SKS-what to do....

AR15meister

AR15meister

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Picked up my standard SKS this morning from Simmon's in Hamilton. Pretty cool rig but definately not my AR!! Just wanted to know what to do no with it, I am a new shooter and I have an AR15 and an HK .45USP but this thing is a little more 'old school' and I am nervous I am going to do the wrong #### to get it ready for some shooting this weekend on crown land up north....Please gimme some advice. I was going to use some brake cleaner to spray down some of the parts and get the greasy stuff off the wood.....Please tell me what to do, rifle is apparently brand new.

Thanks.
 
A good de-gunking of the action is critical. I've found a good way to strip that cheap Chu wood is to run it through the dishwasher. You'll need to refinish it with some sort of oil afterwards.

After that, just bang away with hundreds of rounds. It ain't gettin any prettier, and you really can't 'screw it up'.
 
It makes a good paddle...but after awhile they get heavy with rust and must be chucked overboard. But before deep sixing it , make sure to take all the grease off, don't wanna pollute the water.:D
 
What I would do is take it apart completely (detailed instructions and pictures at www.surplusrifle.com ) and put all the pieces in the bathtub, in water as hot as you can get it, and some dish soap. Take the individual pieces, wash the grease off then put them on a towel to dry. Once they're dry take some regular gun oil and oil all the metal parts and reassemble. Then you're ready for battle, comrade! :dancingbanana:

cheers
John
 
I have a can of brake cleaner for the action and the firing pin etc...can I submerge all of the rifle in water, even the wood??

I have some Canadian Tire Gun oil...just cheap stuff....should I just use that to oil or do you guys think I need to clean the barrel and ####?

I just want to shoot it this weekend...............
 
AR15meister said:
I have a can of brake cleaner for the action and the firing pin etc...can I submerge all of the rifle in water, even the wood??

I have some Canadian Tire Gun oil...just cheap stuff....should I just use that to oil or do you guys think I need to clean the barrel and s**t?

I just want to shoot it this weekend...............
Click to expand...

You can shoot it as long as the barrel and action are clear of thick goo, as long as you don't mind the stickiness. But yes the whole thing, including the wood, can be submerged. Just dry it off and oil it afterwards.
I would recommend NOT using brake cleaner on any part of it, but that's just me.

good shooting!

John
 
303carbine said:
It makes a good paddle...but after awhile they get heavy with rust and must be chucked overboard. But before deep sixing it , make sure to take all the grease off, don't wanna pollute the water.:D
Click to expand...

Some say the same things about Enfields.:D
 
I just washed mine down with varsol.

After that I chased the varsol out with some brake cleaner.

After that I shot some compressed air into all the corners and then lubed up the moving parts.

Finally I shot the #### out of it and then repeated the process.

I should also mention that varsol and brake clean will take the finish right off the stock. I ended up having to refinish it.
 
I washed mine down with varsol to get the gunk off then proceeded with my regular gun cleaning routine. I *hated* the look of the stock so I stripped off the varnish and spray painted it black while the parts were soaking. I carry around glass cleaner in the oilier bottle that came with the SKS to protect the rifle till I can get it home and cleaned properly.

P.S>Clean the cleaning tools that came with the rifle too…..they were the most crudded up parts on my SKS!
 
i put all the bolt parts and gas system parts in a pan w/ boiling water and let them sit for 10-15mins, it melts off all the cosmo. Make sure to clean out the cosmo from the barrel too, i left the stock alone initially but opted to refinish it later.
 
I used a steam cleaner to get out a lot of the cosmo in mine. I used varsol and a lot of steam to get the gunk out of the bold.

I have a Yugo and I like the way the stock looks now so I didnt do anything too harsh with it. It shoots nice to.
 
SHot it this weekend with some corrosice surplus ammo I bought in hamilton. Gun is pretty fun, my girlfriend didnt mind shooting it either, said the recoil was less than she expected but it was noisier than she could have dreamed. I used brake cleaner on everything, wiped off all that gunk #### with shop rags and took it all apart (not the trigger assembly though.

I like the SKS, it is a fun rifle to shoot and it is pretty simple. How do I take off the stock to spray paint it black, I think I am going to sand it down and give it a nice black finish on all wood parts.....Any suggestions?

BTW accuracy isnt that bad, for 200 bucks this thing is awesome in my opinion, great gun to take friends out who havent shot before...Cheap ammo and ####ing thing looks mean too!!
 
To take the stock off you depress the catch behinh the trigger guard, remove the magazine and you're done. The foregrip is trickier depending on the condition of the pin holding the ferrules on (mine were grinded down so i can't remove them)

The SKS is a tough rifle, but just make sure you clean the gas system and that the firing pin moves freely (shake the bolt - and it should rattle)

The dirtier the ammo you;re firing the drier the rifle should be IMHO. On that note, since you said you're new to shooting: you should not fire with an oiled barrel or bolt face.

Personally I like to keep my rifles as dry -oil free- as possible. The oil just collects the powder residue and makes cleaning all that more difficult.
I guess I would break it down like this:
-Shoot - which you already did I see...
-Clean the rifle with powder solvent e.g hoppes #9 or whatever
-dry it
-Lightly oil w/gun oil. Oil from cdn tire is ok for short periods, but is a no no for longterm storage, it breaks down and turns into something like earwax. nice image eh? Kano Kroil is a good oil in my experience. Some have on this board have reccomended synthetic motor oil... I am going to try this.
-Store it
-Repeat :)
 
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C9er said:
The dirtier the ammo you;re firing the drier the rifle should be IMHO. On that note, since you said you're new to shooting: you should not fire with an oiled barrel or bolt face.

Personally I like to keep my rifles as dry -oil free- as possible. The oil just collects the powder residue and makes cleaning all that more difficult.
Click to expand...
haha, you said it! Wow, I couldnt believe the amount of powder residue that was left! Gah thats a B*tch to clean out of ever little detail :runaway:
 
Sks

A friend of mine has some and the only thing that he didn't like about the
SKS was using commercial hunting ammo. He found that the bolt upon closing on a round would sometimes discharge the round. The commercial ammo must have soft primers. Has anyone had this problem?

I don't think it is a problem with the owner because he studies anything he purchases and has an excellent mechanical knowledge. Well educated and repairs complex machinery for a living.
 
Yes, I also use wd-40 for cosmoline stripping. Good penetrating oil for working out moving parts.

I shot an SKS once that didn't have the barrel completely degreased. Lot of orange sparks with the muzzle flash.:runaway:
 
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