Norinco SKS- converting it back to original stock

seanc35 · Dec 5, 2013

Hello everyone,

Im am new here and I have a few questions and hope your experience can help me resolve my issues. Over the summer I purchased a Norinco SKS that had been converted to be something that it is not. It was outfitted with a Tapco synthetic stock and a 30rd magazine. I read about people having feeding issues with the Promag magazines so I purchased a Tapco 20rd mag. My first time shooting the rifle it was failing to eject. The bolt would get stuck closed and I was forced to try to open the bolt despite being unsure if a live round was loaded into the chamber. Needless to say this was the last time I fired it. Luckily when I purchased the rifle the guy gave me the original wood stock that had matching serial numbers. Unfortunately the original 10rd fixed mag, the wooden gas tube and the bolt cover did not come with it. I am considering buying these parts of skseverything .com to fully reconfigure my SKS to its original state. Do you think that putting it back how its supposed to be will fix the failure to eject problems? Anyone know where I can get these parts at a better price? I would just like to have a functioning rifle. No more Tapco bs. Thanks for your time.

trainsktg · Dec 5, 2013

Was it converted to take AK mags, or are your aftermarket mags 'duckbills'? If the former, you might be out of luck putting an original 10-round mag back in there.

Putting original parts back on the rifle will certainly help. I suspect your problems lie with the mag, but the stock may be interfering with proper operation as well. You'd have to look around for parts, but some good websites are apexgunparts.com, gunpartscorp.com (which is Numrich), and a real gem for surplus parts is Reich Outfitters at Reich

Keith

seanc35 · Dec 5, 2013

Keith,

thanks for your reply. Fortunately, this SKS was just reconfigured to accept duckbill mags. I tried them out but both the Promag 30 and Tapco 20rd duckbill mags but both failed to eject and cycle. I hope changing it back to how its supposed to be will work. Thanks again.

orygun · Dec 5, 2013

I doubt that the mag has anything to do with ejection of the fired round. I'd give the chamber a good scrubbing and check the extractor.

Can you easily push/pull the fired casing out of the chamber? If so, it sounds like you need a new extractor. I checked Numrich and they are sold out, but you can probably find one on one of the SKS boards.

Also, the SKS was not "reconfigured" to accept the duckbill mag. That's how most all of them came. The D and M versions (if I remember correctly) took AK47 mags, the rest had 10 round mags that can be replaced with duckbill mags.

Addition: since the bolt won't open easily, I can assume that the extractor is fine and the shell is getting stuick in the chamber. Two things I can think of will cause this. A very dirty chamber, or a tool mark in the chamber. The brass will flow into the tool mark and will make it difficult to pull the casing out of the chamber. Examine the spent cases very carefully. If you see nothing strange, it's probably very dirty.

seanc35 · Dec 6, 2013

Thanks for the advice. When the round wouldn't eject, all I had to do was get the bolt open and then the spent casing would just easily come out. I heeded your advice and I disassembled the bolt. When I was taking off the ejector I noticed that it had a very weak spring and the spring was jammed inside the ejector. I ordered a new ejector and spring from sksman .com for only 10 bucks. I decided to also replace the firing pin with a spring loaded one to avoid slam fires. In addition, I bought a gas tube assembly and a receiver cover from desert fox sale. I will keep you guys updated on restoring my SKS to how its meant to be. I have some Tapco tacticool stuff if anyone wants it for a good price. Thanks again.

Mongo1 · Dec 8, 2013

Have you stripped your SKS and cleaned it? There are video's on YouTube. I'm thinking it needs a good cleaning. The gas tube and piston behind it could be dirty. A gun show is a good place to get parts. The 10 round stock mg works perfectly. There is also a fixed box 20 round magazine made in Russia and China that also functions perfectly. They are rare and expensive when you can find one. The last one sold here went for $75. Rickreall GunShow

WasrNwarpaint · Dec 11, 2013

The SKS duckbill mags & drums need CUSTOM FIT to your specific gun, with so many armories in so many different countries over the years making the SKS guns its not realistic to think that one size fits all.

Norinco's and the tapco mags fit too tight & put too much pressure on the feed lips, this reduces the size of the opening and the bolt has trouble scraping off the next round into the chamber because its sooo tight.

dont over look the drums, when setup correctly the 71 rnd drum duckbills are the best, they are SINGLE STACK unlike all the other SKS mags which are double stack feed, much cleaner and faster feeding and cant argue with capacity

here is a video I made to custom fit the drums, & the tapco mags are similar to fit...I actually have a "how to fit the Tapcos", I will see if I can dig it out for you and upload it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLtVAdgASZs

Raidingtime · Jul 18, 2014

I've had problems with my Norinco SKS with the tapco stock feeding and extracting out of promag and tapco magazines. I keep all my guns very clean so it being dirty is not the reason. I have "customized" the magazines by shaving down the magazine lips to allow less resistance feeding and it seems to help to a point. My thoughts are a worn spring. Any thoughts would be appreciated though!

Joe13 · Jul 18, 2014

My sks is in a tapco stock, no mods needed.

If you want reliability then nothing is better then what they came with, a 10 round fixed mag...

Feed it stripper clips instead of magazines and you should be fine.

Mine has NEVER failed to feed, fire or eject.

If you want a 20-40 round magazine, go buy an AK.

Just my two cents.

Raidingtime · Jul 18, 2014

I've heard your response a lot and am going to buy an ak someday as well. Though I'm determined to make the tapco set up work better

PORSCHE928S4 · Jul 23, 2014

The SKS was never meant for all that TACTIKEWL junk this is why half that stuff doesn't work . This is what the AK was made for ! I am pleased to see someone that is going to put the work horse back to her former glory . I am sure you will be able to recoup the cost of restoring by selling off that wannabe stuff .