SKS pierced primer and bent firing pin

[WayneConrad]

My nephew was firing dad's Yugo SKS at the range this morning when it failed to cycle. The bolt was locked forward hard. We borrowed a rubber mallet from the friendly range safety officer and hammered it open. Luck was on our side and we got the fired casing back without ripping the head off.

What we found was a casing with a pierced primer, and a firing pin that had gone shooting out the back of the bolt and been caught by the receiver cover. The firing pin had bent enough so that it could clear the firing pin retaining pin.

The SKS had about 300 rounds through it previously with only one incident: Last week, at round 9, the firing pin stuck forward and caused the weapon to double. I'm glad it was at the end of the magazine. Dad and I disassembled it and concluded that I had assembled the bolt incorrectly (oops). After we reassembled the bolt correctly, the next 290 rounds were without incident until this morning.

The ammo was Wolf. At this point dad and I don't know whether the weapon was to blame, or the ammo, or incorrect assembly. I'm happy to blame the ammo for now unless you tell me that it's likely I goofed it up.

 

[Mauserguy]

Quite frankly, it sounds like the firing pin was bent or otherwise damaged to begin with, this is why you had the slam fire. I don't think your tinkering with it was to blame.

I hate to say it, but I think that a trip to a good gunsmith is the safe thing to do, especially is a youngster is going to shoot it.
Mauserguy

 

[Zeke Menuar]

Fix that SKS firing pin once and for all.

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

ZM

 

[WayneConrad]

Good advice about the gunsmith. I don't think dad will take it to a smith, but if he doesn't I'll want there to be a lot of rounds through it before my nephew shoot it again.

I gave dad the link for the springed firing pin. Looks nice... I think I might get one for me. I'd like to be able to use normal primers instead of NATO spec. Dad said he doesn't want the firing pin, but if the NATO primers cost an extra 2 cents each (my guess), then it's only 1750 rounds to pay for the springed firing pin. That, and Sportsman's hasn't had CCI #34 primers for two weeks now.

We won't be shooting any more Wolf, that's for sure. Handloads only. Even without overloads and duds, I'm not crazy about how dirty Wolf is. What is in that stuff? Coal tar?

 

[heypete]

Wayne,

Contact Wolf Ammo about the incident and see if they'd be willing to refund your money (or I'd be glad to take whatever 7.62x39mm you have left over from them ). Wolf is generally very good about their "performance guarentee" and may even pay for repairs to your rifle. Then again, if you caused the weapon to malfunction due to your own error, I doubt Wolf will do much -- it isn't their fault then, you know?

Ben Murray is a customer of mine (I sell him 128k ISDN internet access, he sold me a firing pin), and he's a genuinely good guy. My Yugo 59/66 sports one of his pins, and has had nothing but luck with it. Then again, it had nothing but luck with the original pin too, but I bought Ben's just to be on the safe side.

And it's not coal tar...it's genuine Clubbed Baby Seals!

I've had nothing but good luck with Wolf ammo in all of my firearms, though I've found that Miwall's 9mm reloads are cheaper, more consistent, and made by an ammo company in California , and so they get my business for "plinking" ammo. They're cheaper than Wolf, which is amazing, and use cleaner-burning Winchester powder. Wolf has said they'll be loading .30-06 Springfield and whatever the caliber is for the K31 Swiss rifle by this summer. I'll stick with my handloads for competition, handloads or commercial ammo for hunting, but Wolf for plinking. Now, if only they'd open a plant here in the US. I can't imagine that mass-producing ammunition using steel-cases would be very expensive...hell, the Russians can do it, why can't we?

 

[armoredman]

I bookmarked that site - my wife's Yugo runs like a champ, but I would also like the added security of a return spring! I'd just keep the original in the OS BOB....

 

[Commissar Gribb]

rarely ever had problems with wolf ammo (except in my AR-15s, but any of you who know me that well from this board know I'm always having problems with those anyhow)

Never had a single stoppage in my SKS after continual shooting. sounds like someone got a lemon.

 

[mcmoyer]

but I bought Ben's just to be on the safe side

Ditto...I sent my bolt off to him before I ever even fired the weapon.

 

[WayneConrad]

sounds like someone got a lemon.

Could also be that someone... well, me... caused a lemon. I'm not insensitive to the possibility I caused it all by putting stuff together wrong.

