Hello SKS people

[Ironsights]

Hi , my first post
Ive an 1990 or so Chinese SKS that was stored in a cabinet , there was a flood and some rust formed around the firing pin, gas rod and chamber , receiver ect.
Barrel looks not to bad. I put white paper and a light in the ramp end of barrel and looked through the end of barrel, doesn't look rust or pitted.   The receiver and bolt and firing pin mechanism look to need wire brush for the light rust.
Should the gas piston slide in and out ? There is rust at both ends. I dont want the rifle to come apart in my face when i put back together.


I will try and post a pic.  What solvent is best to clean? 
Also I am using chinese surplus ammo  Yup "66" from the war. Comments?

[Greasemonkey]

Hi and welcome..

I would clean it all up, make sure the firing pin rattles when you put the bolt back together, just shake it, it should move freely with no binding, and use minimal amounts of oil on it. The gas piston should slide and move freely as well.

Also if using older surplus ammo, it is corrosive, which could account for the rust your seeing in the places your seeing, the bolt, carrier and the gas tube.. After shooting the stuff, you should clean those areas with hot water to remove the corrosive salts.

[carls sks]

hi and welcome. good to have you here. 

[running-man]

Hi Ironsights, glad to have you on the boards! 

If the rust isn't deep, your main concern is going to be stopping the spread of any rust and then ensuring that all parts move freely as they should.  I would definitely pull every part that comes out and go over everything - you'll want to make sure you don't miss any areas that could grow unchecked to be a problem in the future.  The bore on a Chinese SKS is going to be the least likely place to need TLC, they are chromed and often pristine even on guns that are rust buckets on the outside.  For the bolt, the firing pin must be removed and both it and firing pin channel checked and cleaned.  If rust has formed in there and you leave it, your chances of a slamfire go up tremendously. 

The gas tube/gas piston should come apart and checked as well, the piston should be free to move until ~3/4" is sticking out the rear end of the tube like this (it does not need to be able to travel any farther):


You should also pull the op rod and the spring just under the rear sight block and clean this area out.  It also needs to be able to travel about 3/4":


I'd hit the rusted areas first with a simple paper towel dipped in a light oil.  If the rust isn't deep, this may be enough to get it up off the surface.  If that doesn't cut it, you'll want to try something a bit more aggressive like brass wool, steel wool, or a brass brush.  If you go too aggressive, you run the chance of stripping the finish though.  It's a fine line, but then again, your SKS isn't exactly a $4000 East German.

Like GM says, make sure to clean after shooting that corrosive Chinese surplus ammo.  All your work will be for naught if you just put it away with the corrosive salts still coating the surfaces of this carbine.

Good luck! 

[RatedZ]

Welcome!

These guys have summed it up nicely....   

I will add if your shooting corrosive ammo (china-surp 66 most likely is), be sure to clean your bore everytime you shoot!    I always used windex myself to get the corrosive powder residue out of my barrels, but now I only shoot newer non corrosive and collect the old stuff.   

[Ironsights]

Thank you all for the speedy replies.  I have some confidence now to clean and re-asemble.

yes the ammo is 52 years old.  I carry one box of regular PMC jacketed lead ammo in case I get rolled up on by the BLM or Ranger that patrol time to time ,and hope he/she doesn't look on the ground around me . The surplus look cadmium plated.     
The surplus ammo was dirt cheap in the 80's. Still using it no problem.  I have a feeling the metal core surplus ammo could start fires. Sure sails thru metal well.

I'd read of the slam fire issue with the SKS. Will have to really clean that firing pin mechanism well.
Also way back read of a modification to smooth and take some of the creep out of the trigger, and make the rifle fire nicer.  Am i getting ahead of myself?    Again thanks for the warm welcome and support.

[Phosphorus32]

Welcome aboard. Glad to have you 

yes the ammo is 52 years old.  I carry one box of regular PMC jacketed lead ammo in case I get rolled up on by the BLM or Ranger that patrol time to time ,and hope he/she doesn't look on the ground around me . The surplus look cadmium plated.     
The surplus ammo was dirt cheap in the 80's. Still using it no problem.  I have a feeling the metal core surplus could start fires. Sure sails thru metal well.

Fortunately it's not actually cadmium plated just copper washed steel, I believe. 

Keep in mind, if it's the steel penetrator Chinese ammo that you're shooting, that stuff sells for about $1 per round these days so you could buy about 4-5 rounds of GT or other modern production ammo for every round you sold.

[Greasemonkey]

It's copper plated mild steel cases..

Probably looks like this stuff I've had lingering around for years.

[Ironsights]

I think I paid about 33 cents a round back then. Thought pretty good at the time. All in fish cans .

Can we move this to the Chinese SKS section , so I can find out more about bump fire - correction I meant slam fire. Or whatever accidental discharged when dropped is called.   
Should I edit and repost over there?

Thanks ,Admin for clarifying what the cases were made and plated with.

[Justin Hell]

Look up Big 45 Frontier scrubbing pads...I just got one for a total mess and was shocked at how much rust and crud it removed without harming the bluing...and it also works tremendously well cleaning fouling from the grooves in the bore. Six bucks shipped too.

[Ironsights]

Id been busy but starting to work on the SKS again.
The gas piston and tube seemed heavily rusted in place , had to be tapped out with a dowel.

The rust on the rod was not real significant or in the the gas tube bore.
That cleaned up with a wire brush. Where the gas tube protrudes at the other end i have the 3/4" plus travel I need . It slides with ease after the clean up ,but the finish where the rod comes thru was sacrificed.

I will work on the firing pin next. Do not want a possibility of a slam fire.  Excuse , I need to have this move or start a new topic in Unaltered SKS rifles?

[Ironsights]

Wanted to complete this rifle (lagging) , so Id oiled and wire brushed, soaked everything inspecting for rust in the receiver rails ect.  Cleaned up decent.

There is very minor micro  pitting on the bolt and firing pin assembly.
The extractor- is this thing spring loaded or actuated by the bolt action?   very sticky. Is the extractor removable?   I was going to soak and pick at it , compressed air .ect

Extractor is very clogged up , and moves but does not spring back .

The gas tube is not very smooth on the chamber end of receiver , but slides quite a ways through
The other end looks good..  I used a round brush down the gas tube to clean.

All soaking for the moment . I going to wipe dry , re-inspect and throw this together.
The firing pin rattles freely.  Running Man's post shows about 3/4" of the gas rod sticking through . I've that and then some ..   Fixing to reswab the barrel wipe it all dry -  and use ASAP

[Phosphorus32]

You have to drift out the firing pin retention pin in order to remove the spring loaded extractor. Keep a firm grip on the extractor when you depress it (push from the bolt face end) as the spring may separate from the extractor (usually the spring is well stuck inside the extractor).

[Ironsights]

Phosphorus32 -  Got the retention pin out.  Thanks