Trigger Group re-install

[SKhiSm 59-66A1]

I thought I would ask the more experienced, what is the best way to get the trigger group locked back in ? I'm taking both my Yugo's down for pics this w/e and one of them is unissued, pretty much flawless and I like it that way.

The first/last time I had my more common one apart, getting the trigger group locked was the only hard part. A couple of times I wondered if my efforts were going to induce a brain aneurysm and I ended up using a 5 in. c-clamp with the metal of my weapon heavily protected to avoid damage. That worked fine, just wondered if there's a better way.

[armedhippie]

Some can be trickier than others but most all of mine require more than a gentle push for sure.

I lay my rifles across both knees and after putting mag in, I make sure the front of the trigger group is lined up properly with the mag and then a good Whack! with the palm of my hand. Been doing it that way for years and usual works well.

[running-man]

Wow, needing a C clamp to get her back together is definitely

Every SKS I've ever broken down has a different amount of resistance for getting that TG back in place.  I have some that you can almost do one handed, and others that take all my weight (ask Blicero, it's not a log of weight we're talking about) to get seated.

I always lay out a soft cleaning cloth on the carpet (to keep the carpet clean, though if you value the SKS more than the carpet, it could be vice versa).  I set the carbine down with the receiver cover, bolt, and carrier removed (with the takedown latch latched closed just to make sure it doesn't get in the way), and I have a great flat and stable surface to press against where I won't damage or scratch anything..  You can easily do it with the bolt, carrier, and receiver cover in place, but you have to be a bit more careful as the gun wants to twist due to the curvature of cover.  I can hold the stock in between my knees and both hands are free to apply pressure.

I set the trigger group in place, make sure the safety is on and that the pins in are in the proper location and catching the magazine main body (you don't necessarily have to catch the mag cover, that can be closed after the fact) and simply press down towards the floor until she clicks.

I've heard of some people using hard rubber mallets to 'persuade' it to seat, but that also makes me   The 'whack' that hippie uses by hitting with the hand works well too though everyone I think has their own preferred way of doing it.  (I'm not too big on slapping my girls around all that much! )

They really aren't too bad most of the time, like I said each has it's own resistance and you'll quickly get to know which are easy and which are tough.

[armedhippie]

I've heard of some people using hard rubber mallets to 'persuade' it to seat, but that also makes me   The 'whack' that hippie uses by hitting with the hand works well too though everyone I think has their own preferred way of doing it.  (I'm not too big on slapping my girls around all that much! )

They really aren't too bad most of the time, like I said each has it's own resistance and you'll quickly get to know which are easy and which are tough.

RM Most of my girls, have been around the block a few times, and are into that sort of thing. 

I've got a couple I can just push in though. I saw a Youtube vid of a guy whacking 1 with a mallet. It made me cringe as well. If you didn't have the front seated correctly... 

[Dannyboy53]

If you didn't have the front seated correctly... 

Definitely...like armedhippie says this is the key. Insuring the magazine and the pins in the front of the TG are properly seated is a must.

[Loose}{Cannon]

Ah...   the FCG Slap.   I know it well.

[Justin Hell]

This most certainly sounds like trying to put it in with the safety off...the C-clamp/mallet necessity almost guarantees it.  Yugo's are tight...but not that tight.

Continued force will eventually break the safety spring if it is left off when installing it.

If the safety indeed was engaged, I have had Yugo stocks that are just over snug in the TG recess...if you live in a high humidity area, it could swell a bit too.

My bet is on the safety though.

I have oft wondered why the safety is like that, one would have to have a 'People of Wal-Mart' ass sized hat to assemble the top end, bottom load a mag, with one put in the pipe no less...and THEN, install the trigger group.  I wonder if it was an accidental side effect from the design or Russian and Chinese folk were really dumb enough to make this safety 'feature' necessary?

[Loose}{Cannon]

Simonov was just a genius.....      Im glad the safety has to be on before Gomer Pile starts yanking around on the fcg and stabbing it with a screwdriver.

[SKhiSm 59-66A1]

My bet is on the safety though.

A well-placed bet. It was a few weeks ago, but I'm same as certain I did NOT have the safety on. It seems to function normally, I went and checked. Hopefully that will make it easier and I'm glad I didn't bust my rifle, I knew there was no way it oughta be that hard to get locked back in. Thanks guys 

[Justin Hell]

My bet is on the safety though.

A well-placed bet. It was a few weeks ago, but I'm same as certain I did NOT have the safety on. It seems to function normally, I went and checked. Hopefully that will make it easier and I'm glad I didn't bust my rifle, I knew there was no way it oughta be that hard to get locked back in. Thanks guys 

After years of not giving mine the love they deserved, this was one thing I forgot about.  I am glad I didn't forget about the op rod and spring though...nearly busted a big screen TV the first day with my first SKS.  Before the internet was there to lend a helping hand....and those six page 'manuals' they came with didn't help much.

Live and learn...glad you didn't break anything either! 

I also forgot the bolt had to be open to insert mags....bent the hell out of a USA mag's feed lips re-learning that.   

[Adam7]

I remove receiver cover, spring, bolt carrier and bolt.  Make sure mag is seated properly and safety is on.  Hold rifle upside down with fcg facing skyward with left hand.  I grip under the receiver with my four fingers and put light pressure on the fcg with my left thumb.  Then a nice sharp whack to the fcg with my right hand.  Goes in every time.

[Stoned_Oli]

I have only had one that needed BFH persuasion, and for that one I used a pin-on "AK74 style" brake and a dead blow mallet to gently nudge it into place. The nose end of the brake was the perfect size for the curve of the trigger group.
It had to be done every time, not just a one off.

