"the last thing you want is to have a fully automatic sks on our hands", said no one ever. Lol

"Point it down-range when you shoot it." Good advice, bro.

a full auto SKS WOULD be fun though, but not when you're not even pulling the trigger

i've been pointing my rifle in the wrong direction the whole time

If you have a misfire...ie. a round that does not go bang when you pull the trigger...DUMP THE MAG BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING ELSE TO CLEAR IT. There are some cases being litigated now for wrongful death when a couple of fellas dealt with misfires by just trying to jack another round . The original round stayed stuck and the new oncoming round functioned as a firing pin resulting in an explosion where shrapnel was blown into their chests and they bled to death within minutes. Seriously drop the hinged bottom and dump the mag first.

Simple... Clean every firearm new to you. On the SKS, keep that bolt clean.

Slam fire is a possibility for sure. But remember, the gun was built for military ammo with hardened primers not commercial stuff. Most ALL military weapons have floating firing pins. I have a M1 carbine that every time I rack it a small dent is put on the primer by the inertia of the firing pin. A fallacy exists that if a slam fire happens it will empty the magazine. Not necessarily. Just because a round is fired unexpectedly doesnt mean the next one will. The only guns that I know of that included a spring held firing pin were the Polytech SKS and their entire AK inventory. The SKS is an under rated workhorse. Its more reliable and more accurate than an AK. Although its not quite as aesthetically appealing as an AK is and it doesnt have more than a factory ten round capacity (the M1 Garrand only holds 8) its still superior in as much as its safety lever is right there by the trigger and its last shot hold open is a desirable feature not available on the AK. Also more ammo can be carried by virtue of stripper clips. Three ten rd strippers take up a lot less room than one 30rd AK mag. An experienced shooter can reload an SKS just as fast as an AK. I own four SKS and one AK. The SKS is a better weapon.

Thank you for taking the time to make this video, sir. While it may be true that a slam fire is very rare, there will always be that one person whose life might be saved because of your cautioning.

Note too that ARs have free-floating pins, and DI carbon added to the mix. I've had various ones since the early nineties and never experienced slam fire with them, just get the cosmo out of the rifle and you're golden.

Just wanted to say than you for painting yours black. I've often wondered what it would look like if I painted my stock black, and now I'm definitely going to do it! It looks super professional.

dude you took off the bayonet - that's the coolest and best part - you can even use it a a mono pod when shooting

Basically 1 thing covered in this video. The trigger mechanism is also potentially unsafe, due to negative hammer/sear engagement, and a safety that does nothing but stop trigger movement. This means that it is possible for many unmodified SKS rifles to fire, even with safety engaged, if bumped or dropped with a round chambered. There are a number of websites that discuss this in detail - just search for "sks sear engagement."

I had a slam fire once, two rounds. I was done shooting the sks for the day. I detail clean the bolt after every use no matter what now. Great rifle! BTW, you didn't mention the battle zero part of the sight. :)

I've found it just a matter of making sure it moves freely, you don't have to stress over it, just keep it in mind guys, i've had 2 Chi-coms, both have served/serve me extremely well and my current one has become my deer rifle, with a 50 yards zero i have accuratly fired out to 200yards no issue

Well I have a Chinese Norinco SKS 7.63x39 cal. .. I bought 2 of them brand new on Base from the PX when I was in the Marine Corps .. They were brand new un issued military SKS's and came with everything loaded for combat .. They were coated in casmoline everywhere .. I have put at least 20,000 rds. through one since 1993 when I bought it .. The 1st 10,000 rds I shot through it I did not clean the weapon at all and this was over years of shooting and no cleaning .. It fired flawlessly !! No jams, no slam fire , nothing .. And the reason I didn't clean it was I wanted to see how well they would hold up under a lot of stress ... I own SKS's, AK-47's and AR-15's .. I have not had any jams or any problems with either of my AK-47's or SKS's .. The only problem I have ever had is once in awhile the primer on a round not go off ... The firing Pin hits but the rd. doesn't fire .. No big deal .. Now on the other hand I have had my AR-15's jam or miss fire here and there .. To me in my experience AK-47's and SKS's fire awesome and are extremely reliable .. AR-15's are the ones that have issues .. But for long range AR-15's can't be beat .. I can put a rd. in a human target at 500 meters with open iron sites no problem, but you can't do that with an SKS or AK-47 .. They were not designed for that .. But in short SKS's and AK-47's are some of the best weapons out there and they are extremely reliable and yes there are different grades of them ..

