question for sks owners

What kind of magazine are you using? Most SKSs use a fixed 10-round mag, so you've either got one of the few that were set up to use AK mags, or you're using an aftermarket "duckbill" detachable magazine. They're a little finicky, but you should be able to remove one without having to lock the bolt open.

Your issues are a result of using the duckbill mags instead of the fixed mag it was designed for. My advice would be to find a fixed mag. It will be more reliable anyway, and if you just HAVE to have a 30 round mag save up for an AK or AR.

Just wait until you try to clear a malfunction with that duckbill magazine installed. You'll need four hands!

I purchased an SKS "paratrooper" that somebody had fitted with the 20 rd Tapco duckbill magazine. I posted a "WTB" ad and found an original, fixed 10 rd metal SKS mag, which is currently installed.

Good luck!

It's not hard at all to remove a half full mag even with the duckbill install. Just pull the bolt back half way and release the catch that holds the mag and pull it out. It's tricky and whatever you do, don't let go of that bolt if you have a round already chambered and stuck maybe. You could get a big surprise. But I've done this many times and I'm still alive. If you're really paranoid stick something in front of the bolt to keep it from moving forward while you remove the mag. You can pull the bolt all the way back and take the mag loose but you increase your chances that the bolt will pick up a second shell and try to stuff it in the chamber which is not good if you have a round stuck in the chamber.

I suppose this stuff is more tricky than most rifles. But in 20 plus years of shooting I probably haven't had half a dozen stuck rounds. That's with me firing at least 10,000 rounds through the rifle

BTW with the standard SKS mag you hit that same release and the mag dumps all your rounds from the mag. You only have what's left in the chamber still in the gun.

I'm sure it'll be just as fast or probably faster to use those.

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If you can get them to work right they're faster. They're much lighter to carry around too.

Stripper clips work best with SKS's. I had a 20 rounder fixed mag Norinco and it loaded fast. Almost as fast as an AK.

are they difficult to get to work flawlessly?

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It takes some practice to get use to using them. Just don't mount a scope over your bolt unless it is a real short scope.

Jim

I have had all sorts of problems getting them to work but I guess once you get them going they work well. I haven't tried all that hard I guess. I should have been trying to make them work but mine won't fit through the slot for some reason. I know some clips are better than others.

Cee Zee described exactly how to solve your little problem. He also highlights exactly why you have a much bigger problem than the little one. Convenient carry and reliable function are great, but you have a high powered rifle THAT YOU CANNOT SAFELY CLEAR OR HANDLE when it jams.

Seriously... get a fixed magazine that works, and use strip clips.

Ok, why not just keep the Tapco in place and use it as a 20rd fixed mag?? All you have to do is cut a small notch for the stripper clips. It works great, I had one that I set up this way.

how would that work.

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You do this, problem solved. Can be done with a file, Dremel, flush cutters, pocket knife, etc. Stripper clips just go down to the top of the mag, not inside it. You just use 2 10 rd strippers for this mag. Here's a pic. Just saved you money.

how would that work. I've never used a stripper clip before. Wouldn't the 20 round mag be too deep for a small 10 round stripper clip. I probably sound dumb being as I have no experience with this gun.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56gh2KlyCrE

Yes, you'd still have the same safety problem. Get a fixed ten round of the type for you rifle, ans use that.

The Tapco mags generally work as well as the factory 10 round (thats why they have great reviews everywhere). They are not like the cheapo steel banana mags. There is no safety issue, if you load a gun, you simply clear it by firing or pulling the bolt back and lifting the bolt catch into position. Very simple and not any less safe than Garand thumb. I fail to see any safety issues, dont pull the trigger, rifles doesnt fire, very simple. I for one never load a rifle unless I need it available for use (though many of my guns, both rifles and handguns are loaded all the time, an empty gun is a club or hammer).

JBrady555 said:

the guns previous owner said he couldn't get a loaded mag out of the gun with the bolt closed either

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The original SKS internal magazines have lips that the bolt rides, and its locked over the mag when the bolt is closed. I guess the tapco have the same lips.

The original 10 round fixed magazine for the SKS works much like any hunting rifle and drops down like a trap door rifle. When you activate the mag release on the original mag the rounds just fall out and clears the magazine, you can then pull back the bolt and eject any round still in the chamber.

The bolt has a cut out on top of it for the stripper clips to fit in, Yes that is what that cut out on the bolt is for. And it takes a little practice to push the rounds in a stripper clip down into the fixed mag, but it is not that hard to get use to it. Also do not block the cut out on the bolt with a scope or you will not be able to fit the stripper clips into the cut out.

Jim

Lucifer Sam has it about right. The standard SKS bolt has lips that ride into the magazine and locks it in place. It is not possible to insert or remove a magazine with the bolt closed on a standard SKS.

The SKS-D (that takes the AK mag) has a modified bolt where the lips/rails have been removed so a mag can be inserted and removed with the bolt closed - just like how a real modern rifle works.

There is a bolt modification that is a common modification that can be done relatively easily and is well documented on the SKS Board.

If you plan on using the fixed 10 round mag and stripper clips, then the bolt mod is a waste of time.

On the other hand, IF you use detachable mags and IF you use the rifle in a more modern, fighting carbine sense, then the bolt mod is a must. Shooting to bolt lock and never tac loading is old thinking.

blasted original mags are hard to find and expensive. https://www.buymilsurp.com/magazine-original-10-round-magazine-sks-rifles-p-274.html