SKS Improvements and Upgrades

[TwinMustang]

Good gentlemen of the forum, I am but a humble marksman, used to shooting rifles as they came to me. I have done very little modification or tuning, and have no idea where to even start with my SKS.

I've had a 1954r SKS for quite a while now, and I've put quite a lot of corrosive ammunition through it. I was a dumb kid, and didn't know better. I do now.

First, where should I start with improving performance? Let's say I threw 2000 corrosive surplus rounds through it and the gas piston and barrel are showing the wear and tear, what's the first thing I should do?

I have seen a few posts about improvements made to various parts, including bedding and trigger group. Would polishing the bolt, carrier, and firing pin do anything? Should I start, instead, with re-bedding? Should I bother to keep the crappy old soviet stock, or should I get something else? I would love to put either a scope or better iron sights on. Dual aperture would be my preference, but I'll settle for anything under $75.

I've been out of the shooting and firearm world for almost 10 years, so it's time to dive back in and clear the rust, both from my brain and my skills.

Thanks in Advance!

 

[I Dont Care About You]

where should I start with improving performance?

Chuck it in the garbage and buy a decent rifle.

If an SKS goes BANG then it has reached peak performance. Adding accessories and doing work to the rifle is just throwing good money after bad. You cannot polish a turd and if you try you just end up with a shiny turd.

 

[TwinMustang]

Chuck it in the garbage and buy a decent rifle.

If an SKS goes BANG then it has reached peak performance. Adding accessories and doing work to the rifle is just throwing good money after bad. You cannot polish a turd and if you try you just end up with a shiny turd.

Well, I'm not going to do that. That's also pretty reductionist, since I know there are threads here about sub-4" SKS rifles at 100m It can be done, but I don't know where to start. If you're not going to add to the discussion, I'm going to suggest that maybe you're not in the right thread.

Thanks!

 

[enoch]

A good cleaning with ammonia based cleaner, a rince with scalding hot water dry it completly. The only sensible add you can do ,to my point of view, is a firing pin with the spring that keep it from getting stuck and produce slamfire. Polishing the trigger can also be nice. Other than that it's only cosmetic

 

[Bratwurst]

1. Conduct a full and thorough cleaning of the entire rifle. Ensure to clean the trigger mechanism to ensure cosmoline isn´t gunking it up.

2. Remove the rust from any gas parts using a brass brush, steel wool etc.

3. If you have rust in the bore first make sure it´s rut by using a quality bore snake, with some oil to remove dirt. Ensure to run a few dry patches through the barrel afterwars so you´re only seeing the metal and not oil or anything else

4. There are various options on how to remove rust, I suggest a quick google to find which works best for you. I used steel wool on a rod and a brass brush but other options may exist

5. You can bed an SKS stock, some SKS rifles are very tight, some move around in their stock a bit. Bedding can increase accuracy

6. A badacetactical rear sight replacement will allow you to put a red dot on the rifle which is a vast improvement over the iron sights. Zero at 200m and you´ll be able to make hits out to 300m with holdovers

7. A good sling is key, reproduction ones exist

8. Clean your rifle after using surplus. Keep it well oiled. Enjoy

 

[TwinMustang]

1. Conduct a full and thorough cleaning of the entire rifle. Ensure to clean the trigger mechanism to ensure cosmoline isn´t gunking it up.

2. Remove the rust from any gas parts using a brass brush, steel wool etc.

3. If you have rust in the bore first make sure it´s rut by using a quality bore snake, with some oil to remove dirt. Ensure to run a few dry patches through the barrel afterwars so you´re only seeing the metal and not oil or anything else

4. There are various options on how to remove rust, I suggest a quick google to find which works best for you. I used steel wool on a rod and a brass brush but other options may exist

5. You can bed an SKS stock, some SKS rifles are very tight, some move around in their stock a bit. Bedding can increase accuracy

6. A badacetactical rear sight replacement will allow you to put a red dot on the rifle which is a vast improvement over the iron sights. Zero at 200m and you´ll be able to make hits out to 300m with holdovers

7. A good sling is key, reproduction ones exist

8. Clean your rifle after using surplus. Keep it well oiled. Enjoy

I have it in a monte carlo stock right now (minus the gas tube cover) and I was thinking I would put it back in the original stock. Do you think it would bed better in the original stock or the Monte Carlo?

