SKS and AK 47 disaassembly
- Thread starter TABING
- Start date
George Stringer
Staff Alumnus
Tabing you might find what you need at www.recguns.com George
Both of these rifles are some of the easiest firearms in the world to strip down.
For the AK:
Start with an unloaded rifle, with the magazine out. Cock the rifle by pulling back on the bolt handle and releasing it, then press in on the square serrated stud at the back of the receiver. That will allow you to pull the top cover off of the rifle, exposing the inner mechanism. Maintaining control of the mainspring, push that same square serrated stud forward again, and lift the mainspring up once it has cleared its retaining slot in the back of the receiver. The mainspring can now be pulled directly backwards, out of the bolt. The bolt can now be pulled directly backwards, and lifted out of the receiver once it is lined up with two slots in the bolt rails, down in the receiver. The only other part you might want to take off during cleaning is the gas-tube cover, at the top front of the rifle; this is retaining by a small T-shaped pivoting lever just in front of the rear sight. Pivoting that "T" around will free the rear of the gas-tube cover, letting you lift it up, then pull it back. That's about as far you'd ever want to strip down an AK, and reassembly is in the exact reverse order. (Some people do have trouble getting the bolt back in the forward position if they don't line it up properly, and make sure the bolt lug is in its proper spot in the carrier, and it can be tricky to get the top-cover back on and latched until you do it a couple of times.)
For the SKS:
Starting with an unloaded but cocked rifle, pull the small "L" lever at the right rear of the receiver back until it frees the cross-pin that holds the top-cover on the rifle. Once it's free, you can pull the pin sideways to allow the top-cover to come straight back out of the receiver. The bolt, bolt carrier, and mainspring will also come straight back out of the receiver. The gas-tube cover comes off of the rifle in the same way that it came off of the AK, and the only other part you might want to strip off of an SKS is the trigger-group. This is retained by a spring-pin, visible at the rear of the trigger-group, and it has a dished area to give you something to push against, BUT the rifle has to have the safety ON to push it far enough. (The safety is the pivoting arm inside the trigger-guard that will block the trigger from coming back when it is "ON".) When you press that pin in, the rear of the trigger-group will spring up, and you can lift it up out of the rifle. Reassembly is also in the revers order. I hope this helps.
For the AK:
Start with an unloaded rifle, with the magazine out. Cock the rifle by pulling back on the bolt handle and releasing it, then press in on the square serrated stud at the back of the receiver. That will allow you to pull the top cover off of the rifle, exposing the inner mechanism. Maintaining control of the mainspring, push that same square serrated stud forward again, and lift the mainspring up once it has cleared its retaining slot in the back of the receiver. The mainspring can now be pulled directly backwards, out of the bolt. The bolt can now be pulled directly backwards, and lifted out of the receiver once it is lined up with two slots in the bolt rails, down in the receiver. The only other part you might want to take off during cleaning is the gas-tube cover, at the top front of the rifle; this is retaining by a small T-shaped pivoting lever just in front of the rear sight. Pivoting that "T" around will free the rear of the gas-tube cover, letting you lift it up, then pull it back. That's about as far you'd ever want to strip down an AK, and reassembly is in the exact reverse order. (Some people do have trouble getting the bolt back in the forward position if they don't line it up properly, and make sure the bolt lug is in its proper spot in the carrier, and it can be tricky to get the top-cover back on and latched until you do it a couple of times.)
For the SKS:
Starting with an unloaded but cocked rifle, pull the small "L" lever at the right rear of the receiver back until it frees the cross-pin that holds the top-cover on the rifle. Once it's free, you can pull the pin sideways to allow the top-cover to come straight back out of the receiver. The bolt, bolt carrier, and mainspring will also come straight back out of the receiver. The gas-tube cover comes off of the rifle in the same way that it came off of the AK, and the only other part you might want to strip off of an SKS is the trigger-group. This is retained by a spring-pin, visible at the rear of the trigger-group, and it has a dished area to give you something to push against, BUT the rifle has to have the safety ON to push it far enough. (The safety is the pivoting arm inside the trigger-guard that will block the trigger from coming back when it is "ON".) When you press that pin in, the rear of the trigger-group will spring up, and you can lift it up out of the rifle. Reassembly is also in the revers order. I hope this helps.