Question about open sight on Romanian SKS

Shin Jubei

Hello everyone, I just recently purchased my first firearm. I am hoping to become a collector and figured i would start my collection with an SKS. During my first breakdown everything went smoothly and fit back together perfectly, but the next time i dismantled the rifle something happened. A small piece somehow managed to rattle its way out from underneath the open sight adjuster. Its a small thin peace of metal with a curve to it. It also has an indention in it. I have looked at my Father in Laws chinese sks and we can tell that the piece is curved (thats what causes the open sight to "lock" postion when turned up. but when i place mine back in the slot the small metal piece just falls right back out again. Can anyone help me?Thank you

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9/11/01 NYC we will never forget you....

duster68

I had the same problem with mine. The piece is actually a spring that puts upward tension on the rear sight assembly, allowing it to swivel up and down. The little nipple you see on the curved side fits into the little notch you see inside the sight housing. It looks like a little hole. Fit the nipple side of the spring in the notch, and let the flat side lay down. Make sure the curved side doesn't move too far backward (toward the receiver) or the spring will fall through and be loose (which is the trouble you're having). When it's in correctly, the flat side should suspend upward, tightly. If you push down on it hard with your finger, it should bend slightly, but it shouldn't fall through. Once that's in place, push the sight assembly down (it's hard, you might need to use the end of screwdriver to bend the spring down) and slide it forward along the rails. Once it's down, it you can't push it forward, tap it forward with a drift pin. It'll snap in place. If the spring popped off when you were cleaning, it'll probably pop off when you shoot. This is what happened with mine. The first time it came off, I put it back on and it was fine for the next 500 rounds or so. Off it came again, put it back on, off again after 100 rounds. Finally, it was popping off every 20 rounds or so. I finally had to apply expoxy to it. Now it's solid as a rock. I won't ever be able to take it off, but who cares. I never wanted it off in the first place. Good luck!

Shin Jubei

thanks alot, my only problem seems to be that when i put that metal piece with the nipple in (assuming thats what you meant by the spring) it just falls right into place and can move it around within the grove using your finger (with ease) so i dont know if something popped out or what. It is safe however to cement it into place? if so what kind of apoxy did you use and is it still working right?sorry, i hate to be a bother but being as its my first rifle i don't wanna just "engineer" it myself. I got a really great deal on this rifle (200 dollars for rifle 30 round clip, 125 rounds, and a cleaning kit).thanks