I've got a fair amount of cleaning stuff, so that shouldn't be an issue. Regarding the trigger group, Enoch mentioned ammonia-based cleaning solution. Would Hoppes No 9 work for the cosmo? Or Brunox?

I had a look at Badacetactical mounts. Are they really worth that price? Would one of the hard-mount versions like the Kodiak Defence rail work as well or better?

I have an original sling. I also have considered swapping for a generic webbed sling. I have a sling, just need to add the swivels.

 

[Bratwurst]

I have it in a monte carlo stock right now (minus the gas tube cover) and I was thinking I would put it back in the original stock. Do you think it would bed better in the original stock or the Monte Carlo?

I've got a fair amount of cleaning stuff, so that shouldn't be an issue. Regarding the trigger group, Enoch mentioned ammonia-based cleaning solution. Would Hoppes No 9 work for the cosmo? Or Brunox?

I had a look at Badacetactical mounts. Are they really worth that price? Would one of the hard-mount versions like the Kodiak Defence rail work as well or better?

I have an original sling. I also have considered swapping for a generic webbed sling. I have a sling, just need to add the swivels.

I can´t comment on Monte Carlo stocks as I have never used one. But for the most part synthetic stocks should fit better on account of not losing moisture like wood and not being made of a compressable material.

Any white/mineral spirit can be use to remove cosmoline. Even boiling water. Just make sure to oil the metal one you´ve removed the cosmoline to protect it.

The badacetactical mount works well, is light weight and doesn´t change the overall appearence of the rifle. You are of course limited to small optics.

 

[simonsez]

-polish the trigger
-tech sights ( they don't ship to canada anymore)
- red dot mount
-Stock with no woble.

Don't listen to the ignorants, a sks can be hunting/ plinking accurate. I was getting 3 " groups at 100 yds with my chinese sks. I was using the tech sights ( rear peep and a thinner front post) and sellier & bellot soft points ammo. I even killed a cow moose with it.

The problem is that most people shoot their sks with old crappy ammo with a loose stock and the original irons sights.

 

[TwinMustang]

I can´t comment on Monte Carlo stocks as I have never used one. But for the most part synthetic stocks should fit better on account of not losing moisture like wood and not being made of a compressable material.

Any white/mineral spirit can be use to remove cosmoline. Even boiling water. Just make sure to oil the metal one you´ve removed the cosmoline to protect it.

The badacetactical mount works well, is light weight and doesn´t change the overall appearence of the rifle. You are of course limited to small optics.

I suppose I should have mentioned it's been in my collection since 2011.

I /think/ I've kept it halfway decent, but it's also been unused for the past 9 years or so, and where I live is extremely humid. I'll be tearing it apart in a few days to do some maintenance on it, since i"ll have the time finally.

I'll check out some options for red dots and see what I can find.

-polish the trigger
-tech sights ( they don't ship to canada anymore)
- red dot mount
-Stock with no woble.

Don't listen to the ignorants, a sks can be hunting/ plinking accurate. I was getting 3 " groups at 100 yds with my chinese sks. I was using the tech sights ( rear peep and a thinner front post) and sellier & bellot soft points ammo. I even killed a cow moose with it.

The problem is that most people shoot their sks with old crappy ammo with a loose stock and the original irons sights.

Do you know where I could find a video or tutorial on polishing the trigger? I don't actually know, specifically, what you mean. Happy to learn though! I have located a rear peep from Williams, but I can't seem to find a good front sight for reasonable prices. Any tips on that front?

 

[saskgunowner101]

There was another sks thread here recently where Butcherbill described what seemed to be a useful way to help these rifles shoot better by shimming. Maybe he'll chime in.

 

[scianna54]

McCarbo trigger springs is a cheap and fast upgrade. Disassemble the trigger first and clean it.

I have a SKS where the trigger had a job done but I have no clue what the previous owner did to it, it is the best trigger I have ever experienced on a SKS - but money was no objective for him, most likely done by a gunsmith.