For anyone else seeing this. Clean entire rifle with mineral spirits. Including bolt and bolt carrier. Use parts cleaner spray on the firing pin followed by blowing it out with compressed air(can of keyboard cleaner work well if you don't have compressor at home). Then use WD40 on the bolt thoroughly, moving the firing pin with your fingers and using can of compressed air until when you shake the bolt you can hear the firing pin move freely clicking. Also, clean out your gas port rod and spring including running soaked patches through the gas block itself. They jam cosmoline, thick storage grease, in every orifice and crack. Once properly cleaned these are great running rifles.

Thank you for useful safety recommendations.

Good basic weapon. I own a Norinco version, While it appears, and can feel crude, I’ve NEVER had a problem with it in relation to feeds, misfiring, etc. Would suggest if you get one still in cosmoline to disassemble it, get a small metal paint can with some gasoline in it, and use a paint brush to help get the cosmoline off. Works well. Then wipe it down with gun oil, or Hoppe’s powder solvent to help kill the smell of gas. Good, dependable piece!

I had an SKS slam fire for (about) 8-10 rounds. At first it was an "oh crap" moment, but when I wrapped my head around what had just happened, I left the firing pin as it was and ran two more mags through it on full auto. That was a hoot. There ain't no trigger pulling on the later mags. As soon as you charge it, it starts rockin' and rollin'. I've since upgraded my firing pin to one with the little return spring. I really don't want that happening again. Keep that chamber clean and everything will be alright.

we didnt fire mine for over a year after shooting 300 rounds through it. and fired another 300 rounds through it, and it shot with nooo issues, i will never give up this rifle. i

thanks for the heads up on the slam fire . could save a lot of trouble down the road

After thoroughly cleaning all the cosmoline and taking to the range for the first time, load single rounds in the mag for the first few shots, point downrange, pull back & release bolt to chamber the round, If it fires upon chambering the bolt is still dirty or damaged. Then load only 2 rounds in the mag a few times and see if it fires normally, before loading full mags.

love the flat black stock, looks good

Thanks for detailed instructions. Really useful.

First sks purchase today. Appreciate the video. I was concerned with slam firing, only familiar with colts m4. Looking forward to picking it up.

Great job on the stock! They usually look like a chunk of shipping pallot.

What was your refinishing process? And what paint, stain, lacquer etc did you use?

few basic things? more like a video about firing pins.

Thanks for making a great video. I have had 4 of them and gave them as gifts to my nephews. I own a 1952 Russian SKS and never have had a jam or malfunction. I use mine to shoot coyotes and for general ranch work. Dropped a 900lb steer with on shot at 80 yards. I own many rifles but this one is always in the truck with me. Delighted the Russians surplused these out to all of us anti Commie guys

How did you do the black stock? Looks awesome

Soviet spec 7.62x39 has rather hard primers, so proper ammo will greatly reduce slamfires. They have free floating pins because they're more reliable and easier to mass produce, I would assume the risk of slam fire is better then no fire in the eyes of the military. The risk of slamfire is greatly overplayed, but as with every gun keep always keep it pointed in a safe direction.

Glad you mentioned the slam-fire problem. Mine double-fired because the pin was sticking in the channel. If you google sks slam fire there are some good vids to help. I was able to fix mine reasonably easily.

I just got my sks. great rifle!

Good Video. I have a pristine 1950 Russian Tula with a spring loaded firing pin and this paticular year did not have a chrome lined bore. No problem ,as I will just have to keep it serviced well. I have never yet fired it and I have a perhaps somewhat of a silly question for you sir. When my magazine is full of ammo and I pull back on the carrier bolt which then feeds the bullet into the chamber can I then pull back on the carrier to eject the round ,or am I committed to fire? I am a newbie.

Nice stock. Have a Sino-Soviet and a mint Yugo and had Murray do the firing pins and bolts. They both shoot awesome

Thanks dude. I found this video very helpful.

My dad inherited a Norinco SKS from his brother when he passed away. Need to have it looked over and made sure it's OK to fire. Otherwise, it's a nice rifle. Can't wait to put some rounds through it.

