SKS FTF on last round, every time.

[Overlander2018]

Hi all, I'm having an issue with my Russian refurb sks not feeding the last round of the magazine every time. Most of the time it grabs the round and smashed it vertically like this:

It also sometimes doesn't grab the round at all and the bolt gets stuck halfway or 3/4 up the round like this:

Here's a picture of a chewed up round after clearing it:

This happens with FMJ, hollow point and soft points Barnaul ammo and only happens on the last round so I'm ruling out ammo as the problem. I've had the bolt close completely and not feed the last round at all as well. My guess right now is maybe a weak mag spring not putting enough pressure on the last round to feed it properly but I'm looking for some opinions if this has happened to you.
Thanks!

 

[Crusader]

I have seen this problem... last round you say?
Id put money on the pin job.

Your magazine is pinned by a metal bar attached to the bottom of the follower right?

 

[Butcherbill]

I have seen this problem... last round you say?
Id put money on the pin job.

Your magazine is pinned by a metal bar attached to the bottom of the follower right?

This right here.^^^

I’ve had the same thing happen, the post that was riveted through the follower was causing the problem. Once I made it totally flush again it stopped.

 

[Overlander2018]

I have seen this problem... last round you say?
Id put money on the pin job.

Your magazine is pinned by a metal bar attached to the bottom of the follower right?

This right here.^^^

I’ve had the same thing happen, the post that was riveted through the follower was causing the problem. Once I made it totally flush again it stopped.

You guys are correct the bar does protrude slightly past the follower. I'll file it down and give it a try. Thanks!

 

[mquality]

Every problem i have had with the sks is the chamber is dirty.slows removal =poor feeding.
Clean the chamber with solvent and a bigger fitting brush twist it in and twist it some more.
I bet the stuff coming out will be black and dirty.
I did not believe it until i had a sks that would not run and that is all i did give it a try you never know.

 

[FarmerDanz]

Be careful not to file it until the pin falls out. Hah.

Also if the mag isnt numbers matching, the lips might need massaging to hug the bolt better without contact.

 

[Butcherbill]

You guys are correct the bar does protrude slightly past the follower. I'll file it down and give it a try. Thanks!

I had to peen mine a bit after filing as it was loose, I used an automatic center punch to flare the pin till it was tight again.

 

[drill702]

This occasionally happened to me I chalked it up to weak mag spring.

 

[jobbass]

is that your original mag or after market detach mag

 

[Overlander2018]

is that your original mag or after market detach mag

Original mag

 

[MkivSupra]

Can you borrow a friends mag to see if it fixes the problem?

 

[miurea]

Make sure the magazine follower rocks in other words it should move about 1/8 " up and down. If it does not it will not feed properly the last round. If you want send me your email. I will make a short video for you to show you.

 

[kjohn]

Around 2013, I bought several nice Russian SKS's. All were refurbs with the mag pinned with a stake under the follower. The very first one we tried, did the same thing, maybe worse. Deaner tweaked the setup and it worked after that. Never had the same problem with the rest. The problem was the long lever that the follower was attached to, come to think of it. The angle was a bit out of spec.

 

[Boris Badinov]

Last round failure to feed is often a mis-aligned follower that causes the final round in the mag to drift off course.

Do you have photos of the follower position with the bolt open on an empty magazine?

 

[RangoRyder]

I have the same problem. Thinking about ruining my gun and making it tacticool to fix the problem.

 

[Mildwood]

Every problem i have had with the sks is the chamber is dirty.slows removal =poor feeding.
Clean the chamber with solvent and a bigger fitting brush twist it in and twist it some more.
I bet the stuff coming out will be black and dirty.
I did not believe it until i had a sks that would not run and that is all i did give it a try you never know.

There is a lacquer finish on some 7.62x39 and Ive found this is what can gum up the chamber.

 

[albertaman238]

Make sure the magazine follower rocks in other words it should move about 1/8 " up and down. If it does not it will not feed properly the last round. If you want send me your email. I will make a short video for you to show you.

You should make the video anyway and post it in the sks sticky.

 

[Overlander2018]

I have the same problem. Thinking about ruining my gun and making it tacticool to fix the problem.

I filed the pin attached to the follower so it doesn't protrude anymore but haven't had a chance to test it since the local range closed down. I would try a few of the fixes mentioned here before calling in bubba.

 

[jmichelin84]

You guys are correct the bar does protrude slightly past the follower. I'll file it down and give it a try. Thanks!

Yep exactly what it is one of my tools I had to take the magazine out and use a removable mag and that fixed it

 

[RangoRyder]

I filed the pin attached to the follower so it doesn't protrude anymore but haven't had a chance to test it since the local range closed down. I would try a few of the fixes mentioned here before calling in bubba.

I tried that. It didn't fix the problem. Used my dremel to make it nice and smooth but to no avail.