Serbian/Yugo Hammer Stuck Forward

[kc0btp]

I'm new to the SKS, and recently picked one up.

I was inspecting and lubricating the trigger group today, and decided to test it by depressing the disconnector and pulling the trigger. I watched through the peep-hole on the side to see the trigger bar engage the sear, and allowed the hammer to fall against my work bench because I'd seen that done before elsewhere as a safe way to check function without damaging things.

I did this a couple of times and was satisfied, but after the second try, I was unable to cock the hammer back. It's stuck in the forward position. Everything seems to move fine otherwise. The sear slides without binding, the disconnector feels normal, etc. The hammer will move slightly to the rear (maybe 1/16 of an inch), but stops.

Google-ing around didn't turn up much. Lots of cases where people had their hammer stuck back or it would remain in the cocked position, but I couldn't find any cases where the hammer is stuck forward.

Did I accidentally screw this thing up, or is there something I'm missing?

[Loose}{Cannon]

Remove the front pin, mag release, spring, and sear to inspect.

Did you monkey with the operations of the unit?

[kc0btp]

Thanks for the response. I haven't done anything with the trigger group aside from remove it from the stock and clean it up a little. I had considered what you suggested, but thought I'd see if it's something simple before I started disassembling.

[kc0btp]

Just a quick follow-up... I did as instructed, and once the sear was out I fiddled with the hammer for a minute and I was able to get it back to normal. 😊 I'm still not entirely sure what hung it up. Reassembly was a cinch, and now things are happy. Thanks for the encouragement!

[Loose}{Cannon]

Maybe make sure the guts are nice and clean.   

[running-man]

Certainly a new one to me.  I'd heard of hammers stuck back, but never forward.  I wonder if the pin holding the hammer strut in place hadn't backed out a tiny bit and was jamming on the sidewall of the trigger group frame somewhere?  Glad you got it resolved & welcome to the boards!    Would love to see your SKS if you care to share!

[kc0btp]

Here she is:





It's a pretty standard M59/66, but it's missing the cleaning rod and cleaning kit. I do have a shoulder strap, but I haven't reattached it yet. Looks like this was assembled in 1976, based on the M-prefix serial number.

When I got it, it was well-used, dirty, and had some rust spots on the finish. I took it all apart, cleaned it up, and refinished the stock. I just carefully washed and degreased the stock, then put three coats of BLO on it. I may do more, but I'll see how it goes as it is. The pictures make it appear lighter than it actually isâ€"I think it turned out pretty nice.

I reassembled it last night, and everything seems to be working smoothly, so no more sign of the strange hammer issue. Now I just need to grab some ammo and give it a spin.

[Loose}{Cannon]

Looks good.    I would stop where you are on the BLO as originally Yugos came with NO finish other then cosmo.   

[kc0btp]

Good to know! I wasn't certain what kind of finish it had. I'd actually expected to clean up a lot of cosmoline in the piston and action based on other things I'd read, but I didn't really find any.

My goal was just to clean it up and protect the wood with a simple finish that would retain the character as much as possible. Do folks typically not do any kind of clean-up or refinishing on these things?

[Loose}{Cannon]

People always clean the cosmo thoroughly out of the action etc prior to shooting.  As far as the stock goes, yes people sometimes refinish them, but often it only detracts from the 'atract-ability' of potential buyers later down the road.

[Justin Hell]

I will have to check the condition, but I have a few Yugo cleaning kits...if you are interested.

Nice Yugo!

BTW, with the night sights, which by other appearances should be the painted dots vs the tritium vials, should be called an M59/66A1. A M59/66 does not have night sights.  If it does indeed have little vials of liquid in the night sights it would be a M59/66A2.

The surplus market has been most recently flooded with Yugo parts...a lot of cleaning rods being sold lately have turned out to be the correct Yugo length, if that is important to you. 

Desert Fox sales has rods that I suspect are Yugo sourced, at five bucks. They might have a cleaning kit too to justify postage. Check to see if they can confirm the length....I could swear the last one I got from them was a tad long....which is what you want.