 

[silverlance]

has anybody else had a pierced primer?

I think I might have gotten one, too. Thank god that Simonov saw fit to put a good 1/4" of steel affixed by a retaining cross pin between my face and the bolt.

sigh*

 

[mrmeval]

After what I thought was extreme cleaning I noticed a very heavy indentation in the primer of some wolf ammo. I also noticed that the firing pin seemed to stick some. After some research disassembled the bolt and lo' and behold it was full of cosmoline. After cleaning that the primers looked better and the firing pin travels freely.

I am quite tempted to get the modification mentioned that adds a spring to the firing pin.

My nephew was firing dad's Yugo SKS at the range this morning when it failed to cycle. The bolt was locked forward hard. We borrowed a rubber mallet from the friendly range safety officer and hammered it open. Luck was on our side and we got the fired casing back without ripping the head off.

What we found was a casing with a pierced primer, and a firing pin that had gone shooting out the back of the bolt and been caught by the .

 

[Onmilo]

Not having personally examined your weapon and not intending to make an accusation,,,,
I have repaired several Yugoslavian Type 59/66 rifles with similar problems to what you describe.

In every single case, impacted grease/cosmoline lodged in the firing pin channel was the culprit and cause of the problem.

All the Yugoslavian SKS rifles came into the country just slathered with protective grease.
Most dealers did not clean the weapons properly, or at all, and most dealers did not explain to the new owners exactly how detailed they needed to be in cleaning the grease/cosmoline from the weapons before they were used.

Consequently many, many people have experienced slam fires, bent firing pins, jammed actions, you think of it, it has happened.
And all of it because that damn grease was not properly removed from the rifle bolt assemblies.

 

[armoredman]

I boiled my bolt, then disassembled it to clean thoroughly with brake cleaner. Afterward, I put oil where it needed to go,( not the firing pin channel, was warned about that), and reassembled, and so far not one misfire/double/mishap at all. Good rifle, wish I could afford two more.

 

[MechAg94]

I soaked my bolt in mineral spirits. You could see the cosmoline that came out. I haven't put enough rounds down range to tell you much though.

 

[Shrinkmd]

Three pierced primers today!

I wonder if the first led to the others... I was shooting my Yugo and I had one shot with less recoil, and smoke came oozing out of the reciever, around the bolt, all over the place. I dropped the mag, pulled back the bolt, everything looked ok (I didn't check to see if the firing pin was still rattling, though) Anyway, out of 80 rounds fired I think I had at least three primers pierced (I found the cases, deep indent in primer, and could see light coming through the case when I held it up to the sky!) Also, once or twice the hammer fell and didn't fire the round (did the second time around)

When I got home and started cleaning, I realized that the firing pin was stuck, protruding about a mm or so out of the bolt. When I dissembled the bolt (how can you own an SKS and not have the starret punches and a big hammer?) I found a piece of primer crap lodged in the firing pin channel. I cleaned it all out, and she rattles again. Back to the safe.

So how common an occurence is a blown primer? Ammo was recent production polymer Wolf FMJ. After reading some posts about this I think that continuing to shoot after the first blown primer was a no-no.

 

[dfaugh]

Having shot MANY thousands of Wolf 7.62x39 rounds through SKSs and AKs, I would say the odds are 95% gun problem and 5% ammo problem. I've never had a problem with Wolf in a Combloc gun.

Wild guess would be the firing pin protudes too much, various causes. Have a gun smith take a look at it, for safety..

 

[Shrinkmd]

Murrays?

Perhaps I should send the whole bolt off to Murray's for his new firing pin with spring? It's odd, this problem didn't happen the first couple hundred rounds through this rifle, but yesterday was bad. I assume it is unsafe to shoot until this problem is investigated further? Any suggestions on other SKS 'smiths out there who could help?

Thanks!

As far as cleaning bolt goes, I have already disassembled it and cleaned it out spotless. Actually, the only new thing is the Kivaari trigger job, although I don't understand how that could cause pierced primers. Maybe some light strikes or FTF, but the opposite? With the Wolff reduced power springs installed. I dunno

 

[foghornl]

My SKS had A BUNCH of Cosmo in the bolt. Soaked bolt for several hours in mineral spirits. Spring now floats freely.