SKS question

[RightIsRight]

I am in the process of cleaning the cosmoline off my Yugo SKS.

I have disassembled it as instructed on surplusrifle.com. I am boiling all the small parts and tomorrow I will soak them all, along with the receiver and barrel in mineral spirits. WD-40 is working pretty well on the stock.

My question: Is the gas piston spring captive? I can't seem to get it out.

 

[cool45auto]

When I take the handgaurd off my Romanian SKS I move the lever on the side into the correct position to hold the spring but allow the cover and tube to come off. Then you can move the lever back down while holding the piston and it will reach a point where it will come out with the spring.

 

[RightIsRight]

thanks cool,


I will try that after I re-assemble tomorrow. I think the spring may be super-gunked with cosmoline making it difficult to remove. I didn't want to use a dental pick to pull it out before I made sure it wasn't a captive spring.

 

[cwalker3]

Make sure you get all of the gunk out of the bolt. When clean, you should be able to shake the bolt back and forth and hear the firing pin rattle. Failure to do this might result in double taps or worse.