SKS issues

J

jjshooter

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I've got a 1953 Russian, bought it new about a year ago. It fired fine for most of the year. I put about 600 rounds through it, with some stoppages, but I attributed it to ammo, because it was so few.

However, since about February whenever I take it out, it will fire maybe 1 in 10 rounds. the rest are light primer strikes. I assumed it was the bolt, so I boiled it twice, for twenty minutes each time, then soaked it in WD40. After doing that I can jiggle the bolt and the pin moves no problem. Took it out today and had the exact same issue. I have never taken the bolt apart, because the pin is so stuck in there, and I don't have a vice or anything. Can one of you surplus guru's help me out? I'd rather not go to a gunsmith if I can avoid the cost.

The one thing that has changed since it worked fine is I put a Tapco stock on it. Could it have something to do with that?

I am starting to get very frustrated, because I have 400 rounds that need firing! :HR:

Thanks,

J.
 
jjshooter said:
I've got a 1953 Russian, bought it new about a year ago. It fired fine for most of the year. I put about 600 rounds through it, with some stoppages, but I attributed it to ammo, because it was so few.

However, since about February whenever I take it out, it will fire maybe 1 in 10 rounds. the rest are light primer strikes. I assumed it was the bolt, so I boiled it twice, for twenty minutes each time, then soaked it in WD40. After doing that I can jiggle the bolt and the pin moves no problem. Took it out today and had the exact same issue. I have never taken the bolt apart, because the pin is so stuck in there, and I don't have a vice or anything. Can one of you surplus guru's help me out? I'd rather not go to a gunsmith if I can avoid the cost.

The one thing that has changed since it worked fine is I put a Tapco stock on it. Could it have something to do with that?

I am starting to get very frustrated, because I have 400 rounds that need firing! :HR:

Thanks,

J.
Click to expand...

Absolutely take that firing pin out and clean out the Bolt channel as there may be some Cosmoline stuck in there. Some of those retaining pins come out very hard i used the Punch that came with my Rifle and a block of hard wood and tapped it out with a hammer..it will go after a few hard whacks then the firing pin will just fall out of the Bolt, if it turns out the problem is with the stock at least you have reduced the chance of a Slam Fire by cleaning out your Bolt Channel.
 
jjshooter said:
The one thing that has changed since it worked fine is I put a Tapco stock on it. Could it have something to do with that?
Click to expand...
Yes. The cosmolene would have to be pretty f**king hard to stop the hammer on a SKS. So it is more likely to be the hammer/trigger group, which could be affected by the new stock. So worth trying the old stock.
 
I don't believe a Tapco stock can affect the operation of the trigger group, not to say that there couldn't be a problem there. I would take the bolt apart as boiling it does not always remove all of the cosmoline and it would only take a small amount to interfer with the free floating fp. a one-8th inch punch and hammer on a hard surface such as a work bench will get the pin out. Check out murray's gunsmithing web site for a video.
 
bbwolf said:
I don't believe a Tapco stock can affect the operation of the trigger group, not to say that there couldn't be a problem there. I would take the bolt apart as boiling it does not always remove all of the cosmoline and it would only take a small amount to interfer with the free floating fp. a one-8th inch punch and hammer on a hard surface such as a work bench will get the pin out. Check out murray's gunsmithing web site for a video.
Click to expand...

Not true, it takes a hell of alot of junk to stop an SKS from firing and it will slam-fire before that happens. Believe me Ive run them full of cosmo (by accident) and fired hundreds of rounds with zero drama. The main design feature of soviet weapons is reliability above all else. If it rattles freely then its not the problem. I agree with BJS, but would recommend a quick inspection of the trigger group to make sure its clean, lubed and nothing is out of place. Youtube has complete videos on how to strip and reassemble them and then function test. Make sure the safety is on when you pop it in and make sure it clicks. Push the reciever down into the stock all the way and apply inward and forward pressure on the trigger guard.
 
Okay, I think is it the trigger mech that's the issue. I got a punch (damn that sucker was tough), checked out the bolt, and it looks good.

So I stripped the gun, and sure enough the trigger mech was not snapped in. So I snapped it back in, but the safety won't go off now . . .