The SKS does have a short length of pull. I added a rubber butt pad to mine, which helps and was inexpensive.

There is a spring you can put inside the bolt to keep the firing pin from free floating. Russia did this for a short run. I know my 1950 has this spring in it, and I think they also did in the 49's. I'm not 100% on exactly which years have it, just that mine does.

Would you recommend cushioning the stock and one question can I where can I get one of those clips that you have in yours

Looks awesome in black.

VERY nice My brother just bought one - i forwarded the video to him! THANKS!

ive seen some pretty cool bullpup conversionns for sks rifles

What kind of black stock is that????? It looks nice!!

What treatment did you do to your stock?? It looks good lol, I asked a buddy to send out my stock and give it a code of boiled linseed oil use black polyshades on it....

I believe so, as a little grime won't get it stuck in the forward position and less likely to cause slam fires. If you keep your guns nice and clean, it doesn't matter which firing pin you have.

Hot water and Dawn are great for cleaning cosmoline. You can also remove the barreled action, trigger group, bolt & bolt carrier from the stock and wash all the metal parts in the dishwasher on the hottest cycle (with dishwasher detergent). That will clean out nearly all of the cosmoline. Then you can dry, inspect and detail clean as necessary.

Funny thing is your SKS is a 1950 and has a spring loaded firing pin lol. You can tell by the shape of the gas port.

Is that an A2 stock sling adapter? Looking at trying one of those on my Norinco.

does the norinco have that problem or were they designed to have the spring that helps ?

You can purchase spring-loaded firing pins which will cure any potential issues with slam fire

So what if you have the safety on will it still slam fire?I'm a first time owner of a SKS

bought my Sks used (yugoslavian) first thing I sis was clean it spray soaked the bolt assembly and innards with CLP. went from dark gray to shiny silver/chrome. shot flawlessly

Thanks this was so helpful

black n blue guns/rifles are just friggin beautiful

Does the slamfire issue come up with all the variants? Chinese, Yugo, etc.

what should u do if u do start getting slam fires can u just puch the pin back in or should u just go get a new pin

i agree about the extended mags. although the older the mag, the better they seem to work. out of about ten 30rd mags i have, only 4 of them never cause me problems. the other 6 are worse than garbage cause they can get you killed. also i have a 75rd drum that never malfunctions but nothing is more reliable than the origional fixed mags. the metal pro mags are my favorite brand 30rd mags. i believe a norinco sks is a very good weapon but if i could only have one gun, i would choose something els

An additional thought to your video. All the SKS's function the same, however, the Yugoslavian have an extra part that many people forget to clean. Only the Yugoslavian M59/66 has the gas port shutoff valve. it is part of the Grenade Launcher assembly. You have to remove the upper hand guard when cleaning, just like all the other SKS models, but then you have to depress the valve cutoff switch and slide it back to get it and the gas piston out of its slot. Failure to clean this will eventually cause the rifle to fail to eject or feed the next round due to gas escaping around the corroded piston. This is especially important if shooting surplus ammunition as it is corrosive. most SKS manuals available for download do not show this part and it gets missed when cleaning.

A spring return firing pin is'nt going to prevent a slamfire if you neglect the bolt and firing pin.

That's a beautiful stock

You can get a rubber pad that's made for the SKS and extends the butt stock about 7/8of an inch. I can't remember where I got it.

Great information. Well said.

“Make sure you have the sks pointed down range when you shoot it “ hmmmm wise words

Wow great info I’ll never clean it now

Thanks for posting this. I tell new SKS owners that the firing pin should slide just on tilting the bolt; not shaking it. It should move with no effort at all. I've only had one double fire with the 3 I own when I milked the trigger.

well when i bought my yugo the stock was in great condition because it was an unissued rifle only it wasnt stained or sealed. i like the coloring of the wood so im just going to put some tru oil or polyurethane on it to seal it. as for the tech sights, i looked into them for my ak variant but i dont like the way they look. they look rather silly to me so i went with a krebs custom aperture.

Clean the rifle and the rifle's bolt completely especially before you first use it. After firing when you are cleaning it, shake the bolt and if it's a free floating pin, it will rattle. The earlier ones have a return spring. An aftermarket spring kit is available for the bolt and there is an aftermarket kit for the trigger if yours requires the strength of Hercules to pull. They are not mechanically complex and if any Ivan or Vladimir can maintain his rifle, so can you.

