AAAAWWW!-What is different about the Yugo SKS bolt?

[Tropical Z]

I started to disassemble my first Yugo SKS for a thorough scrubbing and came to the bolt.As the firing pin is not moving freely and has been packed in grease for who knows how long i wanted to take it completely apart to clean.I recently told another member what a piece of cake it is to do and now feel like a FOOL! I beat my brains out trying to get the firing pin retainer out of the bolt and finally gave up (after bending my punch).I have done this before on my Norinco and a Romanian without incident.What is different about the Yugos? Whats the secret?I tried it at different angles,pin in,pin out.What gives?

 

[Destructo6]

Pound on it really hard. Really.

I had the same problem and the retainer doesn't look like that in the instructions I found online. I had real doubt.

I crilled a hole in a piece of wood and just drove the pin out with a 3-lb sledge and punch. I pounded harder than I thought should be the case, but it came out and everything looked undamaged.

Putting it back in is similarly a pain, since the flat has to be oriented forward. I used some pliers to re-orient the flat as I drove it home.

 

[Tropical Z]

I cant believe it would take such a pounding to get it out! My Norinco and Romo came out without too much difficulty.DAMN YUGOS!

 

[Destructo6]

Thought you were gonna break it, didn't you?

 

[Tropical Z]

I havent succeeded yet!
I think after its mineral spirits soak,ill drop a drop of oil in from each end and try it from there.

 

[Tropical Z]

I tried again and gave up.Its hopeless with the tools and punches i have.It shouldnt be but it is.The soak is gonna have to do it until i have more time to try a 20 pound sledge!

 

[rugerfreak]

Is your pin moving freely?? If it ain't broke---don't "fix" it.

 

[Destructo6]

Problem is that the firing pin channel is loaded with cosmoline goop. Not cleaning it may cause slamfires. Mine was pretty well caked up and sticky.

I used a punch whose diameter was about the same size as the pin.

 

[cwalker3]

Try soaking it in automatic transmission fluid or Kroil. That may free it up enough to get it out. Or just shoot some brake cleaner in it to remove the cosmo, then oil. As long as you can hear the pin move back and forth when you shake the bolt, everything should be fine.

 

[Destructo6]

Did you ever get this pin out of the bolt?

 

[BHP9]

I personally would soak it in a good automotive degreaser rather than going to all the trouble of pounding on it and possible damage to it. Soak it for a week and then but break free on it to lube it. Thats all I did and it took all the gunk out of it.

Another alternative is to have the pin pressed out with an arbor press. Most local gunsmiths have such a press as do most machine shops. The small price you pay to have this done may be way cheaper than breaking or marking up your weapon. The Sks bolt is not unbreakable and beating to hard on it could damage it.

 

[DMK]

Thos pins are frozen and very tought to get out. I bent a couple punches on mine.

Instead of bashing on it, you could try standing the bolt on end in a pan in the oven and baking it at maybe 250 for a while. That should melt the cosmo and let it run out. Then follow up with a good soaking with penetrating oil(PB Blaster is great stuff) and blasting out whatever remains with brake or carb cleaner. Lube it up with CLP to prevent rust and then blow out the excess with compressed air to keep it from gumming up again.

 

[Zander]

Far be it from me to endorse WD-40 for much, but a similarly "frozen" firing pin yielded to repeated sprays into the firing pin channel.

I have absolutely no doubt that the rifle would have been an open-bolt full-auto if I hadn't cleaned the Cosmoline that had solidified from decades of storage...it was really frozen. I've seen too many slam-fires from those who didn't perform the most basic maintenance.

WD-40 [mostly sanitized kerosene] is an effective solvent...just don't use it as a lubricant.

Yours seem to be suffering from some corrosion. Get the firing pin moving freely and then strip the bolt and lubricate accordingly. The key is that you'll have the firing pin retracted to the level of the bolt face. Anything else is just basic tweaking.

 

[Kharn]

Zander: I also used WD40 on my SKSs to free their stuck firing pins. It freed them up quite nicely.

Kharn