 

[wood hog]

Best upgrade is a precision front sight post. Think you can get them from brownells. (Also shortening and cleaning up the sear block)

 

[Buck1950]

As was said, the MCarbo SEAR-SPRING kit is the One 'best thing' to do. NOTE- for the OEM Stock/magazine you want the "Medium" spring because the "Light spring" often caused my '51-Tula to 'drop-out' all the ammo by falling Open when firing. If you're capable of 'fine-work' Filing OR Stoning a bit OFF the Front of the Sear will also reduce 'length' of trigger pull, and 'polishing' that surface with 100+g wet/dry paper will 'smooth' the Pull. For the OEM sights, I painted the Front Post and inside the Hood with White enamel (After the Post is adjusted !) And painted the rear sight with White, then Yellow Hi-liter to make it more easily accessible. I have a Tapco stock that's super snug so I can't comment on 'shimming' but unless the stock seems 'Loose' I wouldn't bother.
As for the Bore, you need to look INSIDE with a bore scope. Below is a pic of my '51 that was a Factory Refurb with G-knows how many shots. There is still 'some' rifling and I still got 4-5" groups at 100-yds ! Those 'pits' are in the 'grooves', the lands are still fairly smooth with clear edges. Next pic is my Chinese SKS French Tickler bore after I cleaned all the Cosmo out, using Varsol then Methyl-alcohol to remove traces of the Varsol. I then Oiled all the metal. REPLACING your SKS is a good option to consider.
I DO NOT RECOMMEND the IDEA of using Steel-wool on the bore - that will just WEAR OFF THE RIFLING worse than hundreds of rounds of firing ! ! I used both Copper Solvent AND Boretech C-4 Carbon Solvent to get mine 'Super Clean' as you'll see. IOSSO Bore paste would be a good alternative to using C-4 to remove carbon but the C-4 will work Much Faster. If you shoot 22LR for any accuracy you should get the C-4 anyway. Enough of 'my 'thoughts' - others will have more suggestions so be judicious in your acceptance.
Good Luck !

 

[Fox]

Chuck it in the garbage and buy a decent rifle.

If an SKS goes BANG then it has reached peak performance. Adding accessories and doing work to the rifle is just throwing good money after bad. You cannot polish a turd and if you try you just end up with a shiny turd.

Well that is just dumb.

Have you shot the SKS? Have your worked up loads for an SKS? If not then maybe just leave well enough alone.

To the OP, try shooting some good ammo, yes the brass is going to be tossed and maybe mangled. One thing I did was take some steel cased non corrosive ammo, broke it down and loaded it with precise powder charges with 123gr SST bullets, shoots great, much better than shooting surplus ammo, even with the crappy trigger. If you are not going to shoot corrosive anymore then you could do a scope mount but if this is on the dust cover you would need to check your zero after pulling it down to clean but you would not need to do that as much when shooting non-corrosive.

Funny enough, I picked up an SKS that was shot with corrosive and I could not even properly cycle the gun. I had to use hammers to take it apart and scrub like a crazy person to get the bore clear (could not see light down the bore). The bore no longer even shows signs of pitting, bullets do not tumble and although not an MOA gun shoots quite well with standard FMJ non corrosive, I have not bothered to test it with my SKS hunting loads. All is not lost on that gun, clean it up, make sure you function test it properly and see how it does with new factory ammo before doing too much more.

Try to find some Hornady Black 123gr ammo, it should shoot well in your rifle.

 

[TwinMustang]

I think I need to invest in a borescope then. I'm curious now.

Thanks for all the tips! I can still break mine down without any problem, and while I haven't done a borescope, what I can see of the bore is shiny and smooth. The chamber is a little corroded, but I think that's due to the extreme humidity here. I have been storing it with the action closed on a snap-cap.

I'll check out the M*Carbo trigger kit, and I'm looking out for a decent optic mount (also looking for a no-tap mount for a Lee Enfield). I still have a few hundred rounds of corrosive, so once I get some time to go to the range I'll get rid of them as I can and upgrade to better ammo later.

