SKS Trigger job

OR4NGE

OR4NGE

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So I just finished the first phase of my SKS trigger job, I've also changed the spring. I now have a super clean and pleasant 6 pound trigger pull with no grit and a good reset.

I am wondering if By filing the surfaces more, I could go to 3.5 pounds.

What is the lowest you were able to get your sks trigger?
 
The lowest is not always the best, as it will no longer be safe. 6 lbs is probably reasonable as long as you don't change the angle of the sear / hammer engagement. To reduce it further you would need to change the engagement towards negative, which is not safe. Most Chinese SKS tend to have a slight negative engagement, while most Russians have neutral.
 
no matter how much you plan on removing from the sear, alway keep that angle on the sear to hammer surface, when you pull the trigger you should be able to see the hammer pull back. if falls forward before it breaks then it is dangerous. you probably know this. just trying to inform if you don't. a neutral sear engagement is not an end all for sks trigger group but coupled with low spring tension, you could be heading to dangerous territory, neutral is when the hammer stays in place before it breaks

as you are trying to lower trigger weight, lower spring to sear tension is what will change it most since you have polished stuff up. you can take a spring and carefully remove very very small amounts material equally around the spring to lower it's spring weight. don't forget to check for drop safety, #### the trigger group, grab it by the trigger guard and give a smack on some wood right on the nose and see if the sear disengages. this advice taken with a grain of salt, to hard and any sks trigger could fail this test due to the arrangement of the group. and also like was said above, lower doesn't mean better.

a trick, take the spring and place it around let say a drill bit or rod, run it against a belt sander at an angle and it will spin and sand evenly around it's length. has to be high grit as to not be aggressive. you can always check your work for safety and if you screw up admit it and start again
 
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Free Since 1977 said:
no matter how much you plan on removing from the sear, alway keep that angle on the sear to hammer surface, when you pull the trigger you should be able to see the hammer pull back. if falls forward before it breaks then it is dangerous. you probably know this. just trying to inform if you don't. a neutral sear engagement is not an end all for sks trigger group but coupled with low spring tension, you could be heading to dangerous territory, neutral is when the hammer stays in place before it breaks

as you are trying to lower trigger weight, lower spring to sear tension is what will change it most since you have polished stuff up. you can take a spring and carefully remove very very small amounts material equally around the spring to lower it's spring weight. don't forget to check for drop safety, #### the trigger group, grab it by the trigger guard and give a smack on some wood right on the nose and see if the sear disengages. this advice taken with a grain of salt, to hard and any sks trigger could fail this test due to the arrangement of the group. and also like was said above, lower doesn't mean better.

a trick, take the spring and place it around let say a drill bit or rod, run it against a belt sander at an angle and it will spin and sand evenly around it's length. has to be high grit as to not be aggressive. you can always check your work for safety and if you screw up admit it and start again
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Yes, my sear engagement is positive ( Angle is perfect) and I can probably file more of it keeping the same angle and just reducing hammer travel. Also file some of the block verticaly will probably help as well. I am not overly concerned of drop safety (it is currently drop safe and I plan on keeping it that way) as This SKS will only be used for benchrest shooting and never carried loaded. I am concerned about light primer strike. I might Also be able to shorten the spring however it is the lightest one in the mcarbo kit so will have to do some further testing.

I mean, the trigger feels more like a 4 pound than a 6 and is probably more 4 on the reset but I really want to reduce that first pull. And it is impressive how ok the trigger is at the moment compared to how it was initially. ( rifle was a super grade hand picked russian SKS, refurbed in 1987)

I also drilled additionnal holes in the gas block for softer ejection and recoil and to make sure it does not damage my expensive Lapua Brass.

I just want to see how far people went with it.
 
It can be done.... mine is 3.5-4lbs i believe. Never once has it accidentally discharged. Of course ANYONE who modifies the SKSs trigger group to make it lighter needs to understand that your progressively making it less safe (im saying this for any noobs in the forum who are reading this). Its just a question of how big of a reduction in safety u are comfortable with.

The best way to initially reduce your trigger weight is to swap out the sear spring with a weaker one. To roughly test its safety you can #### the trigger and then bang the front of the trigger group on something like your driving a finishing nail. If that de-cocks the hammer its a pretty good indication that uv gone too far. No biggy, put the stock sear spring back in and its all back to factory condition.
 
You can easily reshape and polish the top of the sear to actually give it positive engagement of the hammer, (making it more safe) smooth/eliminate the creep and all the grit.

I say that right before IF you know what you're doing.
You need to take the trigger assy apart (its exceedingly simple in design) and you will then understand HOW it works.

