So I went to that gun show and I found a great Yugoslavian SKS rifle with a scope and a 30-round magazine for 240 dollars! So we get home to show it to my friend, who almost immediately releases the magazine from the rifle. SKS magazines, I think, are NOT supposed to be just released and then put back on, like an AK-47 or something. That’s not how it works. You don’t change magazines on an SKS, you load it with stripper clips. So this guy, who didn’t know what the fuck he was doing, took the mag off the rifle and couldn’t put it back.
We realized that you have to remove the trigger assembly, put the magazine back in, and then put the trigger assembly back in. I’ve been trying to do this but I CAN’T DO IT! HELP ME!!!
I used a punch to depress the little button and take out the trigger assembly FIGURE 11 here, ok, got it out, put the magazine back in, and then put the trigger assembly back in but as hard as I try, i CANNOT push it down all the way so it lines up with the little button that you had to depress with the punch. The little rods on the assembly are lined up in the grooves inside the receiver, and it seems like it should slide in, but it just won’t. And the little magazine release latch won’t fit over the tab on the magazine. It ALMOST fits, but doesn’t.
What am I doing wrong?!?! Am I not putting the magazine in right? Gun guys, please help!
OK, new problem. I can now reattach both the trigger assembly and the magazine with ease. (The problem was that the reciever had shifted down slightly and the trigger-assembly release catch, therefore, was too low. I fixed that.)
Now, I had to cock the trigger assembly by pushing down on the spring loaded thing in order to get it in there. Fine. But now that it’s all put together again, and the bolt is open (I had to open it to put the magazine in, of course,) I can’t uncock the trigger. It’s just stuck. The only way to close the bolt now is to manually stick my finger down through the top of the magazine and push down on the spring loader.
IANASKSE, but I believe that’s the way it’s supposed to work. When the magazine is empty the follower engages the bolt, holding it back. This way the rifle can be put into action more quickly after reloading, and eliminates a soldier forgetting to cock the rifle before using it.
On my own guns the bolt stays back after reloading, but these are fed by detachable magazines. There is a lever or button to release the bolt. IIRC on my M1 Carbine, the bolt is released by pulling it back slightly and then letting it go. I have not fired an M1 Garand, but there’s something called ‘Garand thumb’. I think this is the term for getting your thumb mashed when you don’t move it out of the way quickly enough.
OK, never mind. I’ve got everything working fine. I just spoke to a friend and he told me it was supposed to work that way. Thanks for the advice though.
I’ve never fired a semi-automatic rifle before, only single-shot, so I’m just unfamiliar with the mechanism I guess.
This is a sweet rifle. The 30 round AK-style clip looks especially badass on it. The scope that came on it isn’t bad either. I think I got a good deal.
Not as a sniper but either Jackson, the character, apparently used one, perhaps before they embarked in England, or (more likely) Pepper, the actor, used one when they were in the mini-boot camp Dale Dye put them through before they started shooting.
I don’t remember if we ever saw him toting an M1 on the beach or not. Certainly not when he was shooting those guys at the top of the draw they wound up at.
I have since field stripped the rifle many times over. I soaked the bolt thoroughly in mineral spirits, although it was virtually spotless to begin with. I lubricated the receiver with gun oil and the action is very smooth. There was never any cosmoline or any dirt inside the rifle to begin with, in fact. Whoever owned it before I did took very good care of it.