Albanian SkS I bought from AIM

[ltcboy]

Albanian SKS I bought from AIM

Bayonet. The bayonet is permanently attached, and pivots to a stowed position underneath the fore-end. It is screwdriver tipped and triangular in cross section.

Gas port. A small amount of the high pressure gas is diverted into the gas tube where it acts on the primary piston, driving it to the rear. This piston bears directly on the head of the spring loaded secondary piston housed beneath the read sight, and drives it to the rear as well. The secondary piston's rearward movement impinges against the bolt carrier, kicking it rearward. As the bolt carrier moves to the rear, it cams the bolt out of engagement with the receiver locking recess and pulls it to the rear as well. This movement effects extraction, ejection and also recocks the hammer for the next shot. At the rearmost point of travel, the bolt carrier is arrested by the captive recoil spring assembly and forced forward again. During forward movement a fresh cartridge is stripped into the chamber from the magazine. There is a last round bolt hold open device present.

The SKS features a permanently attached folding bayonet and a one piece wooden stock. Fire controls are simple and effective; a large lever alongside the triggerguard pivots forward to block the trigger's rearward motion. Sights are a tangent u-notch rear and a windage and elevation adjustable front post. The bolt carrier is milled to accept stripper clips, which make loading almost as fast as a detachable magazine. Unloading is also quite rapid as the magazine body hinges down to allow for removal of unfired cartridges.

Disassembly is begun by clearing the rifle and placing it on "safe." A lever on the right rear of the receiver is raised to the vertical and drawn to the right. This frees the receiver dust cover (a heavy hemicylindrical piece) to move to the rear and be removed from the gun. The recoil spring can now be drawn out to the rear. Next the bolt carrier can be pulled to the rear and then up and out of the receiver, taking the bolt with it. The bolt is easily separated from the carrier. The lever on the rear sight block is raised to the vertical. This rotates the flat on the handguard retaining bolt to a vertical position, freeing the handguard to be raised up from the rear and removed. The primary piston can then be slid out of the handguard. As the handguard is freed, the spring loaded secondary piston will also free itself. Finally, the rifle can be inverted for removal of the trigger group. The rear of the trigger group has what appears to be a dimple. This is actually a retaining tang that is part of the receiver. With the safety on, a quick rap on a brass punch will move the retaining tang just enough to free the trigger group, which can then be pulled out of the receiver. Once this is done, the magazine group can also be worked from the receiver. Finally, the barreled receiver group can be separated from the stock ( the stock is sandwiched between the trigger group and the receiver, much like an M1 Garand). Reassembly is the reverse.

DISASSEMBLY

Step 1: Raise the takedown lever at the rear right of the receiver from the three o'clock position to the twelve o'clock position, and then drawn to the right. This frees the receiver cover.

Step 2: Remove the receiver cover and pull the bolt return spring assembly out to the rear.

Step 3: Draw bolt carrier group to the rear and lift it out of the receiver.


Step 4: Disassembled bolt group components. From top: Receiver cover, bolt return spring, bolt carrier, bolt

Step 5: Gas system takedown latch on the right side of the rear sight block. This latch must be rotated upward (clockwise) so as to free the upper handguard/gas tube assembly.

Step 6: Gas system takedown latch has been rotated, bringing the flat surface of the lock piece (yellow arrow) to the vertical position. When it is in this position, the handguard's mating surface (blue arrow) is freed, and the handguard can be lifted up from the rear and rotated forward and off the rifle.


Step 7: Once the handguard is removed, the gas piston can be removed to the front. Note that the gas tube runs the length of the handguard.

Step 8: With the handguard removed, the gas system takedown latch can now be rotated to the twelve o'clock position, which will free the operating piston (housed in the rear sight block). Be careful. The operating piston is under significant tension from the coiled wire spring, and should be controlled until tension is released, lest it be launched into orbit.

Step 9: With the safety on, place a punch or a cartridge tip into the dimple at the rear of the triggerguard. Apply slow and steady forward and downward pressure to the dimple. This will press the spring loaded retaining catch out of engagement with the triggerguard and free the trigger mechanism.


