SKS Jamming??!?!

[Tim Currie]

Hey everyone, quick question on the SKS...

Had it a while now and always shot Wolf FMJ through it, the green shelled Wolf ammo. Never a problem, always fired without fail, dusty or dirty or whatever....never really cleaned it....after all it's an SKS I thought.

Anyhow, ran out of the original case of that Wolf FMJ green casing recently and bought a few boxes of Wolf brand 7.62 from Sportsmen's Warehouse.

Loaded up and fired...jam. The empty is stuck half way through being ejected. Clear it, fire, same thing again, and again, and again. I get off like 5 shots and the last one jams up real good. Like the action was closed shut and I could NOT open it for the life of me.

Anyway, after many swears and half disassembling the damn rifle I get it open with the help of a hammer tap!

So....I go back to Sportsmen's Warehouse to exchange the ammo since it obviously does not like my SKS.

Now, this new ammo is not the green cased stuff of old that I had always fired until this occasion. It has a plain metal, silver case. That was the only thing I could figure would be the problem.

Now while exchanging at the store one of the dudes working there was asking about it and said it shouldnt jam, he has AK's and SKS's and said it would be fine. Then he asked if it as hollow point (apparently a couple of boxes I picked up were HP (they were all mixed together in the stack)). He said that was the problem, that SKS's don't like HP's and I should be ok with FMJ. I returned all of the ammo and when I got home I checked the half used box and turns out it was HP's that I used on that first load and got jammed.

So..... question is: is he right and I need to stick to FMJ, or do I need to stay away from that plain casing ammo and fine some of the green stuff?


Thanks! (wow that seems long.... heh)

Tim

 

[Ohio Rifleman]

Never shot HPs out of my SKS. Is yours a Yugo M59/66? They, I hear, are prone to problems with the gas valve or some such. When your gun starts jamming, the first thing you should do is clean it. Thoroughly. Just because it's an SKS doesn't mean you don't have to maintain it. If that doesn't work, then maybe the ammo is the problem.

I have heard that HPs don't always feed well in SKSs. I'm not sure.

This advice is worth half of what you paid for it.

 

[KiltedClaymore]

never had a jam in mine using the polymer coated wolf. but i always use FMJ. nevr really saw a need for HPs. so i think if you stick to fmj it should be ok.

 

[DiN_BLiX]

Ive shot old green wolf(now military classic) fmj+hp, and the newer polycoated wolf (greyish case color) without a single FTF or FTE for like 4 years in my m59/66. HOw well do you clean the op rod/ piston gas vent? a sooted up piston or gas vent can cause FTF&FTE in an sks, as can a gooey op rod. CHeck it out reall good and if you suspect its still ammo load only the HP and see if it keeps doing what its doing. If so stick with the fmj.

 

[RecoilRob]

Your problems have nothing to do with HP vs FMJ. The rounds are making it into the chamber just fine....they aren't ejecting properly. As long as they fed, the point of the bullet is out of the equation.

We haven't gotten a response as to what flavor of SKS you have....but it seems the ammo in question is weak on the powder charge, sticking in a dirty chamber or the gas valve is corroded and causing weak extraction (assuming a Yugo).

Some ammo isn't as 'hot' as others and you might have a leaky gas system that is intolerant of the lower loaded ammo. Or, the crud has built up in the chamber and needs a good scrubbin.

A bit more info needed to pinpoint the actual problem here.

 

[Spiggy]

What kind of SKS do you have? Remember, the Yugo is considered a Simonov-Patterned Rifle, not a "SKS"

He said that was the problem, that SKS's don't like HP's and I should be ok with FMJ.

Weird, I've ran only HPs through mine(Early Russian), and I'm still testing how many rounds can I cycle before she stops workin'

 

[EyebrowZing]

I had the exact same problem with my SKS as the OP. The gray steel wolf would get lodged in the chamber and require quite a beating on the bolt carrier to extract it. After that I bought exclusively Brown Bear for it and it works just fine.
Interesting thing I noticed. An unfired cartridge of either Wolf or Brown Bear can be pressed into the chamber with my finger, and will slide right out if I tip the rifle back. I tried the same thing with the empty casings and only the green Brown Bear casings fell out. The empty Wolf lodged tightly in and took a few minutes of wiggling to get free.
The only thing I can think of is that the gray Wolf is expanding just enough during firing that it's getting stuck in the 30 years of gunk that has built up and hardened inside the chamber.