So. If my gun didn’t come with a firing pin spring, I can add one?

Its kind of interesting that the " few basic things " digressed into a 99 percent rant of the slam fire issue. Important ? Sure.. 99.99 percent of the rifles will not have an issue if they were cleaned at least once and non corrosive ammo was used since. Would have been a lot more interesting had other things been discussed.. i.e. mags, scope & mounts , optics, id of threaded barrel vs pinned etc etc etc Lots of interesting stuff to talk about.

I've been looking for a good one for a while @ the local gun shops. None of them looked as good as the one you have there. I'll keep looking though. I guess I could go with an online vendor, but I prefer to look it over, ya know?

the krebs sight was $65 but im not sure whether they make them for sks's or not. i have a short video on my sks if you want to see the stock of mine.

had a 32 auto do that to me a fire is shooking even for a experience shooter

Mine has never slam fired, it has been cleaned throughly. I used Carb cleaner to degreased the rifle, bore and disassembling the bolt.

this was the first gun i ever bought my yugo sks its a amazing rifle i dont regret my disishen

what is the purpose of the stuff at the end of the barrel of a new sks? I see you removed it somehow? Also I cant get the peg out of the bolt to save my life so I cant clean the firing pin, advice?

Where did u get that black stock?

I don’t know how it happened but my Chinese sks ejected a piece of the bullet casing it bounced off something behind me and hit me in the back I thought it was just a ejected bullet but when I got up out of my shooting chair there the piece was it kinda looks like the top part of the casing

How to remove a live round after you chambered it?

where online do you get the spring loaded firing pin?

Probably already mentioned in the comments, but one thing to keep in mind is the safety only locks the trigger, not the hammer or sear, so a chambered round could fire if the sear/hammer alignment is bad and bumped hard enough to slip the sear out.

How about info about sling and stock

Good tips.

Thanks, Bro. We're brothers in Yugo PAP 59/66 A1 ownership as of today.... Did you refinish your stock? What do you think of Tech Sights for this platform?

If you're in the Southern US, the safest way to have any weapon pointed, is north. 😎

Yes, I talked to a local sheriff about it and the sks is excluded from the ban. I also happen to live in NY so if it's legal here, you should be fine. Good luck on the ammo tho.

everytime you clean ur sks your suppose to shake the bolt to hear if the pins loosely slides back and forth, if it doesn't then ur bolt needs cleaning/replacing.

Murraysguns has a nice after market firing pin for the SKS thats a great addition to any SKS. If you have not seen his channel, you should check it out. Thanks for another great video!

@sirtom68 How do you get an ejected unspent round from a weapon the uses the rounds gases to eject it?

The old m14s (before the Designated Marksman Rifle) had the same problem.

$35 for the Spring at Pauls Guns in New Hampshire! great place to deal, very knwledgeable and entertaining fellow to buy from , grat selection and good prices!

Where u buy that black stock?

Spring loaded firing pin kit will fix it...I've never had any issues on any of mine!! Even being dirty!!! I keep my old stocks but change them to something more ergonomic!!

So are sks's off the possible incoming AWB? Trying to figure out whether or not to sell my sks's. Also, will 7.62x39 eventually become plentiful again? Been thinking about selling off my cache and just get a couple of ban-friendly lever guns. What yall think?

Slamfire is more of an ammonition issue for civilians. Buy ammo with harder primers. Military weapons usually have free floating pins and I see dents of firing pins repeatedly with my Steyr AUG

is that the original stock with a dura coat

Cool, how much did the Krebs custom set you back? I'm cleaning up the rifle right now and it looks okay. However, I'm leaning towards an almost gun porn refinish just to revel in the oohs and ahhs at the range.

dang good rifles

Keep it clean when practicing. Keep it dirty during war to use full auto. It's like select fire switch

Saw this video a day late lmao bought a yugo sks, thought I had cleaned it good enough, had no idea about the firing pin slam fire situation, and as soon as I closed the bolt to try out my first 10 shots, the fuckin gun went brrrr. The guns fine, I’m fine, and NOW the gun has been restripped, degreased, recleaned, lubed up, and now it runs like a champ 🤘 very cool gun, but boy howdy people aren’t kidding when they say you need to be ANAL AF when cleaning them lol