Well that is just dumb.

Have you shot the SKS? Have your worked up loads for an SKS? If not then maybe just leave well enough alone.

To the OP, try shooting some good ammo, yes the brass is going to be tossed and maybe mangled. One thing I did was take some steel cased non corrosive ammo, broke it down and loaded it with precise powder charges with 123gr SST bullets, shoots great, much better than shooting surplus ammo, even with the crappy trigger. If you are not going to shoot corrosive anymore then you could do a scope mount but if this is on the dust cover you would need to check your zero after pulling it down to clean but you would not need to do that as much when shooting non-corrosive.

Funny enough, I picked up an SKS that was shot with corrosive and I could not even properly cycle the gun. I had to use hammers to take it apart and scrub like a crazy person to get the bore clear (could not see light down the bore). The bore no longer even shows signs of pitting, bullets do not tumble and although not an MOA gun shoots quite well with standard FMJ non corrosive, I have not bothered to test it with my SKS hunting loads. All is not lost on that gun, clean it up, make sure you function test it properly and see how it does with new factory ammo before doing too much more.

Try to find some Hornady Black 123gr ammo, it should shoot well in your rifle.

I have no problems working the action or stripping it. Perhaps it's in better condition than I think. The gas tube and piston have a little pitting, but I'm not sure how much is from before it came to my possession and how much is from the corrosive ammo. You said the steel casings can be reassembled with better pill and powder? I'll look into that. I can do that with old surplus russian cartridges, or does it have to be the chinese or romanian ones? Is it possible to pop the primers out and put in new ones, or no?

As was said, the MCarbo SEAR-SPRING kit is the One 'best thing' to do. NOTE- for the OEM Stock/magazine you want the "Medium" spring because the "Light spring" often caused my '51-Tula to 'drop-out' all the ammo by falling Open when firing. If you're capable of 'fine-work' Filing OR Stoning a bit OFF the Front of the Sear will also reduce 'length' of trigger pull, and 'polishing' that surface with 100+g wet/dry paper will 'smooth' the Pull. For the OEM sights, I painted the Front Post and inside the Hood with White enamel (After the Post is adjusted !) And painted the rear sight with White, then Yellow Hi-liter to make it more easily accessible. I have a Tapco stock that's super snug so I can't comment on 'shimming' but unless the stock seems 'Loose' I wouldn't bother.
As for the Bore, you need to look INSIDE with a bore scope. Below is a pic of my '51 that was a Factory Refurb with G-knows how many shots. There is still 'some' rifling and I still got 4-5" groups at 100-yds ! Those 'pits' are in the 'grooves', the lands are still fairly smooth with clear edges. Next pic is my Chinese SKS French Tickler bore after I cleaned all the Cosmo out, using Varsol then Methyl-alcohol to remove traces of the Varsol. I then Oiled all the metal. REPLACING your SKS is a good option to consider.
I DO NOT RECOMMEND the IDEA of using Steel-wool on the bore - that will just WEAR OFF THE RIFLING worse than hundreds of rounds of firing ! ! I used both Copper Solvent AND Boretech C-4 Carbon Solvent to get mine 'Super Clean' as you'll see. IOSSO Bore paste would be a good alternative to using C-4 to remove carbon but the C-4 will work Much Faster. If you shoot 22LR for any accuracy you should get the C-4 anyway. Enough of 'my 'thoughts' - others will have more suggestions so be judicious in your acceptance.
Good Luck !

View attachment 963423

View attachment 963426

I'm trying to find that C4 and holy cow is it expensive. $60 for a bottle. I'll check out the Iosso bore cleaner. Might just have to settle for elbow grease. I've been using Hoppes and Brunox and it works well. I might just stick with what works

I'll grab some nail enamel from the local big-box this week and give my sights a manicure.

I don't understand reloading yet, but I intend to work on that shortly. Will a Lee Classic Loader do the trick, or should I budget for a workbench setup of some kind?

