I have a Norinco sks paratrooper that is having issues cycling. I took it apart and noticed that the piston stuck a bit when fully inserted into the tube. I cleaned the tube and piston but that didn't seem to help. Does anyone have any tips for me on ways to fix this issue without replacing both the tube and piston?

Clean the gas port recently?

No but I'm not sure if that will help. The piston doesn't travel freely in the tube even when unattached from the barrel. It only sticks when it travels all the way towards the bolt. I'm not sure if the piston is slightly bent, too worn or if the problem is on the tube end. I shined a light down the tube and didn't see any obvious issues. The piston isn't obviously bent either.

Piston only travels an inch or two thru the muzzle end of the tube. NOT designed to travel the full length and usually wont

is your problem consistent? failure to eject or cycle to the next round?

Do you have an original SKS gas tube or are you using an aftermarket tube? I had a world of problems that all traced to an ncstar gas tube.

need some more details...

what lunacite said. ive also heard of some problems with tapco gas tubes

you coming to the shoot tomorrow?? bring it with ya


Better yet...you know you want to sell it to me

Here is a video of the piston and tube issues which I believe is causing problems: http://youtu.be/Ygqsb37YRas

It is a stock tube and piston as far as I can tell.

I only shot one round through the gun since it didn't cycle after the first shot. It didn't jam and I can't remember for the life of me whether it fte. I believe it fte but I might have to go shooting in capitol forest tomorrow to give you an answer lol

I wish I could have made it out to the shoot but maybe next year. I will definitely let you know first whether I want to keep my paratrooper......after I get to have some fun with it that is [emoji12]

What you show in the video is normal. It only travels an inch or so when in operation

So do you remember if the bolt moved when you fired it??

There is an intermediate or piston extension and spring inside the rear sight housing, is that stuff in place?? and will it move rearward??

So the way the piston stuck the second time I put it in the tube was normal? I figured it was traveling as far as it should just worried about how it seems to get stuck.

The bolt didn't move iirc. The piston extension and spring are in there and seem to move fine but only as far as in my picture. Thanks for the help I appreciate it.

Yes , piston is not meant to stroke thru that part of the tube. Is your gas port into the barrel been cleaned

Yes it has been cleaned but it probably needed a more thorough cleaning which I have given it. I'll report back after shooting it again. Thanks again for the help.

I've had 4 SKSs in my days on this earth. every one including the one I have now, I've polished out the piston tube with a wooden dowel with a slot in one end. I wrap 0000 steel wool around the slotted end, put a little oil on it. then I use my power drill to spin the steel wool the entire length of the tube. Wipe it out and its all nice and shiny. You can do that to shotgun barrels too.

Just remember these tube are sized the way they are for a reason and you hog them out too much and they won't work correctly. I'm not an sks guru (wasn't on the development crew with Simenov) but I suspect the first inch or two of the piston tube is the only part machined for the piston. The rest was left raw and that's why the piston won't usually slide thru the rest of the tube

sounds more like an ammo problem to me seen that more than anything else. few years ago there were problems with winchester white box ammo. some no powder and some loaded too hot personaly saw the too hot and had to remove a stuck bullet in a colt ar cause there was no powder in the ammo pulled the bullets my self for the guy to send back. check your chamber and go shoot the rifle then check the brass. ALWAYS, Always check the barrel if the round dosent sound right or dosent cycle the action. barrel obstruction is very bad for every body, make sure the bullet left the barrel. never seen any other problems with SKS. seen them shoot with bent and with the piston partly broken.

thank you