Firing an SKS 59/66 on "single shot" problem.

Question

I've been shooting for over 30 years, been shooting various SKS rifles for almost as long. If you're familiar with the Yugo SKS 59/66, then you are aware of the gas cut off valve for launching grenades, if you turn off the gas, it turns the SKS into basically a bolt action, where you have to cycle the bolt after each shot, instead of the action running in semi-auto with the gas switched on. Ok, now for the question.

A few days ago I had one of my 59/66 SKS's at the outdoor range, I was shooting it with the gas valve turned off, so I could shoot the rifle like a bolt action. An older gentleman seemed to be having a mild conniption fit about me shooting the rifle in that manner. I overheard him telling one of his shooting buddies that I was going to blow my rifle up shooting it like that, after a few more round he approached me and "informed" me that was I was doing was very unsafe, the rifle was building up way too much pressure by shooting it like a single shot. Now, I've been shooting for many years, maybe not as long as this older man has been shooting, but still long enough to know what's safe and what isn't. I even went so far as to inform the man that I had never heard of such a thing, that I had been shooting SKS rifles for many years and had never had any problems at all. Since then I've looked all over the net for ANY mention of firing an SKS in the manner in which I was shooting, and any reference to it being unsafe or dangerous, and found nothing. I have found many videos on youtube where folks are shooting their SKS in the same manner I was, of course youtube is not an authority on firearms, but it seems I'm not the only one who shoots them like this.

Have ANY of you who shoot or know the SKS rifle ever heard of it being unsafe or dangerous to shoot the SKS with the gas turned off? I have never heard of anything being unsafe about it, but that doesn't mean it's not without merit. Did the older man actually have basis for his conniption fit, or was he just another know it all with a bad attitude?

Answer 1

The gun was designed to be fired that way and was used by a military force fighting a war

If it were unsafe we would have heard about it by now

I know many people who fire their 59/66s this way

They believe that it enhances the accuracy of the gun

And if you think about for a minute

There would not be a build up of pressure because the gas valve is diverting the pressure away from the bolt and out the barrel

I can't see where this will build up anymore pressure than a 30-30 lever gun would or a 7.62 bolt action

My guess is that he is unfamiliar with the gun and saw you doing it differently than he thought it was made to do or differently than he would so therefore it must be dangerous

Answer 2

It's unanimous: he didn't know what he was talking about. Fepowered said what I was going to say, that maximum pressure occurs in the first couple of inches of bullet travel.

I was once at an outdoor range, carrying a 1911 on my hip, and a guy walked up and "informed" me that my gun was c0cked. There are busybodies no matter where you go.

Answer 3

Generally, as I suspect you already know, some of the gas pressure is dissipated by forcing the bolt back, The blow back design  is used in many semi auto and fully auto rifles. . . in a normal gun this may be an issue because it would increase the chamber pressure and could potentially cause severe damage to the receiver and injury to the operator. However, being that the excess gas pressure was diverted through the grenade launcher function . . . the hazard is no longer present. I suspect that the old codger was not aware of what you were doing. Still, no point in ridiculing someone for looking out for your well being

Answer 4

if you see him at the range agian dont pay him any mind because he is full of bs if he keeps on and on ask him to leave  you cant belive every thing you hear but ive been in your shoes before lol happy shooting enjoy that sks  

Answer 5

I'm no expert on SKS's, but it seems to me that if the rifle is designed to launch a heavy rifle grenade with a launching blank, that this itself would cause far more pressure buildup during the launching process than simply firing a much, much, much  lighter bullet ever could.

Perhaps the gentelman forgot to take his blood pressure or anxiety medication and was looking for something to "blow off" about. I don't mean this as in insult to him, this stuff happens...even to me!

If he was worried for his own safety, instead of harassing you, he should have requested a lane farther from yours. I myself wouldn't have any problem standing next to you while your gas regulator was shut off.

A rifle grenade can weigh several pounds depending on model and country of origin. Talk about sticking a finger in the end of the barrel!

A gun designed to withstand this pressure should have no safety issues firing a cartridge with the gas regulator off.

Answer 6

The single shot mode is intended for blanks designed to launch grenades.  The blanks have far less pressure than a live round.  The weapon was never designed to fire live ammo in single shot mode, but I know for a fact it's not dangerous.  The old man had probably never seen an SKS with that feature and figured it to be unsafe.

Answer 7

The guy was clearly clueless regarding the function of your weapon and knows less about firearms in general than he believes himself to.  There is no "extra" pressure anywhere.    The bolt, chamber, barrel, etc are all designed and intended to take the full chamber pressure developed by the 7.62x39 round, and they do, every single time that weapon fires whether it is in single shot "grenade launching" mode or it is in normal operating mode.  

No pressure is "released" until the bullet makes it past the gas port which is most of the way down the barrel already.  The majority of the pressure is developed very quickly after the primer ignites the powder.  The pressure is constantly dropping as the bullet travels down the barrel as the gasses are given the opportunity to expand.  

Weapons which use "blowback" to operate such as a G3 or a CZ52 use a delayed blowback.  There is a delay so that the full pressure is not forcing the bolt back too fast or blown into your face.   So, even in these weapons, the bolt, chamber, barrel, etc are still designed to take full pressure.