 

[Buck1950]

Twin, Using the IOSSO a lot is not really good since it's an abrasive and maybe can wear the bore that's already worn some. If a couple treatments doesn't clean away the C, I'd go for C4. Yep, the C4 is pricey BUT I'm still on the 1st bottle (16-oz) that I bought in MARCH-2020 ! I only put a few drops on a patch, let it sit in the chamber 1/2-hour, then maybe brush with a nylon brush. For a 'black bore' I'd put the patch on a rod and insert a couple inches into the bore, then put 10-15 drops 'down the bore' onto the patch and run it back and forth a few times to coat the complete bore really wet. Let that sit for 1/2 hour then brush with a brass brush (the 'good ones' with a Brass Core too) for 'many strokes' then clean out with Hoppes or whatever. I finish with a couple patches with 99% Rubbing Alcohol to remove ANY solvents and crap (from Costco it's cheapest) then a dry patch so I can see the 'dry bore' with my bore scope. I suggest the Teslong ( https://www.amazon.ca/Teslong-Borescope-Flexible-Cleaning-Compatible/dp/B0DRP8LPF8/ref=sr_1_10 ) only $76.50 + tax (15% OFF SALE )
After that 'intensive' cleaning I'd run a patch with oil thru the bore since it's 'bare metal' now. And I'd do a similar process for the Gas Tube - I use a 12G brush, there should be an adapter with your Rod-kit. There will be lots of Carbon there too. The posts and vids I've seen 'say' that the 'gas piston' should be almost air-tight, in that if you cover the 'vent holes' the piston should stay in the tube from suction. Wellll, I've had 3 SKSs and even my brand new un-fired SKS would NOT DO THAT, so I Call B-S on that 'Theory !!
As for an optic mount, I'd suggest the Magwedge rail that attaches to the dust cover pin, since it gives the most adjustable positioning of a scope. Just a bit of work to remove the old pin and perhaps the rear sight ladder. I never did one, so . . .
I don't reload so I can't comment there, But cleaning for Corrosive is only a bit more work - 5-10 minutes - than regular cleaning that you should be doing every use anyway. Non-C is now $12-13 per box which with tax comes to $16 in NB = 0.83c per round ! Chinese Corrosive is only ca 40c/round, so . . . "What's in your wallet?" and cleaning only cost a bit of time.
Anyway, this got me goin' again. "Old man bitc*ing" I'll stop here !
Good luck,
Buck

 

[TwinMustang]

Twin, Using the IOSSO a lot is not really good since it's an abrasive and maybe can wear the bore that's already worn some. If a couple treatments doesn't clean away the C, I'd go for C4. Yep, the C4 is pricey BUT I'm still on the 1st bottle (16-oz) that I bought in MARCH-2020 ! I only put a few drops on a patch, let it sit in the chamber 1/2-hour, then maybe brush with a nylon brush. For a 'black bore' I'd put the patch on a rod and insert a couple inches into the bore, then put 10-15 drops 'down the bore' onto the patch and run it back and forth a few times to coat the complete bore really wet. Let that sit for 1/2 hour then brush with a brass brush (the 'good ones' with a Brass Core too) for 'many strokes' then clean out with Hoppes or whatever. I finish with a couple patches with 99% Rubbing Alcohol to remove ANY solvents and crap (from Costco it's cheapest) then a dry patch so I can see the 'dry bore' with my bore scope. I suggest the Teslong ( https://www.amazon.ca/Teslong-Borescope-Flexible-Cleaning-Compatible/dp/B0DRP8LPF8/ref=sr_1_10 ) only $76.50 + tax (15% OFF SALE )
After that 'intensive' cleaning I'd run a patch with oil thru the bore since it's 'bare metal' now. And I'd do a similar process for the Gas Tube - I use a 12G brush, there should be an adapter with your Rod-kit. There will be lots of Carbon there too. The posts and vids I've seen 'say' that the 'gas piston' should be almost air-tight, in that if you cover the 'vent holes' the piston should stay in the tube from suction. Wellll, I've had 3 SKSs and even my brand new un-fired SKS would NOT DO THAT, so I Call B-S on that 'Theory !!
As for an optic mount, I'd suggest the Magwedge rail that attaches to the dust cover pin, since it gives the most adjustable positioning of a scope. Just a bit of work to remove the old pin and perhaps the rear sight ladder. I never did one, so . . .
I don't reload so I can't comment there, But cleaning for Corrosive is only a bit more work - 5-10 minutes - than regular cleaning that you should be doing every use anyway. Non-C is now $12-13 per box which with tax comes to $16 in NB = 0.83c per round ! Chinese Corrosive is only ca 40c/round, so . . . "What's in your wallet?" and cleaning only cost a bit of time.
Anyway, this got me goin' again. "Old man bitc*ing" I'll stop here !
Good luck,
Buck

I fully appreciate your input, sir, thank you.

