Hi all,

 

Need some technical advice to point me in the right direction. I have a Yugo made SKS that I recently pickup. The gun was in excellent condition when I first got it but the previous owner never fired it so I had checked over and cleaned by a gunsmith. The gunsmith gave it a clean bill of health so I proceeded to try it out at the range. First time out I had 8 misfires out of 40 founds which needless to say was a little high. Looking at the primers of these 8 rounds you can see that the firing pin barely made contact. I sent it back over to the gunsmith who found that even though the gun was super clean the firing pin retainer had some fouling which was causing the firing pin to act up. So it was cleaned out and lubed. I ran about 15 rounds of Wolf through it with no issues, great! So I switch over to PPU and out of 20 rounds 1 didn't fire because the primer was barely struck and 3 more looked like the primer was hit enough but they never fired. I shot all 4 a second time and the one where the primer was hardly dented did fire but the other 3 did not.

 

So my question is, am I looking at an inherent problem with this model gun, picky ammo, bad firing pin or something else?

 

Thanks,

Sam

At the worst, I'd got this route...

 

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

 

He does check the bolt and modifies it. Even if you send him an email, I'm sure he can steer you in the right direction.

 

Could also be the hammer spring.

m59 or M59/66?

 

If your is a 59/66 with grenade launcher, then maybe your you have the gas valve set wrong. Also do you have the springs in correct? Some time people put the long spring in backwards and will cause issues. Other than that is probably a gas issue. Firing pin channel should be clean and dry and lube will cause fouling to collect.

m59 or M59/66?

 

If your is a 59/66 with grenade launcher, then maybe your you have the gas valve set wrong. Also do you have the springs in correct? Some time people put the long spring in backwards and will cause issues. Other than that is probably a gas issue.

M59/66. Gas value is set correctly but I'm wondering if it needs to be replaced. The spring is in correctly as well

If it was a gas problem, it would either not extract or jam.

 

Light primer strikes are either a firing pin or hammer springs.

+1 what screwball said.

I would take it apart myself and clean the hell out of it. Put it back together and see how it runs. I would also try a different firing pin.

Your "gunsmith" should have cleaned the daylights out of the firing pin. If it were properly cleaned it should have been taken care of. It is the single thing on an SKS that needs to be clean.

 

Find a few tutorials and clean your rifle. If the problem persists, replace springs. They can't be too expensive.

Thanks all,

 

The firing pin was cleaned very well on the second trip to the shop and I had less misfires but still too many for my liking. I'll look into replacement springs and go from there.

 

Thanks!!!

Thanks all,

 

The firing pin was cleaned very well on the second trip to the shop and I had less misfires but still too many for my liking. I'll look into replacement springs and go from there.

 

Thanks!!!

Take out the bolt, and put the side that the hammer strikes on a flat surface. How far does the pin protrude on the opposite side?

 

When I got my Yugo, I sent the bolt to Murray's and the trigger group to Kivarri while I was getting the Cosmoline out of the rest of the rifle. I did get some light primer strikes with the lighter hammer spring and Wolf ammo, so swapped the original back in and it was good.

 

Springs are cheap and easy to do, but if the firing pin is the culprit, you might still be in the same boat after new springs.

Take out the bolt, and put the side that the hammer strikes on a flat surface. How far does the pin protrude on the opposite side?

 

When I got my Yugo, I sent the bolt to Murray's and the trigger group to Kivarri while I was getting the Cosmoline out of the rest of the rifle. I did get some light primer strikes with the lighter hammer spring and Wolf ammo, so swapped the original back in and it was good.

 

Springs are cheap and easy to do, but if the firing pin is the culprit, you might still be in the same boat after new springs.

It looks to be coming out all the way but here's a picture.

 

I still think that your gunsmith gave you a lame excuse.

 

I don't think your firing pin or the bolt is the culprit. If anything was mechanically wrong it likely would have been replaced by the original owner.

 

Springs wear, so that would be my first guess after a thorough cleaning. I suggest a Murray's FP for any SKS, so it might not be unwise to send the whole bolt to them for their improvements.

 

Sharp furniture you have there.

I still think that your gunsmith gave you a lame excuse.

 

I don't think your firing pin or the bolt is the culprit. If anything was mechanically wrong it likely would have been replaced by the original owner.

 

Springs wear, so that would be my first guess after a thorough cleaning. I suggest a Murray's FP for any SKS, so it might not be unwise to send the whole bolt to them for their improvements.

 

Sharp furniture you have there.

Thanks, I've been emailing Ben Murray back and forth today and he agrees that the springs are most likely the cause. I need to pull the recoil spring and measure it before I order the parts so I'll get the going tomorrow.

Why measure the recoil spring? I'm assuming by recoil spring you mean the long spring that throws the bolt forward.

Why measure the recoil spring? I'm assuming by recoil spring you mean the long spring that throws the bolt forward.

Yes that's the one. Ben asked me to. He said if it's less than 13" it may need to be replaced

Take out the bolt, and put the side that the hammer strikes on a flat surface. How far does the pin protrude on the opposite side?

 

When I got my Yugo, I sent the bolt to Murray's and the trigger group to Kivarri while I was getting the Cosmoline out of the rest of the rifle. I did get some light primer strikes with the lighter hammer spring and Wolf ammo, so swapped the original back in and it was good.

 

Springs are cheap and easy to do, but if the firing pin is the culprit, you might still be in the same boat after new springs.

Tom is da man. I also had an issue with light strikes. Sent him my trigger group he fixed the problem right away. Told me exactly what was wrong with it. get ready to wait thou if u send it to him.

I'm hoping this Sunday to get the SKS back out at the range and try the new springs. I installed them the other day but I just haven't had a chance to test them out. If I still have the same problem, I'll look into getting the trigger group worked on.

Tom is da man. I also had an issue with light strikes. Sent him my trigger group he fixed the problem right away. Told me exactly what was wrong with it. get ready to wait thou if u send it to him.

Hi all,

 

Just got back from the range and the springs seemed to do the trick. I was able to fire repeatedly with no F2Fs. Thanks for all the help!

 

Sam

excellent!

excellent!

Yep and it shot beautifully as well. I like easy fixes like this that don't break the bank, including the shipping it was $11. Can't go wrong with that

Glad you got it sorted out.

 

Do you have a laminate handguard and a hardwood stock?