My new SKS

[DerpSchnitzel]

So as the title suggests, I bought a Norinco SKS back in October. I paid a bit too much for it, in my opinion, all things considered in the end. I coulda had one for $350 a couple months earlier, but the wife wouldn't have it at the time. I ended up paying $500, plus like another $50 for tax and shipping, and $25 for the transfer fee. I knew I was gonna have to deal with some cosmoline, but HO-LY shit! Nothing could have adequately prepared me for the task I was about to take on when I finally brought it home. That nasty smelling stuff was caked and glopped in every single crack and crevice you could imagine. While cleaning and disassembling it, I noticed there was a very large crack in the stock, just behind the rear of the receiver.

Luckily I found a new stock for only $22.50, but it ended up requiring quite a large amount of sanding to get everything to fit properly. And it was a completely stripped stock, so I had to buy a recoil lug/cross bolt for another $30, and a special tool for the bolt for another $10 or $15. I also could have used snap ring pliers, but I don't have any, and the nut for the bolt was rusted to the bolt pretty badly. There was a little rust chunk covering part of the threads even.

So overall I spent about 600 bucks and at least two weeks screwing with the thing, but it's finally done. I haven't fired it yet, but the function check seems to show that it's functioning just fine. Right now I'm waiting on an "AK-FST" from Magnamatic. I figured I didn't wanna spend the $15 on the cheap-looking c-clamp ones on Amazon and have it break, only to have to spend the extra money on the good one anyway. I did try hitting the pin to move it left and right, but all I did is chip away the bluing, which is why I was looking for an actual tool in the first place.

Overall, I spent too much, as I said before, but whatever, I have my rifle now, and I have no reason to expect not to be happy with it. The barrel looks immaculate, and other than the original recoil lug nut and a few other small spots, it's rust free and in pretty damn good condition, as far as I can tell. It was a pain in the ass to get it from the way it came in the box to a working state, but at the same time it was a sorta fun learning experience. I know this though... Next time I buy a milsurp, I'm buying it in person privately or at a gunshop, or I'm just not buying a milsurp after this because I don't ever wanna deal with cosmoline like that again if I can help it. That stuff smelled like a combination of my grandma's musty old house and sweaty feet with a hint of grease.

SKScosmocloseup.jpg SKScosmo.jpg
SKScrack.jpg SKScosmorecoilspring.jpg
SKScosmoparts.jpg

[DerpSchnitzel]

And here it is, in all its glory, ready to go(except for the front sight adjustment). A friend of mine was able to get the nut off the original cross bolt, and it's currently installed in the new stock. That changes though as soon as the new bolt and tool come.

SKS DONE.jpg

The new stock didn't come with an upper handguard, and I'm okay with that because from what I was reading, it can be a real pain in the ass to get the gas tube separated from the wood. Even if that's not true, I'm kinda disappointed I couldn't keep the original stock anyway, although I'm not gonna miss the cosmoline reek that was coming off of it even after scrubbing the crap out of it with WD-40 and mineral spirits. Even though it was beat up, I kinda liked that fact. You could tell it had been thru a war, but it still cleaned up alright, I thought.

SKSoldstockcleaneadup.jpg



By the way... does anybody have any suggestions for getting that nasty cosmoline smell out of my gun safe? Because unfortunately I can't seem to get every single tiny bit of it out no matter what I do short of tearing it down to each individual tiny piece. I broke it down, but I didn't disassemble the trigger group or the recoil spring, for instance, or take off the bayonet or rear or front sight assembly. I did tear down the bolt though, cleaned out the gas tube, the hollow part on the bolt carrier, the hollow part of the recoil spring guide rod, etc. If there's any cosmoline left in the metal parts, it's very little(nothing that would effect its function, nothing visible, nothing visible on a patch run thru), but it still has a pretty strong unpleasant smell to it.

[Emptymag]

I'm laughing because my (long ago sold) Yugo SKS was the same way - more cosmoline than rifle! LOL
That's what keeps them preserved though.

I'm sure you've read it, or been told a thousand times by now, but be sure the firing pin is moving freely.
They stick from the cosmoline getting in there and it can cause bad things to happen.

[McSull]

I'm laughing because my (long ago sold) Yugo SKS was the same way - more cosmoline than rifle! LOL
That's what keeps them preserved though.

I'm sure you've read it, or been told a thousand times by now, but be sure the firing pin is moving freely.
They stick from the cosmoline getting in there and it can cause bad things to happen.

Murray's Gunsmithing has a solution for that. Actually, the Soviets solved it with the original design, which was changed for some reason.

[Emptymag]

Wow. Yeah, you had me beat! My cosmoline was mostly just internal.
I bought it at Duhnam's Sporting goods, so the outside was somewhat wiped off so they could display them.

[McSull]

Very hot water poured over the barreled action cuts the cosmoline pretty good. Small metal parts go in the pot of hot water.

[DerpSchnitzel]

Very hot water poured over the barreled action cuts the cosmoline pretty good. Small metal parts go in the pot of hot water.

I saw people doing that, but I didn't know what the hell to do with all that water afterwards. Dumping it down the drain seemed like a potentially bad idea, and since I knew I wasn't gonna tear it down completely, I was worried about any water getting trapped and causing rust, so I went with WD-40, Mineral Spirits, and CLP. If there's ever a next time with cosmoline, I may try the boiling water. But I hope to never do that again if I can help it.

I'm laughing because my (long ago sold) Yugo SKS was the same way - more cosmoline than rifle! LOL
That's what keeps them preserved though.

I'm sure you've read it, or been told a thousand times by now, but be sure the firing pin is moving freely.
They stick from the cosmoline getting in there and it can cause bad things to happen.

Yeah, I've read both of those things a thousand times already. The cosmo preserving the rifle and one about the firing pin. I made sure I tore down the bolt and cleaned the hell out of it, but thank you for the concern anyway. It's better to be told again than never be told at all.

[DerpSchnitzel]

Wow. Yeah, you had me beat! My cosmoline was mostly just internal.
I bought it at Duhnam's Sporting goods, so the outside was somewhat wiped off so they could display them.

That looks like a nice specimen, but holy shit, is that a lot of cosmoline.

[streaker69]

I saw people doing that, but I didn't know what the hell to do with all that water afterwards.

The solution to pollution is dilution. Dumping that little bit of cosmoline down the drain to your local sewer plant (if you're on public sewer) wouldn't affect anything down stream. Sewer plants process millions of gallons of water per day. That little bit of crap would never be noticed. Now, let's say you were to dump a 55 gallon drum of red dye, that turns the entire plant pink for a few hours.

[DerpSchnitzel]

The solution to pollution is dilution. Dumping that little bit of cosmoline down the drain to your local sewer plant (if you're on public sewer) wouldn't affect anything down stream. Sewer plants process millions of gallons of water per day. That little bit of crap would never be noticed. Now, let's say you were to dump a 55 gallon drum of red dye, that turns the entire plant pink for a few hours.

I meant more like grease might clog the pipes in my home.