The SKS was designed in the early 1940's and has been produced in Russia China and many
former Eastern bloc countries Millions of these rifles have been Collected
and shot by sportsmen Since they were first imported Into the United States
Like the AK47 the SKS is known for Its reliability even under the Harshest conditions
However it still requires a little TLC especially when shooting Corrosive ammo
In this series by Brownells we'll Show you step-by-step how-to Disassemble clean lubricate
and Reassemble your SKS rifle As always before performing any Maintenance
begin by opening The magazine and inspecting the Chamber ensuring that the gun is Unloaded
With the gun now safe close the Magazine rotate the takedown Lever 90 degrees and pull the
Lever out to the right With the takedown lever rotated And pulled
out the receiver cover Free to be removed This leaves the recoil spring Assembly exposed
and it can also Be taken out and set aside Then the bolt and carrier can be Drawn rearward
and the carrier Lifted out followed by the bolt
Next we can remove the Handguard along with the gas Piston
To do so locate the handguard Catch at the top rear of the Handguard and rotate it upward
90 degrees Note that you should not go past The detent
at this point in order To prevent the piston extension From shooting out as it is under
Spring tension Once rotated 90 degrees lift the Handguard
from the barrel and Remove the piston We now need to remove the Piston extension
from the rear Sight assembly It is compressed by a strong Spring so be
careful not to lose it Place your hand in front of the Piston extension and rotate the
Hanguard catch past the detent Then remove the extension and Its spring and set them
aside Before we go any further we need To lift the
cleaning rod from its Recess Now we can move on to the Trigger group
Use a punch to depress the trigger Guard latch and take out the Trigger mechanism
Then pull the magazine down and Out Be aware that the recoil spring Assembly magazine
assembly and Trigger mechanism should not be Disassembled for normal Maintenance but
will need to be Cleaned Next we'll separate the stock from The receiver
The receiver may be very tight in The stock but it will pivot up at The rear allowing
you to remove it Lastly we'll disassemble the bolt You'll want
to use a 1/8th inch Punch to remove the firing pin Retainer
Then take the firing pin out from The rear push the extractor Rearward and pivot it away
from The bolt The last step is to take the spring Out of
the extractor The gun is now fully disassembled And ready
for cleaning and we'll Go over that in part two of this Brownells SKS maintenance series