Guys,

I just bought a Yugo SKS w/ grenade launcher and the bolt is a gigantic pain in the ass to disassemble.  The firing pin retaining pin never wants to go in easily and it takes many whacks with a mallet for it to do so.

My problem is this:  

I took apart the bolt to get all the cosmoline off it, now when I put it back together the firing pin can slide a good two inches out the front of the bolt.  It doesn't come out, but it seems to slide a hell of a lot farther than it should be able to.  I'm not sure if it's supposed to be like this or what.  My guess is no.

What did I do wrong?  How do I fix it?

Thanks.

Go to Surplus rifle .com You should be able to find the answer there.

Quoted: Go to Surplus rifle .com You should be able to find the answer there.

No, damn it!

That's the place that got me so pissed off in the first place.  One of the tutorials said to "lightly tap" the retaining pin out of the bolt.  "Tap" my ass!  In the course of removing it I broke a punch, bent a punch, and shattered a cinder block.  

I'll not be taking any advice from surplusrifle on this one (and besides, they say nothing about the pin).

same i got so fed up with getting the retaining pin out i just bought a new firing pin assembaly.

www.simonov.net   Good site!

Figured it out, thanks guys.

At least you got yours apart.  

Quoted: At least you got yours apart.

Yeah, seriously.  I ended up putting a towel over a cinder block, used one of the metal punches from the cleaning kit (I dont know what else it could have been), and whacked on it with a metal hammer.  

The trick is in the follow through.

Can't you just soak the rascal in acetone (or kerosene) to get the cosmo off, then lube it up afterward?

Nope. The thing has to be disassembled.

Any crud in there can cause the FP to stick forward making an SKS a FA machine gun.

ALL SKS's need to have the pin removed and properly reinstalled so that there is 1/4" of travel.

I turned the FP retaining pin down a few thousandths; not enough so that it'd slip back in and be loose; just so it requires only a bit of tapping from a ball-peen hammer to reseat it fully--rather than several dozen all-out blasts from Mjollnir (Thor's Hammer)!!

After the thing is disassembled you need to spray some WD-40 or something into the FP channel and swab it out with a doubled-over pipecleaner or a .22 brush until the cleaning fluid runs out clear. I elected to Flitz the FP itself with a Dremel and some Flitz on a felt wheel...it took a high polish and is now as safe as can be for the design.

Good luck, guys. And don't neglect this vital procedure.

Ok, I stand corrected.

As it turns out, I had to disassemble my bolt assembly this past weekend due to a broken firing pin.  Luckily, the retaining pin on mine popped right out.  I just used the little punch in the cleaning kit (I was in the woods at the time) and bingo.

Sorry you had such a tough time with it.  Hope you didn't try and take the pin out backward or something