Problem with an SKS...

[ThudThumper]

My friend recently bought an SKS and paid more than it was worth.  It initially cycled fine, but suddenly started to jam.  He isn't very big on preventative maintenance, so when the cartridge jammed in the breach it didn't surprise me.  It's strange, though, that the extractor actually peeled the brass rim off the cartridge--leaving it stuck firmly.  I pushed out the brass using an aluminum rod, disassembled the gun and gave it a good cleaning.  The first time I reloaded it and fired it, the same thing happened.  I thought for sure the gun was just fouled up, but could something in the chamber be warped causing the cartridge to get pinched?

Any ideas?

[1911crazy]

I would look in the chamber to make sure there are no pieces of the case stuck in it yet.  It still sounds like a chamber problem. If its no stuck case it could be dirt. After a good cleaninmg with a chamber brush.  I would try a case in the chamber without the bolt pushing it in by hand. I would take out the bolt carrier and bolt then try it by hand to see if how far it goes in. It should chamber almost to the first part of the front bevel groove by hand without any force.   My second thought is what kind of ammo are you using?  Roll a bullet on the table to see if it wobbles? It could be off on the centerline.  I had some turk 8mm ammo do this really bad.

[ThudThumper]

It's good quality ammo--Winchester white box, i believe.

I'll try cleaning the chamber again and see what happens.

[1911crazy]

I wonder if the ammo your using is too hot.  My experience with torn cases is with ammo being too hot in a semi-auto and it tries to extract the case out too soon when its still expanded from the hot gases still present in the barrel this can rip case rims off too. Semi-auto's can be really finiky when it comes to shooting hotter ammo.  I would try another brand of ammo maybe wolf or barnaul before making any fixes or changes once your sure the chamber is clean of all dirt.

[Mikey]

Thud Thumper - you didn't say if that SKS was a wartime production, if it was used, or if it was new.  With some wartime production and used rifles that suffered poor maintenance you could easily have pits in the chamber from corrosive ammo and they will cause brass cases to stick and jam the action.  The one I brought back has pits in the chamber and I am limited to the use of steel cased ammo such as the Norinco Mil-surp or the S&B ball.  I believe Wolf also uses steel cases.  Those cases do not expand the same way brass cases do and will not 'expand to flow' into any chamber pits and cause jamming.  HTH.  Mikey.

[1911crazy]

Hey Mikey your right even some of these "shooter grade" yugo's were really beat up and the gas systems were so wornout too.  Some needed new tubes and pistons.  I never thought about the chambers in the yugo's with corrosive ammo.  I had problems with 3 yugo M59's from rubber/plastic bullets.  I thought it was pitted bad from corrosive ammo at first but after two years of letting them sit I finally found time to play with them and after a good soaking of G.I. Rifle bore cleaner the plastic/rubber crap melted away and they had decent shootable bores.  I got 3 pieces of yugo history with veteran status. These were the fist yugo m59's that century had as ufixem's for $79 for some reason all the safety's were broken off all the triggers.  I guess the yugo's had something against safety's??  These first yugo M59's sure had some history and heavy miles on them.  Some of the stocks were grease soaked up so bad you couldn't see the wood grain.

[Mikey]

You're right BigBill - some of those guns have been around for so long it is a wonder they even function.  And some of those wartime relics are just that, relics.  Yes, the SKS is a good solid rifle, dang solid.  It is a good basic shooter, even the new ones.  But with the used ones, you have no idea what they may have been through.  Some of these things have been used and used very hard, many times over.

If I were to get another 7.62x39 semi-auto it would be another AK variant - it's just a much better choice.  Most likely one of the new Saigas you have spoken so highly of.  For a bolt gun, I think I would probably just have chamber adapters made for the 7.62x39 for either a 303 British or a 30-06.  Probably the Brit.  Mikey.

[Zeke Menuar]

Does the gun act up when using Wolf or other commie ammo?

The design of the SKS firing pin and the type of primers used in some types of  american ammo causes slamfires and other feeding issues in SKS rifles.

ZM

[ThudThumper]

Honestly, we've never tried Wolf or any of the others.  I figured that if the gun wasn't working with good-quality Winchester, then it certainly wouldn't work with Wolf.  I might try some "commie" ammo, though--it makes sense that it could better suit the gun.  Thx for the idea.

[1911crazy]

I would try another ammo just incase it is the winchester ammo. I don't use any american made ammo in my sks's at all.  I mainly use chinese norinco ammo, wolf or barnaul its made for the gun in the countries who manufactured the sks.

[Zeke Menuar]

Commie guns are made to run Wolf, Silver Bear and the other com-bloc steel cased ammo.  Many of them don't like the US made ammo.  SKS rifles are prone to slamfires and other indigestion issues using regular ammo.
  Run some Wolf or Silver Bear through it and see if things are any different.


ZM

[1911crazy]

Commie guns are made to run Wolf, Silver Bear and the other com-bloc steel cased ammo.  Many of them don't like the US made ammo.  SKS rifles are prone to slamfires and other indigestion issues using regular ammo.
  Run some Wolf or Silver Bear through it and see if things are any different.


ZM

Exactly..... We have to make sure we are using ammo that has thicker primer walls there for using in military rifles with floating firing pins so slam fires won't occur.  This is a must when we reload too for military semi-auto's too.  The "CCI company" makes "Nato" primers for both large and small calibers for reloading military semi-auto's.  These are becomming harder to find i guess because of the on going war but if you search for them you can find them reasonably priced.  Don't get ripped off buying them "search" and you will find cheap ones.

Lately there seems to be plenty of Russian manufactured Wolf,  Barnaul, Brown Bear and Silver Bear 7,62x39 ammo but i don't see too much Golden Tiger or military stuff around.  I don't see any $59 to $79 for a 1,000rds too anymore either it seems to be around $99/1,000rds lately too. It seems to be around $99/1,000rds for 9mm,  .223 and 7,62x39.
There seems to be some specials on ammo prices lately too so shop around for the best buys.  If you shop smart and buy when its on sale even with shipping you can beat local store prices.

Wolf makes a 154gr soft point and I believe that Silver Bear makes a 125gr soft point while Brown Bear offers a 123gr soft point ammo too if your interested in a soft point hunting round.  The Wolf is a little more expensive but it compares to a 30-30 in performance out of an sks while both the Brown & Silver Bears are around $50/500rds.

[ThudThumper]

I'd like to report about my trip to the range today.  I took the SKS (cleaned again) and picked up a couple boxes of Wolf 7.62x39 ammo at the local store on the way.

I'd just like to say that the gun performed GREAT!

Thanks, guys!  It was the Winchester ammo afterall--the brass casings were warping inside the chamber enough to jam.  My friend is ecstatic, and now I'm thinking about getting an SKS for myself, lol.

BTW, i was consistently shooting 3" groups at 50 yds, which is terrible, but i'm awful with iron sights.  Point is, that's a definite improvement over jamming 100% of the time.

Thanks again for all your insight!

[1911crazy]

Great to hear your buddies sks is alive and functioning well... On your front site you may want to but a dab of orange paint it would help you see the front site in the rear site much better.  You may want to benchrest it to see how accurate it is then you will be sure if its the gun, the ammo  or the shooter, i'm willing to bet its the ammo. For plinking wolf is fine but you may want to try different ammo to see whats more accurate in your sks.  You could bring the groups down a little tighter with barnaul ammo or russian tiger ammo if you want to give it a test for accuracy for which ammo performs well in your sks. I think that 3" with wolf ammo isn't too bad. Now get out some more and hammer that sks!!!!!!!!!!