SKS issue

[briney11]

I fired my Chinese SKS for the first time today. I only got to fire 3 rounds because the darn thing wouldn't work.I'd load the stripper clip in close the bolt and then fire a round. Well it will not cycle a new round for anything. I had to drop the mag to empty it and fiddle with the bolt until it popped the empty casing out. I even tried loding 1 round at a time. Still sticks. Anyone have any idea what the problem could be and how I can fix it???? I fired 2 rounds of Golden Tiger and 1 Wolf JHP.

 

[mrmeval]

That sounds like what a Yugo does. It's got a tight chamber so if there is any problems with the gas system it won't eject a spent round. Check all the pieces in the gas system for wear.

 

[eliphalet]

Chamber and gas port clean?
Will it function by hand or not at all?

 

[MikeG]

I'd be inclined to inspect the gas system. Take the gas tube off, take the small piston out from inside the rear sight base and inspect all parts for cleanliness, gas leaks and servicability, including the port in the barrel.

The port in the barrel could be clogged. Sometimes people convert the SKS to a straight pull by removing the large or small piston - make sure they're there. Since you just got the SKS, this is possible, I guess.

 

[briney11]

I can move it with nothing in it. I even put 10 round in and pulled it by hand to eject them all and it worked fine. just not when it fires. it sticks realy bad and I had to keep pulling on it to get it to open to get the spent casing out.

 

[jr45]

Sounds like a dirty chamber. May want to try cleaning it really good with a chamber brush or another oversized bore brush. I had a similar problem with my Yugo SKS and have to clean the lacquer fouling from the chamber to get to function reliably. Your chamber could be caked with the stuff. Its hard to see with just your eyes that's why I recommend the chamber brush and some brake free or other cleaner.

 

[ID_shooting]

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=333316

See this thread, follow my directions an your woes will go away. FYI, since it is very difficult to manually cycle, it is NOT the gas system. It may be dirty and need to be cleaned, but it will not cause a round to stick in the chamber.

Yours will be different in one regard however, you should have a chrome bore. When clean, your chamber and bore should be very bright and silver in appearance.

 

[dstorm1911]

aside from the chamber possibly being the source of the problem have the headspace checked if its too long it will cause the bolt to stick as its slammed back into the locking shoulder, I've built chicom SKS as well from never assembled recievers and all new components that occasionally would be excessively tight the first 100 rounds or so, I mean real tight usually the problem traced back to receiver rails being a lil rough....... but if yours cycles by hand its either a bad chamber or a headspace issue, if its the case itself locked into the chamber and not the bolt locking up against the locking shoulder then that leaves only a chamber issue, post a pic of some of the problem cases

 

[ROMAK IV]

CHECK THIS FIRST!! Take the rear cover off, and make sure the recoil spring is installed correctly. There is a supported end and an unsupported end. The supported end remains straight, and the unsupported end has a smaller diameter keeper that slindes inside the keeper on the supported end. Basically, the unsupported end is supported by the tunnel in the bolt carrier, and if the ends are switched the spring will bind and produce some bizzare problems. I bought a really nice Chinese SKS, an old military model with the machined bolt and screw in barrel, and the barrel was immaculate. Anyway, the rifle would fire, and the case would stick partially open, and require a significant amount of force to open the bolt. Cleaning the gas sytem did nothing. Turning around the recoil spring fixed it.

 

[sarduy]

sks shut off valve

make sure you don't have the sks shut off valve in the OFF position, that would make it not cycle right, the valve most be a little to the right and not on top of the gas tube.

sks shut off valve OPEN (gun works fine)

sks shut off valve CLOSED "OFF" (gun does not reload the next round)

 

[dstorm1911]

sarduy, the Yugo 59/66 is the only SKS with a gas shutoff valve the OP has a chicom SKS and if it were a Yugo 59/66 with gas valve off this would not lock up the bolt from removing the fired casing

 

[Mojo-jo-jo]

Try cleaning the chamber real good with bore cleaner and a .45 bronze brush. Steel-case lacquered ammo sometimes leaves a lacquer build-up in the chamber and can cause rounds to get stuck.

 

[jpwilly]

:banghead: sarduy's sks has a shut off valve so they all must have one!

 

[Jeff F]

The easiest way I've found to get the lacquer coating out of the chamber is to clean the chamber with some lacquer thinner or MEK then clean as normal.

 

[briney11]

Well I cleaned the living crap out of it today, went to the range to test it out. First shot ejected perfect. After that :banghead: . Out of 30 rounds 3 ejected good 4 or 5 stove piped and the rest jammed like mad. Here are a couple of pics from an empty casing. It's the same one two pics.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h228/briney11/2007_0223bibandmtou0017.jpg

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h228/briney11/2007_0223bibandmtou0018.jpg

 

[Mauserguy]

I would suggest that you check the chamber very well, possibly using a mirror to look at it from different angles. You may have a bur in there inhibiting ejection.
Mauserguy

 

[dstorm1911]

+1 Mauserguy, not the very deep gouge in the side of the case, are all of the stuck cases gouged like that? also how bout a pic of the case head showing the primer and ejector strike?

 

[briney11]

All of them were like that.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h228/briney11/2007_0224bibandmtou0001.jpg

 

[res45]

Cratered primer,ammo is definitely a little HOT. Check your chamber for any burrs that might be holding the case also try some brass case ammo. The case will expand but also relax more than the steel case ammo as it cools plus you don't have to deal with that lacquer buildup crap. Most Chinese ammo I know of was steel case copper washed not lacquer coated,you may have a picky rifle. Just a side question did you pull the short rod and spring out from under the rear sight and clean and relube that as well as clean the inside of the gas tube and get all the carbon buildup off the gas piston.

 

[briney11]

Yup, I cleaned everything.

 

[Mr White]

Yeah, that gouge looks like it could be from a burr or something in the chamber. If the chamber has a big burr in it, you'd probably be best off to let a gunsmith fix it.

But, just so we're on the same page... you say you "cleaned the crap out of it". A lot of times with combloc guns that used to lacquer the cases, lacquer and cosmoline gets so caked into the chamber that cleaning the crap out of it isn't enough. You might have to take it to the next level and "clean the #%!*ing s**t out of it." Think along of the lines of a stainless steel chamber brush chucked into a drill, doused in brake cleaner and let loose on your chamber.

 

[CWL]

Is your SKS brand new? Perhaps there is cosmoline still gunking-up the internals.

 

[res45]

If your Chinese has the chromed line chamber you want to soak the chamber for a long while, stuff some cotton balls saturated with lacquer thinner or brake cleaner in there for a few hours,I'm thinking the stainless steel brush might do more harm to the chrome lining than good. The cleaner and a softer brush material will do the job just will take a little longer.

 

[sarduy]

try adding a few ( Do not over fill) drops of oil to the gas piston, just to lube in internal but don't put a lot just a few 4/5 drops...and try using the Tiger Ammo or Wulf Military ammo...