SKS problem

[J_MIL_20]

Boomer, I will surely follow your example as soon as i can go into town and pick up some break free/brake cleaner, but will Jack Daniels suffice or do I need to pick up some true scotch?

 

[panda1]

Pick up some pipe cleaners, they work great in cleaning out the hole where the firing pin sits, and clean that sucker good!

 

[boomer49]

Jim

J_Mil_20,

Hey, I actually prefer bourbon (Jim Beam) to Scotch, but I hadn't been to town (the Crowsnest Pass) in more than a week and we were reduced to drinking leftovers!

An SKS in sunny Steinbach? I know it's worth the trip, but the idea of an SKS-equipped civilian militia guarding that windmill ... does not compute

It's a complicated kindness.

I'm obviously from Winnipeg, and retired to this mountain ranch (35 km north of the CNP) almost four years ago.

Boomer

 

[shredder]

ok you guys, i soaked the SOB overnight in varsol, took it out and pounded merrily away to no avail at that damn pin. What now?

btw, the firing pin seems loosened up a bit from the soak, but still sticking

There is a firing pin retaining pin in the SKS bolt that has to come out to remove the firing pin. Is this the pin you refer to when you "pounded merrily away to no avail"?

The pin is usually easy to remove. Are you sure you're punching at the small end? (hey, it happens).You have to get that pin out, remove the firing pin, and blast Break Free or brake cleaner down that channel until it's clean. You will also have to clean the goop off the firing pin.

Do this, reassemble the bolt, and shake it. The firing pin should freely rattle around inside the channel.

 

[boomer49]

Harrumph ... not one SKS at the landfil/dumpl?

Hmm nothing twigs a memory of the evil goings-on at the Steinbach dump?

MT nailed it, really

 

[J_MIL_20]

Boomer,
I'm new in the area, just having moved here from SK, and therefore have no idea what you're talking about. Haha Except of course its worth the trip, and I am very jealous of your ranch in CNP area, it's beautiful there. I myself have just moved from a ranch in western SK to the thriving metropolis of Steinbach, drives me crazy not having my own land to shoot on

Shredder,
Haha I am a newb to the workings of the SKS, BUT I did know enough to punch from the small end of the retaining pin, with no luck. Although the overnight soak in varsol, and a good spray with brake cleaner has loosened it enough it rattles freely with no sticking. Took it out and it functioned flawlessly through 100 rounds in the cold. Though If you have any other ideas to get that darn retaining pin out, they'd be welcome.

 

[J_MIL_20]

*the firing pin rattles loosely that is, not the retaining pin, that's still tight.

 

[shredder]

Boomer,
Shredder,
Haha I am a newb to the workings of the SKS, BUT I did know enough to punch from the small end of the retaining pin, with no luck. Although the overnight soak in varsol, and a good spray with brake cleaner has loosened it enough it rattles freely with no sticking. Took it out and it functioned flawlessly through 100 rounds in the cold. Though If you have any other ideas to get that darn retaining pin out, they'd be welcome.

Hm.......

What I did with the retaining pin was drill a hole in a 2x4 block of wood, lay the bolt on it, and just hammer the pin out.

It sounds like that somehow the cosmoline has gotten in there and sealed the pin to the bolt. You might want to try Liquid Wrench (or similar - NOT WD-40)on the retaining pin. That cosmoline has to come out so you can free the pin, or you risk sticking the firing pin so that it doesn't freely float and then you get the SKS full-auto slamfire. Not good. Not good at all.

 

[boomer49]

J_MIL_20,

The sweetest/coolest book that I've ever read about growing-up in southern Manitoba is a fine little novel called "A Complicated Kindness" by Miriam Toews.

It'll probably be hard to find in Steinbach/Winkler/Altona, but it's really well-written and bittersweet and ballsy ... bearing-in-mind the year that it was written.

Read it cold. Don't ask advice or opinions, until you're done.

You'll like Nomi, I hope

And that's all I have to say about that

Boomer

 

[J_MIL_20]

hey guys, got the retaining pin out and properly cleaned the bolt. I heated the area around the retaining pin, then knocked it out. Thanks for your guys help

 

[plinker 777]

I don't think it's a good idea to heat the area around the retaining pin to get it out.
There is a spring in the bolt for the shell extractor. If you anneal the metal in the spring by heating it,it will become harder{tensile}/brittle and crack/break....don't mess with spring steel if you still want it to spring!....Imho

 

[J_MIL_20]

it was only heated with a lighter on the side opposite from the spring, and was not too hot to touch, would it still be dangerous for that spring then?

 

[shredder]

it was only heated with a lighter on the side opposite from the spring, and was not too hot to touch, would it still be dangerous for that spring then?

I highly doubt it. The heat probably melted the Cosmoline enough so the pin would come free.

 

[plinker 777]

No,no damage done there....when someone says to me "I heated it up to get this pin from that boss" as a tradesman I'm thinking oxy-acetylene or plumbers propane torch....this sort of heat drastically changes the properties of the metal you're heating....cig lighter would barely get carbon molecules to dance

 

[J_MIL_20]

haha i figured as much, hence my choice of the little lighter. Anyways thanks for all your guys help. I'm sure I'll be asking for more soon, after I get to know my SKS better.