[cslinger]

So I get my pristine Yugo SKS from AIM and it is beautiful and doesn't look like it has ever been fired. Well I take to breaking it down to clean all the cosmo off of it and I get to the bolt.

Well me being a good doobie who doesn't want to have an unregistered full auto SKS at the range knows that that firing pin channel needs to be cleaned out so I grab a hammer and punch and lightly tap ont he retaining pin......nothing.

Ok a bit more force.......nothing.

Alrightly you wanna play hard to get huh? SMACK....nothing.

A half an hour of banging on that thing like I am forging steel and using every creative verbal insult I can come up with in two languages I finally decide that there must be a better way.

Well I pull out some handy dandy brake cleaner, attach a little plastic WD 40 red straw attachment and spray the heck out of the channel from the bolt head into the firing pin hole. After about 5 minutes it loosens up. No more squish of cosmo noise, but still sticky. I hit it again, this time followed with compressed air. Much better now.

After about four applications of this the bolt is totally free moving with no resistence. The channel appears to be totally clean. I took it to the range and loaded two rounds to test, then four, then six and then ten. No problems at all.

Went home and cleaned her up and hit the bolt again with the same process and it couldn't be cleaner.

So my advice is if you cannot seem to bang that retaining pin out use break cleaner and compressed air shot directly into the firing pin channel from the bolt face. Let this sit for a few minutes between applications and the cosmo should very quickly be eaten totally away.

Chris.

[Braz]

Thanks Chris,

I'll give 'er a try. Most of us have bent a punch or two on that sucker.

[cslinger]

One other thing. I hit it from both the front of the bolt head and the back where the rear of the pin comes out of the bolt but I suspect what worked from coming in from the firing pin hole in at the front of the bolt.

Chris

[Tropical Z]

Those Yugo bolts are impossible! I gave up on mine and just swished it around in mineral spirits for 3 days.

[Kharn]

WD40 loosened mine up after a few squirts. Those suckers are impossible to get apart, I hope I never break the firing pin.

Kharn

[cslinger]

If I ever break the firing pin I will just buy a new bolt assembly period.

I am glad I wasn't the only one who gave up after pounding on the thing with a sledge hammer.

The bright side is the steel on the pin and bolt showed nary a mark so it must be reasonbly tough be cause I laid into it pretty good.

Chris

[Destructo6]

So, am I the only one that just pounded away and finally got the pin out of the bolt?

I considered stopping at the contact cleaner spray-down, but from the looks of the cosmoline in other placed, it didn't appear to be enough.

[cslinger]

So, am I the only one that just pounded away and finally got the pin out of the bolt?

You, my friend, are a better man than I. I pounded the sh....ahhh bejezzus out of that pin. For the record the brake cleaner did an excellent job without a full take down.

Kudos to you. :D

[Tropical Z]

I dont know how ya did it Destructo6.I beat my brains out trying to take it apart.My Norinco took me 5 minutes to disassemble!

[Destructo6]

I just bit my lip and pounded the poo out of it.

[Tropical Z]

Destructo6 is thebomb.com!

[Badger Arms]

The key is to have a solid block to pound against. I used my vice opened just enough to let the pin out. I padded it with a cloth and pounded. It took about four raps to find out the correct amount of force. If I have to do it again, I will soak it in a ziplock with WD-40 for a few days to break it loose.

[Dain Bramage]

Also, if the firing pin retainer isn't in straight, it can grind against the firing pin, and potentially cause slam-fires, even without dirt. You can tell if it's straight by the flange (that's the flap that covers the ejector spring) being level with the block. If it points up, you could have problems.

Mine was crooked and grinding even after soaking in mineral spirits, so I had to get it out. It took a pounding, but eventually came out without damage. After cleaning, I put the firing pin retainer back in straight, and now my firing pin rattles loosely when the block is shaken. I also check it before shooting.

[twoblink]

Whatever is small enough to fit into a small bucket..

I dump into a small bucket, and some Tranny oil... Transmission Oil is great... The solvents in it clean very very well...

If I get really upset though; the PowderBlast! comes out. :D