So, I don't have a huge budget for giving it a makeover, but I also don't have a tonne of time. In a given day, I normally only get an hour or so to tackle personal projects or hobbies, and I'm sure you know what a baby and a house will do to your project list.

On the other hand, I'm working to get back into competition shooting, and the SKS is simply a step to knock some rust off. I'm trying to find the balance between cost and time. I'll see what I can find. I'm definitely not paying $70 from amazon, because screw that.

Do you happen to know if the old surplus Ork ammo is steel jacketed or just steel core?

 

[Fox]

I have no problems working the action or stripping it. Perhaps it's in better condition than I think. The gas tube and piston have a little pitting, but I'm not sure how much is from before it came to my possession and how much is from the corrosive ammo. You said the steel casings can be reassembled with better pill and powder? I'll look into that. I can do that with old surplus russian cartridges, or does it have to be the chinese or romanian ones? Is it possible to pop the primers out and put in new ones, or no?

So these are Norinco steel cased non corrosive rounds, they are not surplus with corrosive primers but you could use those assuming you clean things properly after shooting, the primer is what is corrosive in these, not the powder.

What you need to do is use a bullet puller to pull the bullet and dump out the powder, save it. What I did was weigh the powder and take an average across 10rds, you can actually see how bad the loads are for powder variation. The cases are berdan primed, so not replacing them, just using them. Then I took my sizing die, pushed the sizer ball and decapping pin up so that I would not contact the bottom of the case, if you have dies that you can remove the decapping pin just do that but keep the sizer ball. Then setup the die so that you only size down that neck, the fact that the bullet was seated once means the neck has been expanded, you want to bring that back to sized value, this is the reason for doing this step. I then took the average powder weight and used that as my max, dropped that by 10% and worked up a load that was accurate and gave a velocity that was reasonable. The only extra that you end up with in this case are some 123-125gr FMJ bullets, which can be used as plinkers later or loaded in the 303 Brit as well for some fun plinking rounds.

I did this with 100rds, so now I have 80ish 125gr SSTs for deer hunting with the SKS and no worry about my nice brass being tossed into the next county.

 

[TwinMustang]

So these are Norinco steel cased non corrosive rounds, they are not surplus with corrosive primers but you could use those assuming you clean things properly after shooting, the primer is what is corrosive in these, not the powder.

What you need to do is use a bullet puller to pull the bullet and dump out the powder, save it. What I did was weigh the powder and take an average across 10rds, you can actually see how bad the loads are for powder variation. The cases are berdan primed, so not replacing them, just using them. Then I took my sizing die, pushed the sizer ball and decapping pin up so that I would not contact the bottom of the case, if you have dies that you can remove the decapping pin just do that but keep the sizer ball. Then setup the die so that you only size down that neck, the fact that the bullet was seated once means the neck has been expanded, you want to bring that back to sized value, this is the reason for doing this step. I then took the average powder weight and used that as my max, dropped that by 10% and worked up a load that was accurate and gave a velocity that was reasonable. The only extra that you end up with in this case are some 123-125gr FMJ bullets, which can be used as plinkers later or loaded in the 303 Brit as well for some fun plinking rounds.

I did this with 100rds, so now I have 80ish 125gr SSTs for deer hunting with the SKS and no worry about my nice brass being tossed into the next county.

Ah okay. Mine are russian, not Norinco. I have some non-corrosive, but not many. I’ve been saving them haha.

 

[scianna54]

CSSA sells bore lights for $7, free shipping.

https://cssa-cila.org/product/bore-light/