former Eastern bloc countries Millions of these rifles have been Collected

and shot by sportsmen Since they were first imported Into the United States

Like the AK47 the SKS is known for Its reliability even under the Harshest conditions

However it still requires a little TLC especially when shooting Corrosive ammo

In this series by Brownells we'll Show you step-by-step how-to Disassemble clean lubricate

and Reassemble your SKS rifle As always before performing any Maintenance

begin by opening The magazine and inspecting the Chamber ensuring that the gun is Unloaded

With the gun now safe close the Magazine rotate the takedown Lever 90 degrees and pull the

Lever out to the right With the takedown lever rotated And pulled

out the receiver cover Free to be removed This leaves the recoil spring Assembly exposed

and it can also Be taken out and set aside Then the bolt and carrier can be Drawn rearward

and the carrier Lifted out followed by the bolt

Next we can remove the Handguard along with the gas Piston

To do so locate the handguard Catch at the top rear of the Handguard and rotate it upward

90 degrees Note that you should not go past The detent

at this point in order To prevent the piston extension From shooting out as it is under

Spring tension Once rotated 90 degrees lift the Handguard

from the barrel and Remove the piston We now need to remove the Piston extension

from the rear Sight assembly It is compressed by a strong Spring so be

careful not to lose it Place your hand in front of the Piston extension and rotate the

Hanguard catch past the detent Then remove the extension and Its spring and set them

aside Before we go any further we need To lift the

cleaning rod from its Recess Now we can move on to the Trigger group

Use a punch to depress the trigger Guard latch and take out the Trigger mechanism

Then pull the magazine down and Out Be aware that the recoil spring Assembly magazine

assembly and Trigger mechanism should not be Disassembled for normal Maintenance but

will need to be Cleaned Next we'll separate the stock from The receiver

The receiver may be very tight in The stock but it will pivot up at The rear allowing

you to remove it Lastly we'll disassemble the bolt You'll want

to use a 1/8th inch Punch to remove the firing pin Retainer

Then take the firing pin out from The rear push the extractor Rearward and pivot it away

from The bolt The last step is to take the spring Out of

the extractor The gun is now fully disassembled And ready

for cleaning and we'll Go over that in part two of this Brownells SKS maintenance series