SKS fails to fire

[Uncle Alvah]

Yesterday I tried out a used SKS that I bought.

In a nutshell, the rifle will not fire a cartridge on the first attempt.

There is a pronounced dent in the primer of the loaded round, but not as deep as the dent on a cartridge that fire successfully.

A second attempt to fire the dented round will ALMOST always bring about the desired result.

The ammo is Wolf 122 gr Steel Case.

Out of about 15 cartridges, none fired on the first attempt, most fired on the second, although I carelessly did not keep carefull tally.

This morning, I lubed the gun with Break-Free.

I had 6 "dented" cartridges from yesterday, which I loaded into the rifle, then placed a fresh round on top.

The first cartridge failed to fire, the next 6 ran thru without a hitch, and when I single loaded the ejected first round, it fired as well.

I have owned a SKS in the past that ran completely glitch free, so I was somewhat surprized and disapointed at this.
I know mil-spec primers are harder because of free-floating firepins, but I still fully expected ther Wolf ammo to function, so I'm suspecting it's the gun itself???????

Today at lunch I disassembled the bolt and cleaned the pin and body well with steel wool, Break Free. No good.
Fresh cartridge FTF, racked the bolt and but the round back in, BANG!

I'm thinking maybe these Wolf primers are HARD.....

Advice appreciated!

 

[esq_stu]

If you are getting light strikes, the firing pin channel is clean, and there's no damage to the firing pin, does the trigger group function the way it is supposed to? Maybe the hammer spring was shortened - some people cut off turns in the hope of lightening the trigger pull. I've bought more than one used gun that had light strikes due to a previous owner doing this. You could order a new hammer spring from Wolff. It's simple to install.

 

[Uncle Alvah]

Wolff spring might be a good idea.

The pin itself appears a bit "flat" perhaps, but not damaged.

I'm gonna grab some Winchester "vanilla" rounds on the way home tonight, at Wally World(I'm sad to say). My regular shop is closed on mondays. Primers probably a fair bit softer.

It seems odd that it basicly ALWAYS fails to fire a fresh round, then ALWAYS fires it on the second attempt.

 

[Southern Raider]

Hard to tell for sure, as I have run into batches of Wolf with especially hard primers. Changing to another box of Wolf fixed everything.

 

[Uncle Alvah]

Wolff site only shows reduced power springs it seems.

SR, I'm hoping thats the problem......

 

[esq_stu]

You can get factory springs.

http://sksparts.com/sksparts.html $6.95

 

[rcmodel]

Make sure the bolt is going completely into battery and is locked all the way.

You may have a badly fouled chamber holding the bolt open slightly.

The first hammer strike finishes closing it, the second fires the round.

I'd give the chamber a good scrubbing with a cleaning rod chucked in a drill, and a wad of 0000 steel-wool wound on a bore brush with solvent.

After a little bit of that, you can be assured there is no fouling in the chamber holding the bolt open slightly.

rcmodel

 

[prickett]

This is a long shot (happened to me, but with reloads)... are the primers fully seated? My experience, the first firing pin strike seated the primer and the second strike set it off. Pretty doubtful that would be the case with factor ammo though.

 

[Wvladimire]

1) Completely disassemble the bolt with firing pin. Clean and lube the firing pin channel, firing pin itself, and roll pin.

2) Re-assemble bolt

3) I have not had good experience with Wolf ammo lately. Usually I get the pop, then fizzle, then bang from them. Delayed firing. Only has happened with Wolf military classic and regular Wolf ammo. Tried Sivler Bear, Romanina, and other 7.62 ammo and no problems.

 

[Wvladimire]

If you haven't cleaned out the firing pin channel, firing pin itself, and the roll pin that keeps everything in place in the bolt, then maybe it's time you should.

Also I have not had good experiences with Wolf ammo as of late. I get a delayed firing when using it in my SKS. My buddy got the same thing from his AK. You hear the primer pop, then a fizzle, and then bang. We've tried other 7.62 ammo Silver Bear, Romainian, and others. Only seems tohappen with Wolf military classic or regular Wolf ammo.

 

[Wvladimire]

If you haven't cleaned out the firing pin channel, firing pin itself, and the roll pin that keeps everything in place in the bolt, then maybe it's time you should.

Also I have not had good experiences with Wolf ammo as of late. I get a delayed firing when using it in my SKS. My buddy got the same thing from his AK. You hear the primer pop, then a fizzle, and then bang. We've tried other 7.62 ammo Silver Bear, Romainian, and others. Only seems tohappen with Wolf military classic or regular Wolf ammo.

 

[Uncle Alvah]

It appears the problem is the hard primers on the Wolf ammo. Winchester "white box" functioned perfectly.
I will still replace the trigger spring with a new one, because I believe it's still possible the previous owner may have clipped the spring a bit to try and lighten the trigger.
I do appreciate the advice from all!

 

[BUGUDY]

I would still dissasemble bolt and clean firing pin and channel.