 

[Bartkowski]

Anyway, after many swears and half disassembling the damn rifle I get it open with the help of a hammer tap!

Same deal here. I was using gray steel cased wolf ammo the difference was mine was clean.

 

[ROMAK IV]

Is it possible that you reinstalled the recoil spring backwards? I bought a really nice Chinese SKS, and the empty ronds would stick in the chamber, and have to be knocked out with a cleaning rod. It was a bit bizarre.Icleaned the gas system and everything, because I had bought another SKS that had the piston carboned in place. Anyway, after I realized, that the unsupported portion of the recoil spring fit into the well in the bolt carrier, the rifle had no other FTE problems.

 

[Frog48]

the Yugo is considered a Simonov-Patterned Rifle, not a "SKS"

Says who?

I'm not being sarcastic... I've honestly never heard that before.

 

[pdowg881]

Heres something messed up: I recently got my sks about a week ago. tag said zastava Aresenal(yugo). The first time I opened it up, still caked in cosmo, the recoil spring was in backwards. So does someone dissasseble the guns before after they leave the factory, or was is used by some soldier or something who didn't know how to reassemble his weapon? Also, maybe somebody dissambled it to cosmo it before storage? Or is the whole thing just dipped in cosmo? Really confused me and I'm curious how I could get it like that.

I remeber opening it and thinking it was weird that a spring with so many kinks was in there like that but thought that was how it worked. Action was a little rough but I just attributed it to a commie gun. After looking at surplus rifle.com to learn how to disassemble it I realized the problem.

 

[Tim Currie]

Hey guys...

it's a yugo model. and since it's all in pieces now it will get a nice cleaning before going back together.

sounds like a couple others had the same problem. think I'll clean it, put back together, and buy some different ammo next time.

Thanks for the help.

 

[Spiggy]

Says who?

I'm not being sarcastic... I've honestly never heard that before.

It's a complicated importation thing, it allows certain loopholes in lots of states where things are banned by series rather than name.

 

[K.L.O.sako]

no the bullet type doesn't matter, lift that little lever beside your back sight base untill the flat of the pin is straight up and down and pull up on your top hand gaurd. then clean the rod and guide, if it aint clean you'll have problems with low power ammo.

 

[Ian Sean]

....never really cleaned it....after all it's an SKS I thought.

I think this may be your problem, I have a Russian, Chinese, and a Yugo, I have fed them EVERYTHING over the years (hollow points, FMJ, soft points and every manufacturer).

Most of the 7.62x39 ammo is a tad on the dirty side....leaves some nasty deposits...just take a look at your gas piston and compare it to say a FAL piston after the same amount of ammo going through the rifle.

You switched ammo brands....the "new" ammo is hanging up, the case on the new stuff may be a little larger than the other stuff causing it to seat in the chamber tight and not extract. You should give the rifle a good cleaning and clean the chamber ( I use a .308 chamber brush...a little big but it works) and the gas system.

That rifle should digest any ammo you feed it. Good luck and get cleaning!

 

[DiN_BLiX]

A copper bore brush chucked into a hand drill works nice for clearing chambers of that stubbern crud, after you soak the barrel/action in goof off.

 

[chris in va]

'Hollowpoint' Wolf ammo would jam in my Yugo all the time. Actually the first round would not feed once I let go of the slide and the flat nose would just sit there perpendicular to the chamber face.

Stick with SP or FMJ and you should be fine.

BTW *all* the cosmo needs to be cleaned out of every spot possible. It took me over 4 hours with a steam wand and paper towels to get all that nastiness off.

 

[thebaldguy]

Give the entire rifle a good clean/lube/function check. Pay special attention to the gas system and chamber.