This happened a few months ago. I realized that the safety was stuck, so I forced it off eventually, which is probably what unsnapped the trigger mech. However, I can't shoot the gun with the safety off :cool:. So I've gotta figure out what the issue is, haha.

Edit: Okay, it was snapped on, but not ALL the way on. I think this is a good excuse to make a range trip tomorrow!

Thanks for all your help, wish me luck!
 
supernova said:
Not true, it takes a hell of alot of junk to stop an SKS from firing and it will slam-fire before that happens. Believe me Ive run them full of cosmo (by accident) and fired hundreds of rounds with zero drama. The main design feature of soviet weapons is reliability above all else. If it rattles freely then its not the problem. I agree with BJS, but would recommend a quick inspection of the trigger group to make sure its clean, lubed and nothing is out of place. Youtube has complete videos on how to strip and reassemble them and then function test. Make sure the safety is on when you pop it in and make sure it clicks. Push the reciever down into the stock all the way and apply inward and forward pressure on the trigger guard.
Click to expand...

Not quite sure a trigger job is something anyone with limited experiece should attempt, and with the tight clearance between the fp and bolt I think it could easily stick.
 
Hahaha so it turns out the trigger group wasn't pushed on all the way?

Well its good to know there's no new problems developing with these old work horses! :D
 
You need to drive that pin out and check the firing pin tunnel

Even if you only eliminate it as a possible cause it's a ten minute job to drive it out use a big hammer and a good drift punch
 
bbwolf said:
Not quite sure a trigger job is something anyone with limited experiece should attempt, and with the tight clearance between the fp and bolt I think it could easily stick.
Click to expand...

What? Dissasembling, inspecting, cleaning and reassembling is not a trigger job, its basic maintenence that every gun owner needs to learn. You can think all you want about the FP but I know from experience how much junk they can run fine with. Hard primers and a heavy hammer spring overcome a lot to keep the rifle reliable, just the way Simonov designed it. It doesnt neccesarily have to rattle to run fine, its just the best possible scenario for it.
 
jjshooter said:
Okay, I think is it the trigger mech that's the issue. I got a punch (damn that sucker was tough), checked out the bolt, and it looks good.

So I stripped the gun, and sure enough the trigger mech was not snapped in. So I snapped it back in, but the safety won't go off now . . .

This happened a few months ago. I realized that the safety was stuck, so I forced it off eventually, which is probably what unsnapped the trigger mech. However, I can't shoot the gun with the safety off :cool:. So I've gotta figure out what the issue is, haha.

Thanks for all your help, wish me luck!
Click to expand...

Sound like you need to trim your stock. I had the same problem, my safety wouldn't come off. I took it apart and trimmed about 2mm off where the safety was making contact with the Tapco stock.
Hope you didn't bent part of the trigger group by forcing it?
 
ABChop said:
Sound like you need to trim your stock. I had the same problem, my safety wouldn't come off. I took it apart and trimmed about 2mm off where the safety was making contact with the Tapco stock.
Hope you didn't bent part of the trigger group by forcing it?
Click to expand...

another reason for leaving them in their intended military configuration:p
 
supernova said:
Not true, it takes a hell of alot of junk to stop an SKS from firing and it will slam-fire before that happens. Believe me Ive run them full of cosmo (by accident) and fired hundreds of rounds with zero drama. The main design feature of soviet weapons is reliability above all else. If it rattles freely then its not the problem. I agree with BJS, but would recommend a quick inspection of the trigger group to make sure its clean, lubed and nothing is out of place. Youtube has complete videos on how to strip and reassemble them and then function test. Make sure the safety is on when you pop it in and make sure it clicks. Push the reciever down into the stock all the way and apply inward and forward pressure on the trigger guard.
Click to expand...

I was referring disassembly of the trigger group as a trigger job! Thats what I understood from your reply...
 
So I got it out to the range, and it was good to go. I had a couple stoppages, but 99% of the rounds fired. So it looks like I may have to do some sanding on the stock to make sure the trigger mech doesn't pop out again. I'll just have to find out where the safety is catching.

I appreciate all the help people offered up.
 
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