SKS not firing.

[Rasputin747]

My friend's father is having problems with his SKS not firing. I myself am pretty amateur when it comes to gun repair. All I really know is the Mosin-Nagant in terms of how to fix problems, disassemble, etc.

He told me that his SKS is not firing rounds. My first assesment based on this is that the firing pin protrusion is too short. However, I may be wrong and that is why I came here. I don't know how to disassemble or check the firing pin protrusion of an SKS. If it makes any difference, it's Chinese.

If anyone has any suggestions, links to manuals, etc. please feel free to help.

 

[Matt Dillon]

Please take the bolt out of the gun, take it apart, and thoroughly clean it. One of the biggest problems with the SKS is that it has an inertial firing pin, i.e. it is not spring loaded. If the firing pin channel is grimy, and the firing pin is stuck in the outward position, it can slam fire. If it is stuck to the other side, it won't protrude enough. You take the bolt apart by using a punch and punching out a little pin that holds it together. You might want to start by taking a can of the cheapest brake cleaner you can find, using the little red nozzle that comes with it, and squirting brake cleaner forcefully in the firing pin channel Then take it apart, clean the channel with some pipe cleaners, lube it lightly with dry lube, then put it back together again. The firing pin should rattle in the bolt when you shake it. If it doesn't investigate why not. Perhaps the firing pin is broken. Please be careful!

 

[FieroCDSP]

I'm no smith, but I do have a yugo SKS. Some info might help the people here.
Was it newly imported (as in you had to strip the cosmoline off everything)? If so, there may be cosmoline still trapped in the firing pin assembly. I believe the Chinese all had the spring-return firing pins but I may be wrong. There may be rust, gunk, or the spring might be broken/bound up in there. If you turn the bolt on it's side, you'll see a pin that goes through from just behind the extractor to a pin-hole on the other side. you have to punch this pin out carefully (though it may take some force) to get the firing pin out. Watch out for the extractor spring, it's tiny and behind the extractor, right in front of that pin.

What are it's characteristics when it doesn't fire? Will it not fire any rounds, or simply stops after one, then you have to cycle the bolt, like a bolt action? Are there marks from the firing pin on the cartridge primer?

This may be an easy fix via cleaning, or it may require part replacement.

The wonderful thing about surplus russian-design hardware is that it's fairly easy to fix, and parts are almost plentiful.

 

[Rasputin747]

From what he has told me it is not even shooting one round. That's what lead me to believe it was the firing pin. So the solution would be to disassemble and clean with brake cleaner?

 

[Hazzard]

Take the bolt out and shake it back and forth. The firing pin should rattle freely and you should be able to hear it. If not, brake cleaner does a very good job of cleaning the grime out.Carb cleaner works very well also. When you reassemble, make sure you get the firing pin back in the same way. It may not look like it but if it is not reassembled correctly the firing pin can also stick causing slamfires.

 

[ZeSpectre]

I'll also pass along the same advice I always give regarding the SKS. If you have to replace the firing pin for any reason I recommend that you go to Murray's guns and buy one of his "sprung" firing pins. Cheap insurance against slamfires and doubling.

http://www.murraysguns.com/sksown.htm