Step 10: Once the the trigger group is freed, it can be rotated up from the rear and off the rifle.

Step 11: Once the trigger group is freed, the magazine assembly can be pulled down and out of the rifle.

Step 12: The barreled receiver can now be lifted out of the stock from the rear.

Albanian SKS trigger group. The narrow piece pointing upward and forward is the disconnector. Just try getting it into the right position when disassembled from the rifle! A note on disassembly. Once the trigger group is clean, it is tempting to cock the hammer and pull the trigger so as to get a "feel" for the trigger/sear interaction. I can tell you from experience that this is an extremely frustrating experience. In fact, you can probably pull the trigger all day with no movement on the hammer's part. This is not due to any failing on the mechanism's part; quite the reverse in fact. Upon examination, the trigger mechanism will be seen to possess a long bar that begins near the hammer pivot point, and extends upward and forward. This is the disconnector bar, and in the assembled rifle, it extends through a very precisely milled slot in the receiver. It is the interaction with this slot and the bolt/carrier that allows the disconnector to be positioned for proper operation of the fire control mechanism. Outside the rifle, attaining just the right position for the disconnector is nigh impossible. The moral of the story? Check trigger function with the fire control mechanism assembled into the rifle!

The bolt and carrier were in the white and polished bright, while the remaining metal was polished to a satin finish and deeply blued. While there were some tiny blemishes on the bolt carrier, and one or two small scratches on the blued portions of the gun, the metal was easily in ninety seven percent condition, with a strong claim toward ninety eight or ninety nine percent. The visual effect of the contrast between the blued metal and the bright bolt carrier was both striking and attractive. The receiver was marked on the left side with a year marking indicating manufacture in 1977 and a four digit serial number. Once cleaned of cosmoline and properly lubricated, the Albanian SKS's bolt operation was exceedingly smooth. The fire control mechanism, including the trigger and safety were similarly smooth. The trigger broke crisply and cleanly each time. The bore was perfect and mirror shiny.

Perhaps the most idiosyncratic feature of the Albanian Simonov is the stock/handguard configuration. The stock is a pistol grip type, which like all SKS stocks, is a one piece affair that entirely encases the lower receiver. The forward end of the stock is grooved on the bottom so as to provide a shielded channel for the permanently attached folding "T" section bayonet. However, the stock extends significantly further forward on the Albanian Simonovs than on other rifles of the pattern; almost to the gas block. The handguard follows suit, and is significantly longer than that of other SKS type guns. Integral to the handguard is a gas cylinder. The cylinder mates with the barrel's gas block and is perforated approximately an inch from its front end. This provides a venting mechanism for the propellant gases and prevents the system from being overcharged. The bolt handle is also unique. Instead of the knobbed cylinder usually found on SKS rifles, the Albanian Simonov uses a hook not unlike that found on an M1 or an AK.
A headspace check yielded no surprises, with the bolt closing easily on a Clymer 7.62x39mm GO headspace gauge (1.2713"), and failing to close on a NO-GO gauge (1.2773").

The SKS has a reputation for being an extremely pleasant rifle to shoot. This in large part stems from the combination of relatively high weight (almost nine pounds for a twenty inch barreled carbine) and a relatively low powered cartridge. The 7.62x39mm is a true intermediate cartridge that develops nowhere near the recoil energies of full power rounds such as the 7.62mm NATO, the 7.9x57mm Mauser, the .303 British or the .30-06. It also has a reputation for reliability that rivals that of the Kalashnikov series of assault rifles. What it did not have a reputation for was gilt edged accuracy. Given that its always fun to shoot a reliable rifle with a mild recoil, I was quite happy to pack up and head out to the range.

The targets I used were 3" black centers with 1" orange dots set at 130 yards. Group sizes ranged from 1.25" to 2.9" with the larger groups being more the norm than the exception. Recoil was minimal at most. This isn't surprising - the rifle is heavy and the cartridge is light. Reliability was 100%.


MIke

[Gil Martin]

All the best...
Gil