You need to first determine if the sear has neg, neutral or pos engagement. Its easy just look at the angle of the top of the sear where the hammer engages and locks. If its sloped down towards the back of the rifle its negative (least safe) if its flat its neutral and if its cut and sloping down towards the muzzle of the rifle its positive (safest and most ideal)
If its neg or neutral, you want to use a flat smith file and slowly file a bit less than 1/8" wide across the top of the sear where the hammer engages it and file a nice even, ever so slight slope inwards and down towards the muzzle.
Then use very fine sandpaper like 400 or 600 grit and smooth polish the new sear cut, the face of the sear and the hammer engagement areas.
Do that with the lighter springs and you'll be amazed at how good that trigger feels

Take your time. Understand how it works. When you pull the trigger of an SKS youre actually pushing a rod forward in the trigger pack that bumps a safety lever (which can only be inline with the sear when bolt is in full battery) which then pushes the sear away from the hammer to release it.
Thats how it works.
The trigger pull you feel is the force of the hammer spring pushing down on the sear and also the sear retur spring you're forcing it backwards against.
The grit and creep you feel is from said sear angle and surface texture of the steel on it and the hammer. Reshaping properly will make it break clean and sharp!
Changing the springs will lighten the pull pressure required.

That more you know comrades ;)
 
Travis Bickle said:
You can easily reshape and polish the top of the sear to actually give it positive engagement of the hammer, (making it more safe) smooth/eliminate the creep and all the grit.

I say that right before IF you know what you're doing.
You need to take the trigger assy apart (its exceedingly simple in design) and you will then understand HOW it works.

You need to first determine if the sear has neg, neutral or pos engagement. Its easy just look at the angle of the top of the sear where the hammer engages and locks. If its sloped down towards the back of the rifle its negative (least safe) if its flat its neutral and if its cut and sloping down towards the muzzle of the rifle its positive (safest and most ideal)
If its neg or neutral, you want to use a flat smith file and slowly file a bit less than 1/8" wide across the top of the sear where the hammer engages it and file a nice even, ever so slight slope inwards and down towards the muzzle.
Then use very fine sandpaper like 400 or 600 grit and smooth polish the new sear cut, the face of the sear and the hammer engagement areas.
Do that with the lighter springs and you'll be amazed at how good that trigger feels

Take your time. Understand how it works. When you pull the trigger of an SKS youre actually pushing a rod forward in the trigger pack that bumps a safety lever (which can only be inline with the sear when bolt is in full battery) which then pushes the sear away from the hammer to release it.
Thats how it works.
The trigger pull you feel is the force of the hammer spring pushing down on the sear and also the sear retur spring you're forcing it backwards against.
The grit and creep you feel is from said sear angle and surface texture of the steel on it and the hammer. Reshaping properly will make it break clean and sharp!
Changing the springs will lighten the pull pressure required.

That more you know comrades ;)
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Yeah, i’ve done that, great positive engagement. No grit.
 
Seems that you know more about trigger jobs than anyone on this forum. Maybe ask Murray (of Murray's guns) if he can get it to where you want it to be. If he can't do it, I suspect no one can.
 
did you change the hammer spring ? If you're reloading you can lighten that too. I too did the gas tube, got the ejects to about 8-10 feet at 3 o'clock. I did the MCarbo sear spring - the medium one cause the light one made my magazine drop open every shot !! But I also polished ALL sides of the sear - not changing angles - and the sear 'rails' too. Got the trigger down to about 4#, but with irons I could only get about 2-3moa at 100 and 3-4 at 200. I wanted to do a scope, but chose to go to a Rem700 and sold the SKS. Sorta wish I still had it - a '51 Tula light refurb, but the Rem will reach out and ...touch??.
 
Buck1950 said:
did you change the hammer spring ? If you're reloading you can lighten that too. I too did the gas tube, got the ejects to about 8-10 feet at 3 o'clock. I did the MCarbo sear spring - the medium one cause the light one made my magazine drop open every shot !! But I also polished ALL sides of the sear - not changing angles - and the sear 'rails' too. Got the trigger down to about 4#, but with irons I could only get about 2-3moa at 100 and 3-4 at 200. I wanted to do a scope, but chose to go to a Rem700 and sold the SKS. Sorta wish I still had it - a '51 Tula light refurb, but the Rem will reach out and ...touch??.
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I could try the hammer spring but I kinda gave up. Best I got was about 5 pounds, if I file it down more I get trigger engagement issues and I had to seat the sear block a bit further twice because I ran out of room.

I really wanted to try to get a nice 3.5 pound but there is a reason why my gesseille trigger cost more than my sks. I'l try to buy another russian trigger group and will see if I can get it further.
 
OR4NGE said:
So I just finished the first phase of my SKS trigger job, I've also changed the spring. I now have a super clean and pleasant 6 pound trigger pull with no grit and a good reset.

I am wondering if By filing the surfaces more, I could go to 3.5 pounds.

What is the lowest you were able to get your sks trigger?
Click to expand...


The quickest way to render the sks unsafe for Conditon One field carry, is to do a trigger job.

The sear-to-trigger engagement IS the sks safety. There is no hammer block, no transfer bar, etc.


With the safety lever engaged, the only thing preventing the hammer from falling on a chambered round is friction between the sear and the hammer. The crappy, gritty trigger of the sks is an integral part of the design. It was purposely designed to be that way.

Shortening the travel and polishing engagement surfaces alters the safety as it was designed and only increases the likelihood of Negligent Discharge (not accidental).
 
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