SKS fore end removal.

[Harry Paget Flashman]

There's just no easy way to do it. I am "upgrading" my Yugo SKS (59) with a new Tapco T6 stock and enough compliance parts to make it legal. I beat and beat and beat and beat the pin attaching the rear metal cap to the gas tube with a punch and it would not budge. I mean to say I beat it. I finally drilled the pin out. The cap would still not come off. I wanted to save the wood but it wasn't possible. So I Dremeled and chiseled the wood out. It wasn't pretty.

Fortunately I had an ATI smooth fore end to replace it with rather than Tapco's ugly fore end with the rails. The fore end required a lot of trimming with a sharp knife to make it fit snug so as to maintain the OAL to reseat the gas tube. I'd done another SKS (59/66) years ago with an ATI stock and left the old wood fore end on it and just painted it black. I know why now. When I traded it off I gave the wooden stock with it.

The new composite fore end fits snug now and I didn't replace the pin. It's not going anywhere and it's a tight fit.

 

[Kilgor]

Love the carpet.

Those T-6 stocks are super comfortable. I think you'll like it.

 

[wnycollector]

I had 2 norinco sks'. those dinky little stocks were just a little to short (I'm 6'4") for me so I picked up a nice plain black ramline stock. I had the exact same problem you did trying to drift out that pin. Eventually I gave up on it and gave it to a buddie that worked in a machine shop. He poped it out and installed the new foreend for me. For the second SKS...I just sanded the wood down and painted it a flat black to match the stock

 

[NCLivingBrit]

I ended up chewing the ferrule on my Yugo to death trying to get the hand guard off, so I just bought the Tapco one w. the rail (and have since gotten a nice plain chinese one with no hand guard at all).

If you do kill the ferrule getting it off, Paul the SKSMan has them for $10, rather than the $25 a certain other site wanted.

 

[DMK]

I always drilled the ferule out with a centerpunch and a drill press. I replaced it with a common nail, head cut off and cut to length, then peened over both ends.

 

[Harry Paget Flashman]

I got the rest of the 922r compliance parts installed today. These include the Tapco gas piston, the 20 round Tapco magazine and the Tapco op rod for good measure. It took about 20 minutes, most of that devoted to getting the op rod out which is simple when the gas switch/gas tube release is in the correct position. The total cost was about $140 for the modifications to a $200 rifle. I wouldn't even have considered it before, until I sold my Bushmaster M4 and found the need for another EBR. Getting rid of the M4 was part of my caliber consolidation down to my own personal big three: 7.62X39, 7.62X54R and 8X57. Got 20 in those calibers.

All the surplus parts are saved in case I ever want to restore it to the original.