/5) and tough to find (also no bolt hold open), also then one would be limited to 5 rounds. Ar15 mag is a lot more work but they are cheap and easy to find, also with the LAR15 magazine I have 10+1 rounds and the bolt locks back on the last shot.
 
I may be to late to ffer advice as I just joined this forum on Saturday, but have you considered using an 80% AR lower in your project?
Bandsawing it in two and using the magwell to compensate for the angle in question might prove fruitful, and as a bonus your operating controls would stay the same.
 
I had thought about using an 80% lower's magwell, but my guy is a whiz with sheetmetal and should be able to crank off a magwell this week. I plan on using Ar15 mag release... also, the 80% lower in Canada is around 180 bucks IIRC, thats the same price as the scope I want.

And now, I present: The only SKS on Earth with Tactical M4 feedramps:

100_1289.jpg


She feeds fine, just needs a slight polish in the chamber and then the magwell! After the magwell it can be shipped back to me for the test firing...
 
Almost done! Unfortunately the flash kinda blocked out the mag release lever. If we ever do it again, the Ar15 mag will get notched in the back and an AK47 paddle release will be fabbed up. Took my buddy 2 days to rig up the ar15 mag release. Its kinda ugly but works like a charm. Rifle should be in my grubby hands in a week or so, just need to run it over to a welder to TIG the reducing ring into the bolt face as the silver solder has already let go.

100_1297.jpg


100_1299.jpg


Here is a better picture!

100_1301.jpg
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom