Sks cleaning

DiMP said:
Buy a big stock pot from the thrift store for a couple bucks. Completely strip and any metal parts can go in the pot with boiling water. The cosmoline will literally melt off and float to the surface. boil
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Chu wood (Manchurian Catalpa) used on the Chinese SKS and AK is highly resistant to water.

I wouldn't use boiling water on a Chinese sks stock either. But 125° from the tap will make quick work of the cosmoline on Chinese stocks. However, this would be a bad idea with the Birch, Beech and Elm wood stocks used on the European sks variants.
 
I picked up some mineral spirits today after work, and when I have it all stripped I’m gonna take my stock and lay it in front of the wood stove to get some heat on it to help bleed any oil out of ot too
 
DiMP said:
Buy a big stock pot from the thrift store for a couple bucks. Completely strip and any metal parts can go in the pot with boiling water. The cosmoline will literally melt off and float to the surface. Wooden parts should not be boiled
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If the wood has a lot of cosmoline…. Wrap it in paper towels, then stuff it in a black plastic bag, and put it on the dash of your car, in the sun, on a hot summer day. The heat will “sweat” the cosmoline out and the paper towels should absorb it.
 
Oven cleaner removes oil from wood that's a old old way that's been used for years. You will get a dozen ideas from everybody and they all swear it's the best. Never seen carb cleaner as that seems to be a new one . Especially the firing pin you clean and blow out with a air compressor and then soak again until your sure it's clean and free.
 
For the bolt and firing pin 'channel' I use a 're-inforced' pipe cleaner that has wires like a brush incorporated. A bit of solvent pushed around does the trick. (The Amazon link is 4-lines long - just search this description.) I finish cleaning with 99% Alcohol to remove solvent after. Really clean !

Zen 3 Bundles Pipe Cleaners, Soft, 132 Count​

PS - The Varsol will remove most of the Cosmo easily, but I found using Methyl Alc after washes away the Varsol residue and likely any Cosmo 'missed' by the Varsol.
 
One thing to note is that I 'found' Cosmo inside the 'handle' of the bayo, only to be exposed by pulling that and brushing while under tension. I actually removed the bayo completely, using a 'hammer-driven' impact tool from the '60s that I used on my '69 Norton back then. The bayo-screw is staked so some force is needed.
 
I figured I’d soak the parts in boiling water and brush and clean with mineral spirits to remove anything thats left. As well as using this video for reference to disassemble and cleaning. Ya it’s long but it’s detailed which is good, for the stock I’m thinking about hanging it above a pail near the wood stove for a day and let it drip or push anything out that’s left in it.
 
Came out 81 years ago, still trying to figure out how to clean them lol

Clean bore, confirm action cycles, go shoot it.. lots, get it hot, it'll sweat it out.
 
When I purchased mine I did the HOT water and mineral spirits bath on all the metal bits. The stock was set out side in the sun light for a few hours and then wiped down with a Hoppes No9 rag and then a dry rag.

All seemed to work great. Still takes a bit of elbow grease and many many many paper towels and patches after to do the final perfect cleaning.
 
So I’ve got mine all apart for the most part, but I wasn’t able to get the darn rear sight out for the life of me, and no swearing didn’t help haha. Also the bolt assembly wouldn’t come apart either, I’d like to have it all apart to make sure it CLEAN CLEAN and works as it should.

Any suggestions for getting those little guys apart and out ??
 
I've Never taken the Rear sight off on Any SKSs I've had, but you could remove the spring I guess. For the bolt, you need to drive the pin that holds the extractor with a small punch - careful the extractor spring doesn't get lost. That is what holds the firing pin in AND Note where the 'flat' of the Firing Pin faces - that is how the ext-pin holds the FP. As I said I use a 'bristle' pipe cleaner to clean the channel of the FP with solvent (Varsol if Cosmo) then use 99% Alcohol to clean away solvents EVERYWHERE. And I use Permatex Silicone PTFE Grease to lube the Sear sides and Sear rails in the action; and the Bolt and Carrier and recoil spring. And didja get the "Operating Rod" out of the receiver ? That needs cleaning of Cosmo then PTFE-greasing TOO.
 
Don’t worry about the rear sight leaf, pour some boiling water over it and wipe anything that melts out. The space under the sight leaf/spring will be fine if there’s cosmoline in there to protect it from moisture and rust.

The bolt/firing pin retainer can be hard to remove, take a tapered punch and a hammer and pound on it till it starts to move. Put a block with a hole under it and don’t be afraid to hit it hard, once you take it out a couple times it will get a bit easier.
 
Yeah, I realize that I got a hammer out that one little pen and yeah, it takes like quite a bit of force as I was hammering on it quite a bit and nothing was budging and the bolt itself seems quite sticky and greasy like but it’s like all dried up so it’s extra sticky sticky I just wondered maybe if I should take the entire bolt assembly and put it in a small container with some mineral spirits and let it soak overnight if that would help or if I should just maybe let it soak in hot boiling water for about 10 or 15 minutes to maybe help loosen up any stickiness that’s in it and the rear site yeah I guess maybe I’ll just pour some hot boiling water on it and just kinda brush and clean and around it and then take some compressed air and blow it out so it’s nice and dry
 
Probably some old cosmoline in the firing pin channel, if you have the cross pin out and it still won’t budge you could soak it in boiling water for 10-15 min and see if that helps. You could also put it in a vise, back end down and tap a small dia punch or piece of rod from the firing pin end to tap out the firing pin. Once the cross pin is out there’s nothing holding it in.

The rear sight leaf has a cross pin that has to come out and then you have to push it down to compress the leaf spring underneath, then you can slip it out.
 
My advice - take the bolt apart and clean the firing pin and the channel in which it resides. I had an SKS that had so my cosmoline cakeage that the firing pin was stuck in the protruding position and it would not move, even with force. I had to hammer out the retaining pin (also caked in cosmoline) and use pliers after that to pull out the pin - that's how much it was stuck in there. Had I not done that, it would have been slamfire city once I chambered the first round.

Soaking the entire bolt assembly in brake-free didn't do anything as it never seeped into the FP channel. So taking it apart was the solution and even then I needed to pull out the firing pin with tools (it is supposed to free float and move in there freely - but the channel was so caked in cosmoline with molasses type consistency, it was really gross.

Also, while slightly more complicated, take apart the trigger assembly. In my case, same guy - the sear was seized due to the cosmoline.

Boiling the metal parts helped remove the surface stuff, but if it was as caked in as mine was, you have to take it apart to clean.
 
Butcherbill said:
Probably some old cosmoline in the firing pin channel, if you have the cross pin out and it still won’t budge you could soak it in boiling water for 10-15 min and see if that helps. You could also put it in a vise, back end down and tap a small dia punch or piece of rod from the firing pin end to tap out the firing pin. Once the cross pin is out there’s nothing holding it in.

The rear sight leaf has a cross pin that has to come out and then you have to push it down to compress the leaf spring underneath, then you can slip it out.
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🤔 really ?? Cuz in the video I watched which is posted in my previous post it shows and said you just have to press the leaf spring down and slide the rear sight out and that’s what he does in the video 🤨

I’ll have to snap a pic for it for you’s and see what you guys think, as I don’t wanna bugger up the sight or anything on it. Ya I think I’ll soak the bolt in hot boiling water for 10/15mins and stick in my vise and see if I can hammer the pin out. Otherwise I may have to press it out we will see I suppose lol
 
BrownR said:
🤔 really ?? Cuz in the video I watched which is posted in my previous post it shows and said you just have to press the leaf spring down and slide the rear sight out and that’s what he does in the video 🤨

I’ll have to snap a pic for it for you’s and see what you guys think, as I don’t wanna bugger up the sight or anything on it. Ya I think I’ll soak the bolt in hot boiling water for 10/15mins and stick in my vise and see if I can hammer the pin out. Otherwise I may have to press it out we will see I suppose lol
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Take a real close look and you’ll see the pin, I use a small finishing nail to tap it out
 
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