standard SKS mag is falling out of my rifle

[matchinson14]

I am more than a little peeved by this to say in the least. Started a post last night on it but I thought I had it fixed. I have a 1954 Tula sks All numbers matching except for the standard mag. It. WIll. Not. Stay. In! Every time I open up the bottom to let rounds out of the loaded rifle the whole friggin thing falls out. When locked in the rifle functions flawlessly though. It just really sucks that I can't empty rounds out. I rock the front in place, then I slide the trigger group pin into its slot. It appears the two prongs on the trigger block are too thin to retain the back indent of my mag properly. Any suggestion on how to fix this? I payed 600 for this rifle -_-

 

[Ignition Override]

Did you try "SKSboards"? Many of those members are specialists.

They might simply recommend buying a second original magazine, unless the gun has been modified.

At the bottom area of the website main page, you might also try "Murray's".
That unique gun smith shop works appears to work mostly on SKS rifles, and cured my Yugo M59 of any more popped primer issues.

 

[wally]

Are you sure its assembled correctly? The stationary part of the magazine needs to go in with the bolt locked back (or not yet installed) and the trigger assembly goes in "on top of it" looking at the bottom of the rifle.

 

[matchinson14]

Yep that is exactly how I am assembling it. Rocking the front of the mag in the front so it slides into the slot. Then I take the trigger group and slide it in so the prongs slide around the notch in the back of the mag......I can physically pull the mag right out from there unless the bottom of the box is snapped into the trigger lever.

 

[Gunnerboy]

Post some pictures of where you think is damaged or wrong and also try assembling the rifle without a stock loading and emptying to see if you catch the issue.

 

[matchinson14]

Here are some photos

 

[lysanderxiii]

Ca we get a better first picture?

But it looks like someone modified the magazine, so they could switch between the standard 10 round and after market hi-cap mags....

Get a new magazine, you'll see the difference in the rear lug

 

[matchinson14]

Do you mean a new trigger group plate? That's what the first picture is of.

 

[ColoradoMinuteMan]

Although it is a bit hard to see, in my opinion it looks like the "rail" ends are damaged on the trigger guard/frame. At least that is what the first picture seems to look like. They definitely don't have crisp looking edges. They aren't always perfectly square, but those look very rough.

 

[matchinson14]

That was the same conclusion I reached too Is there anyway to add a bit of metal back to them? I'd hate to have to replace the original trigger group.

 

[ColoradoMinuteMan]

A skilled welder could add metal. Some of the professional gunsmiths types can do this, but I'd be hesitant to let someone do it unless I had seen other metal repairs that they had done. Many "gunsmiths" are more like armorers and aren't skilled in metal work.

 

[Gunnerboy]

Yup what i kinda thought.. Some bubba engineered that fixed 10rnd mag so it can be removed without having to take the stock off..I have actually seen that more than once :banghead: Find yourself a welder thats good with sheetmetal

 

[adcoch1]

I agree. From all the sks's I've has over the years I have seen this before. Try the new mag first. I believe your mag is shot if this isn't enough have a welder add a little bit to the inside of the prongs and hand file them until the new mag fits. If you are/were in western wa I can fix it for ya...

 

[Gunnerboy]

Not to derail.. but what part of Wa you from? adcoch1

 

[lysanderxiii]

From your pictures the magazine was modified, not the trigger housing.

Your second picture shows the rear lug on the magazine was narrowed down to pass through.

 

[adcoch1]

Not to derail.. but what part of Wa you from? adcoch1

Centralia. Just south of Olympia.

 

[Gunnerboy]

haha small world.. Im in castle rock.

 

[adcoch1]

I was just down there on Saturday.

 

[matchinson14]

Thanks guys. I appreciate all the feeback. I'm in Central NY. I'll have to take it to a welder then I guess. Or do you think a little JB touch up/liquid steel may do the trick durably?

 

[illinoisburt]

JB or other epoxies more than likely will crack from the jarring of recoil, plus they don't do well with long term exposure to oils/solvents. Much better to have a small amount of metal welded on.

What normally keeps the magazine in the rifle are the two prongs shown in your first photo holding the ridge along the channel on the back of the magazine. They are normally straight on the inside forming a squared U. Since someone filed down the interior of the prongs, the raised section of the magazine slides past (it may catch a little wiggling to one side or another). Those two prongs need to be modified to fix this issue.

Since you have money in the gun, welding metal added back to them to reform the inside edges is the best way to go.

If it was a cheap beater then I would carefully bend in the pieces towards each other just enough to catch the magazine using a vise. The metal is likely not heat treated too hard that cracking would be a danger since the trigger group is not a high stress part. If a prong did break off, you are no worse than where you started with needing metal added by a welder. It would still function the same as before.