Sks casing sticking in chamber

[Fordprefect]

Help I've stuck and can't eject. Ok here are the problems I'm having I bought a cheap SKS, that's problem number 1. Problem number 2 the idiot that this idiot bought if from never cleaned the cosmoline off and out of the gun before using it(I don't know if I'll ever buy a SKS covered it the tar from hell ever again). So here is the real problem gun has been thoroughly cleaned took it out to shoot loaded one round to test (just wanted to make sure my cleaning was thorough enough so there were no slam fires) fired it and no ejection. Banged on the charging handle tried to stand on it no movement. Tapped it out with a block of wood and a mallet. Fired another round same issue. Before any of this I loaded the magazine and cycled the bolt by hand to make sure nothing was sticking and it cycled all 20 rounds just fine. So after clearing the stuck casing I tried some a few more unspent rounds no problems. Decided to load the empty case again and sure enough it was like welding the bolt shut.

Anyone know what could be causing this and what can be done to fix it?

[Rick O'Shay]

Brass case or steel?

[texassako]

I would start looking for an issue in the chamber. Something that a case would fire form into like a bulge, roughness, or some other defect. How does a fired case compare to an unfired?

[Fordprefect]

Steel

[Fordprefect]

Casing on fired case is .435
Casing on unfired is.429
so a .006 difference
Those are on the body of the casing the neck measures
Fired .342
Unfired .332
So a .01 difference
Pretty new to reloading not sure if those are big differences or not.
I'll strip the gun down an see if I can see anything in the chamber it might be hanging up on.
Also looking over the spent casing there are no groves or scratches on it that might suggest it got hung up on anything in the chamber.

Just had my wife shining a light down the muzzle as I blinded my self looking at the chamber there did not seem to be anything out of order.

[Blammer]

I suspect the steel case is your problem

[Fordprefect]

Well I do have some brass case ammo. I will take it out tomorrow after work and see if that works.

[Frank46]

If sticking with steel cased ammo, when you clean it get an oversized brush to do the chamber. The laquer or whatever is coating the case is probably the problem and regular cleaning isn't removing the coatings. Frank

[Garyshome]

Maybe the lacquer [i think] coating on the case is making it stick. Oh and all [or mostly] SKS's are cheap, at least mine are! That's why I like em so much.

[Rick O'Shay]

I have heard reports of steel cases with the lacquer can stick and jam the gun. Try some brass cases and see if it does the same thing. Good luck.

[starnbar]

Is the rifle chamber really clean? Sometimes you need to use lacquer thinner and a chamber brush to get all the gunk out of the chamber area.

[Gtek]

Acetone and a brush big enough to contact all areas in chamber. As stated above, inspect all fire cases for bulges, bumps, etc. for grabbers. Then see if you can check headspace. Strip bolt and place new round in chamber and rattle check bolt in battery fore and aft.

[Yodogsandman]

I always suspect the gas system!

[.5mv^2]

Yes take out and clean the piston, it is probably stuck. SK's live on steel case. To say that steel cased "brass" is a problem just isnt usually a problem.

[Yodogsandman]

What kind of SKS? Is it a Yugo?

[GhostHawk]

I'd suggest cleaning rod, something like a .410 or .20 gauge bronze or brass cleaning brush. Start with some solvent, Hoppes or whatever your used to.

I had a chamber on one of my Mosin's that had I think cooked on Cosmoline baked onto the sides.
I ended up using a brush chucked in a drill and polishing compound to clean the last of it out.
I really like GooGone btw for cleaning up cosmoline off milsurp rifles.

Once the chamber is totally clean and shiny, don't neglect the barrel. Took me 3 days to get the accumulated **** of years out of my Yugo SKS, but once I did she shoots like a dream with cast.

[Fordprefect]

So took it out to shoot and things went way wrong. Fired a brass cased round and it ejected just fine. So I tried a steel it ejected fine, fired another no problem. Then I loaded the magazine with 5 rounds 2nd and 3rd jammed the other 3 where fine. So once again I moved to brass loaded up five rounds and that's when it happened first 4 cycled fine 5th didn't go into battery. This is what was jammed in the chamber and what I found when I collected up the brass.

109080109081

As you can see the 4th from the left has a split near the base and the 6th is wearing the top half of the 5th. Before this happened I was checking every now and again to make sure it entered full battery but I did not check on these particular rounds.

Thanks for the help but I think I am going to take this one into a gun smith.

[Yodogsandman]

I don't suspect the gas system no more!

[462]

This is addressed in the latest "American Rifleman".

Sell your lacquer-coated, steel-cased ammo to an enemy. That's what the commies did.

[Gunnut 45/454]

Well Obviously you have a HEADSPACE problem! Stop shooting that firearm and take it to a gunsmith! Either your chamber is cut short or your bolt is not locking up properly. In any case STOP shooting it until you find out for sure what is causing problem. Make sure you take those cases with you to show the smith what exactly happened.:shock:

[DeanWinchester]

There is a square pin in the receiver that the bolt headspaces off of. They get worn from time to time. Neat thing is, you can push it out turn it 90 degrees and go again. You get four faces on a square pin! Might try that and see if your headspace tightens up.