SKS not cycling, need help of possible causes

[Pete123]

I took a recently acquired SKS, one of the un-issued ones, to the range today for the first time.  Sweet shooting gun.

 

The action wouldn't cycle - the gun would shoot, but I would have to manually pull the bolt back and release to eject the spent cartridge and put a new one in the chamber.

 

My best guess is that I failed to put something back together correctly, possibly in the gas system, though I tried to do it right.

 

The ammo was WPA 124 Grain Military Classic.  

 

Any help would be appreciated.

[cz75b]

did you forget to put the gas piston back in?or perhaps installed it backwards,thats the only thing that i can think of.

[Oh Shoot]

did you forget to put the gas piston back in?or perhaps installed it backwards,thats the only thing that i can think of.

 

Really, has to be something very basic like that.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vbf8-6_iMhg

 

- OS

Edited September 28, 2015 by Oh Shoot

[Caster]

If it's a Yugo, did you turn the gas on?

[Pete123]

If it's a Yugo, did you turn the gas on?

 

Yes, it's a Yugo.  How do you turn the gas on?

[Oh Shoot]

Yes, it's a Yugo.  How do you turn the gas on?

 

Are you familiar with The Internet? ;)

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTkBRztuG60

 

(sounds like good call Caster)

Edited September 28, 2015 by Oh Shoot

[btq96r]

I was out there with Pete today at the range...his SKS is in mint condition aesthetics wise.

 

Hopefully some of you guys can square him away so I can get a chance to shoot it. :D

[DWARREN123]

Gas or improper reassembly.

[Hershmeister]

Or loaded down with cosmoline

Did you disassemble it and degrease it?

[Mike.357]

you might have grease in the gas hole. How is the seal on the gas rod cover?

[ironsniper1]

You could try posting this issue on sksboards as well that's all they talk about

Edit found this on a quick google search
http://www.perfectunion.com/vb/sks-talk/57312-yugo-sks-wont-cycle.html
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Edited September 28, 2015 by luke9511

[monkeylizard]

Are you familiar with The Internet? ;)

 

(sounds like good call Caster)

 

Thanks! I was wondering what that button was for. I thought it was like the AR-bolt cam pin where it was a "lock" that had to be in a certain position to disassemble/reassemble, but it didn't quite feel like that's what it was.

Edited September 28, 2015 by monkeylizard

[Pete123]

It's definitely not cosmoline.  I'll watch the videos, take apart the gas part and re-assemble.  That should take care of the problem.

 

For anyone that doesn't know, if you get an SKS with a bunch of cosmoline, you have the get the cosmo out of the firing pin assembly or you are setting yourself up for slam fires.

 

They are hard to take apart, so I soaked it in mineral spirits and used compressed air, then put it in the oven on a very low setting to melt the cosmo, the used compressed air and repeated the oven part.

 

When you shake the firing pin assembly you should hear the firing pin going back and forth.

[Garufa]

Here's a handy bit of trivia...you can't raise the grenade launching sight if the valve is in the semi-auto position.

[Caster]

Right. The little button should be off to one side a little. Push down on it and rotate it to the side a bit (as Garufa pointed out, effectively locking the ladder sight for the grenade launcher).

The Yugos are cool for handloaders, you don't get your brass launched I to the next county, you can have essentially a straight pull bolt action.

[ironsniper1]

hey pete you should think of sending your bolt off to murray to get it fixed to be safer and keep it from slam firing, mine came with it http://www.murraysguns.com/sksown.htm

Edited September 28, 2015 by luke9511

[Oh Shoot]

hey pete you should think of sending your bolt off to murray to get it fixed to be safer and keep it from slam firing, mine came with it http://www.murraysguns.com/sksown.htm

 

Is an SKS any more likely to slam fire than any of the many other floating firing pin platforms, like AK, AR, shotguns, etc?

 

If so, why?

 

- OS

[ironsniper1]

Is an SKS any more likely to slam fire than any of the many other floating firing pin platforms, like AK, AR, shotguns, etc?

 

If so, why?

 

- OS

i say peace of mind, sure it may never happen but why not make it so it never happens at all ever

[Oh Shoot]

i say peace of mind, sure it may never happen but why not make it so it never happens at all ever

 

Didn't answer the question, ya know. ;)

 

Do you have an AR, or AK, or maybe pump shotgun? Did you "fix" them also?

 

- OS

Edited September 28, 2015 by Oh Shoot

[ironsniper1]

Didn't answer the question, ya know. ;)

 

Do you have an AR, or AK, or maybe pump shotgun? Did you "fix" them also?

 

- OS

only got the sks

[peejman]

Is an SKS any more likely to slam fire than any of the many other floating firing pin platforms, like AK, AR, shotguns, etc?

 

If so, why?

 

- OS

 

 

The AK probably has the heaviest bolt/carrier while the AR is the lightest with the SKS in between.  It could be that there's more inertia when the assembly comes back into battery combined with perhaps tighter headspace than a typical AK.  Could be something to do with the design/weight of the firing pin or bolt being slightly more prone to sticking.  Could also be due to age of the platform and potentially heavily worn firing pins. 

[Garufa]

Could be if it ain't broke don't fix it.  Live on the edge, man!

[cz75b]

Is an SKS any more likely to slam fire than any of the many other floating firing pin platforms, like AK, AR, shotguns, etc?

 

If so, why?

 

- OS

more likely,don't know about that.when the firing pin channel is full of cosmoline if it gets missed when cleaning the gun it becomes very likely then,because firing pin cant float.

[hatedone]

Could be the gas block is not aligned with the hole in the barrel...seen it 1000 times on ar's,a long pipe cleaner will tell you alot!take it down and gently slide it down the gasblock and see if it's the shutoff as mentioned or the barrel port

[Pete123]

The issue was the toggle switch - it was set for manual cycling.