[armedhippie]

After years of not giving mine the love they deserved, this was one thing I forgot about. I am glad I didn't forget about the op rod and spring though...nearly busted a big screen TV the first day with my first SKS.  Before the internet was there to lend a helping hand....and those six page 'manuals' they came with didn't help much.

  ^^^^ Every SKS should come with a warning label for that right there. I'll be the first to admit I've lost count of how many times I've sent an op rod and spring flying across the room.  Luckly enough though ( knock on wood) I have yet to not find them. ( Usually within a 4 ft radius of the dents in the paneling  )

[Justin Hell]

After years of not giving mine the love they deserved, this was one thing I forgot about. I am glad I didn't forget about the op rod and spring though...nearly busted a big screen TV the first day with my first SKS.  Before the internet was there to lend a helping hand....and those six page 'manuals' they came with didn't help much.

  ^^^^ Every SKS should come with a warning label for that right there. I'll be the first to admit I've lost count of how many times I've sent an op rod and spring flying across the room.  Luckly enough though ( knock on wood) I have yet to not find them. ( Usually within a 4 ft radius of the dents in the paneling  )

Someone should take the original manual (s) and do a 'Pop Up Video' style addendum vid for all that is lacking in them....then again, there would be so many bubbles that you wouldn't be able to see the manual anymore. 

More embarrassing yet...it has been less than a year since I nearly launched a receiver cover through a pawn shop's display case when checking for matching numbers on the bolt.  I don't store mine with the bolt open...one little faux pas regarding that makes one obligated to buy the gun after you have made an ass out of yourself.  The only thing I could think of that would be more humiliating would be going to the ER with your finger stuck in an SKS butt hole. 

[armedhippie]

More embarrassing yet...it has been less than a year since I nearly launched a receiver cover through a pawn shop's display case when checking for matching numbers on the bolt.  I don't store mine with the bolt open...one little faux pas regarding that makes one obligated to buy the gun after you have made an ass out of yourself.  The only thing I could think of that would be more humiliating would be going to the ER with your finger stuck in an SKS butt hole. 

" finger stuck in an SKS butt hole"  I nearly fell out of my chair man 

I had to warn my lil girl about that one...she saw me take 1 out and wanted to try ( 12 yr old) and had to tell her about....um....getting stuck once myself. Didn't require an ER trip but embarrassing all the same.

Its a lil different taking stuff apart in a shop. YOU know what your doing...but unless they know you, they think that you don't, and " lil mishaps can and do happen.

Had a guy staring at me trying to put an AK cover on for about 5 mins ( something I've done hundreds of times) It can become a bit un-nerving.

[Justin Hell]

As embarrassing as it was, the guilt did lead me to get a 9m spiker oddity....and I have one less guitar.  Which in my book (and my wife's) is a good thing...it also makes wall space for two guns for every guitar shed from the collection. 

I only need two guitars in theory...so provided I don't get banned from the shops for launching metal across the room...I can theoretically get 36 more SKS's? 

Unfortunately, with the guitar rich/gun poor market around here, wall space does not translate into wallet space...nor are there likely to be 36 SKS's on the market around here for at least five years. Oh well, I would have a heck of a time feeding them anyway. 

sorry for the threadjack, but at least we found the OP's problem and solved it....right? 

[SKhiSm 59-66A1]

sorry for the threadjack, but at least we found the OP's problem and solved it....right? 

Not to worry, it's gotten pretty entertaining and I already had my answer anyway 

[armedhippie]

sorry for the threadjack, but at least we found the OP's problem and solved it....right? 

Not to worry, it's gotten pretty entertaining and I already had my answer anyway 

Sorry here as well. But definitely entertaining    I'm still laughing at the ER 1.

All of us could fill a book with similar stories I'm sure. We can just chalk it up to the "learning process". course....I've been taking 'em down and back together for nearly 18 years and....um...the op rod and spring shot still happens on occasion...cough cough.   

[running-man]

All of us could fill a book with similar stories I'm sure. We can just chalk it up to the "learning process". course....I've been taking 'em down and back together for nearly 18 years and....um...the op rod and spring shot still happens on occasion...cough cough.   

Heck Hippie, I'm ashamed to admit it, but I nearly put my eye out about a year and a half ago with an errant OP rod.  Darned lever just spun on it's own (ok, my thumb might have errantly grazed it a bit) as I was prepping to look right into the front of the rear sight block.  Flew about 4" from my head and landed a good 8' behind me. 

Anymore, that's the first piece that comes out when the gas tube comes off.  Too easy to let 'er fly!
It happens to the best of us! (and also to people like me! )

[Justin Hell]

All of us could fill a book with similar stories I'm sure. We can just chalk it up to the "learning process". course....I've been taking 'em down and back together for nearly 18 years and....um...the op rod and spring shot still happens on occasion...cough cough.   

Heck Hippie, I'm ashamed to admit it, but I nearly put my eye out about a year and a half ago with an errant OP rod.  Darned lever just spun on it's own (ok, my thumb might have errantly grazed it a bit) as I was prepping to look right into the front of the rear sight block.  Flew about 4" from my head and landed a good 8' behind me. 

Anymore, that's the first piece that comes out when the gas tube comes off.  Too easy to let 'er fly!
It happens to the best of us! (and also to people like me! )

Perhaps a non lethal SKS catastrophe Darwin Award sticky is in order.  We all seem to have had mishaps at one point or another....the stories are good for blood circulation (well except if you have fat fingers stuck in a butt hole)...giggles are good!

RM, your description sounds like the camera guy during the anal scene in Zach and Miri Make a Porno....