SKS Trigger Group replacement

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Welton02

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Hi all, so whilst I was trying to replace the sear spring, I miss the pin by a lot and managed to bend the trigger frame slightly. Not enough to make the whole thing unusable but enough to make the magazine release very stiff. Does anyone have a spare one they're willing to part ways with or know where I could find one? So far I am only able to find a trigger guard on Hical and I am not interested in transfering all the parts over in fear I will do more harm than good.

Thanks in advance
 
Ontario. If I can get the pin holding the mag release I can probably file to create enough clearance for the mag release to move freely but even that is looking optimistic. So I'm hoping to end up with a trigger group that might come apart a little easier. Or at least an undamaged one.
 
These are little machines, made of steel. If something bent in one direction what's stopping you from hitting the reverse side?

Use the correct tools correctly! If you need a different tool than the one you've got, stop. Go to the Cheap Chinese tool store and buy something you'll use only a few more times. BTW, I use a hockey puck as a bench block and have a small assortment of brass punches. Steel cuts brass. I have a hammer with a rubber end and a hard plastic end. Much safer than a 20-ounce framing hammer. If I don't have enough hands to steady something, hold it in a vise. Mine has orange plastic jaw pads - from the Cheap Chinese tool store, and I use that vise a lot.
 
maple is right . . . get set of pin-punches to drive pins. I use a 4" bench vise and 'hang' the frame off the end of the vise, and a small ca 6-oz hammer. As for the frame, like maple said, smak it a few in the other direction. I've had similar prob with my SKSs and that worked for me :rolleyes:
You can also find tons of info on the USA site sksboards .com
 
Cheap Chinese tool store as in temu? I'll follow both your advice and smack it the other way. Any advise on actually removing the pin though? I've given it a couple of good smacks with the punch and no movement at all. Maybe the pin is bent with the frame?...
 
Some pins on the sks are tapered and are meant to be removed in one direction
Not sure if that pin is one of them but maybe try to hit the other way
 
Welton02 said:
Cheap Chinese tool store as in temu? I'll follow both your advice and smack it the other way. Any advise on actually removing the pin though? I've given it a couple of good smacks with the punch and no movement at all. Maybe the pin is bent with the frame?...
Click to expand...
Princess Auto is my go-to. Never bought from temu before, so no idea. The last tool I bought off Amazon was disappointing but for the number of times I'll need it, $30 was money well spent. In my opinion, handling a tool will make you visualize the work and choose more effectively. And you'll figure this out!

Pins can have heads, so they only go out to one side. Unlikely on an SKS, some pins are tapers and you need to drive from the small end. But most pins are cylindrical, cut to length from round stock. It may be that the pin or its part are held under spring pressure. It may want to move when the pressure is released, but for instance with the main hammer spring or a flat leaf spring compressed, the pin can't move. Releasing that spring pressure might be all you need.

Something else I learned when I was changing an SKS backsight, there are undercuts which hold that flat spring in place in the sight base. No amount of force in one direction would move it. But change from down to sideways (whichever), and ploop! out it came. If it isn't moving, don't force it. Figure out what is jhappening.

The first statement I made about rifles as machines bears remembering. A guy in an apron standing at an assembly table put the rifle together with an array of hand tools. He did the same steps again and again throughout his work day and work week and work month. These are peasant guns made with simple tooling and simply shaped cutters. Don't overthink the engineering or assembly techniques.
 
Welton02 said:
Cheap Chinese tool store as in temu? I'll follow both your advice and smack it the other way. Any advise on actually removing the pin though? I've given it a couple of good smacks with the punch and no movement at all. Maybe the pin is bent with the frame?...
Click to expand...
Set the punch on the drive end. Tap gently and keep the tip centred. When the pin starts to move adjust the punch so you don't miss, and keep going. You may need to change to a smaller diameter or longer shaft punch. It all depends. Catch the part(s) so they don't jump off and hide under boxes or the furniture. Once you've removed one, look to see what it does and what part to do next.

I have a set of brass pin punches for most work, and a set of longer (6" long) straight punches for longish pins where the punch body acts like the pin to hold the parts after driving. Then wiggle it back out the side.

This is tool talk some people never get. Don't be afraid of either the challenge or the process. You aren't putting turbine fan blades back into a jet engine. A few learning curve lessons on an SKS is a cheap education in handiwork.
 
Welton02 said:
Cheap Chinese tool store as in temu? I'll follow both your advice and smack it the other way. Any advise on actually removing the pin though? I've given it a couple of good smacks with the punch and no movement at all. Maybe the pin is bent with the frame?...
Click to expand...
Welton, don't get upset.

There is a right way and a wrong way to remove those pins.

The metal used in that trigger system is quite malleable and will bend easily.

You will need to take it all apart to be able to "tap" things back to the shape they're supposed to be.

Also, you may have damaged the edges of the pin/holes by "peening" them, and they can't be driven out easily.

This means you may need a grinder, such as a Dremel to remove the peened sections, which are likely only a few thousandths of an inch thick.

Then you will have to find a way to support "both" sides while punching out the holes with a proper size punch.

Princess Auto punches are usually garbage, as they are often quite soft and will bend easily on pins which are tight in the holes. They're fine for most things, but difficult situations require much higher quality punches.

Those pins shouldn't require much to remove them, unless the springs are still in place or they've been damaged in the past, before you owned the rifle.

My suggestion is to make a "block" to fit between the walls of the mechanism on both sides of the pin you want to punch, before you start.

If you have access to one, get a Hockey Puck. Canadian Tire has them for a Toonie. Drill a hole in it appx 3/8-1/2 inch wide and about 2/3 of the way through.

Place the trigger mechanism on its side, with the pin positioned above the hole. Insert the blocks, and carefully punch out the pin, with a punch that's smaller than the pin. If the punch is bigger or even the same size, it will just get stuck and damage the holes as well as the end of the pin.

If you don't have the tools for this, find a mento who does, or take it to a smith.
 
Thanks for all the tips. Gave it a go this arvo and the mag release catch slides freely again. No luck on the pin though, I've tried hitting it from either direction and it wouldn't budge. I'll just let it be at this point and in the future I'll probably put it in the drill press then make a new pin with the lathe.
 
Welton, better to get some pin-punches - I have a Princess Auto set that's lasted ca 15 years. As I said, I use a small, ca 4-6-oz hammer with the pin 'hanging off' the side of the vise bed. "Authoritative" strikes, Not real hard but Not Tentative, is all it takes. If you drill, you may open up the hole in the T-G frame and likely also the Sear. Did you look on the site I advised?
 
Welton02 said:
Thanks for all the tips. Gave it a go this arvo and the mag release catch slides freely again. No luck on the pin though, I've tried hitting it from either direction and it wouldn't budge. I'll just let it be at this point and in the future I'll probably put it in the drill press then make a new pin with the lathe.
Click to expand...

Wait until you try getting the pin out from the hand guard.

You need a solid position in order to punch, otherwise every hit with the hammer will go nowhere.

Drilling will get you nowhere, that steel is tough as ####.
 
So I ended up following bearhunter's idea to get a hockey puck and drilled a hole to use it as a guide for the punch and worked great. I also zip tied the magazine release to the trigger to take tension off the pin.

Getting it back in was a different story. I ran out of patience and used a 7/64 bit which took off a tiny amount of material and now I can take the pin in and out with just my fingers lol. Oh well, it's not like its gonna go anywhere when the trigger group is in the stock anyways.
 
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