sks issues - advice needed

Huntactical

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So I purchased a refurb sks from a sponsor vendor a couple of months back. I picked it up for my buddy as he wanted one but is always working out of town. When I got it I stripped it and gave it a quick clean for him, mostly looking for pitting on the usual spots (piston, etc.). Overall everything looked good. He finally got to take it out last week and put less than 35 rounds through it. Ran flawlessly as most sks' do. As he was only home for 2 days and had ran about 10 corrosive rounds through it (somehow they got mixed in with the non-corrosive stuff) I decided to give it a quick clean for him so that he wouldn't have any rusting issues.

In the process of stripping it for the second time I saw that the gas tube has a hole in it. I didn't notice it the first time I cleaned it as I was mostly looking at bolt, pin, piston, etc. to evaluate condition and cleaning up the cosmoline. I have included picts below.

I am not trying to flame the sponsor dealer or anything stupid here, and I haven't yet contacted them. Mostly because I wanted to ask the collective CGN brain trust whether this is something the dealer could or should replace or whether I should just not bother and instead start looking for a replacement. The gun itself is a 54 Russian poorly done refurb with forced match and bbq paint. Nothing special.

Thanks in advance for your feedback/advice...









 
Contact them and send them the pics with your story, Not much to lose at this point by doing tho. Did you find the piece missing after shooting it? Maybe the weld was weak and it was damaged. Some places claim they have a lifetime warranty on there SKS's and deal... Curious if they stand by it.
 
It's a pretty common thing actually. I've seen maybe 3-4 threads on it within the last month.

It doesn't effect anything and it is just what happens on some during manufacturing. Continue to shoot and enjoy as normal.
 
Common to see, some are worse and some are better but it won't affect operation. It is really just a cosmetic issue.

Basically Ivan milled the cut too deep. My '53 Tula that is my shooter has the same overcut. Shoots just fine.
 
As already stated its cosmetic/doesn't matter.

If you look there is two holes in the tube that vent the pressure before the gases get to this hole, and this hole would always be behind the piston anyways.
 
The others already beat me to it, but just to add to the consensus, it's a common thing, it's on the low pressure side of the gas piston, nothing to worry about.
 
The energy from a gas operated gun seems to happen very quickly, and is usually finished by the time the piston has travelled 1/8"... at that point you may as well vent the remaining gasses or they will simply gunk up the works for no benefit. If you look at modern H&K rifles's pistons, they actually vent forward like that, keeping the piston quite clean.
 
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