Popped Primer Problem (update 6-28-13 Found a CURE)

[bmw477]

Pictures as promised.

[murray]

Welcome to the Boards! And Thanks for your very detailed reports!

And as we say here in TX, YeeeeHaaaaa!!! Not one of the nearly 3 dozen Beta Testers have reported any popped primers after we did the new "Neck & Throat" reaming service to their barrel.     

[cappra]

I sent my SKS to Murray a few weeks ago for the throat modification. I finally got a chance to go out to the range and test it out. I ran about 180 rounds, split up between Golden Tiger, Wolf and LCB ammo and had zero problems. Before, there would some problem, such as fried firing pin spring, popped primer or misfire. Now, it's fun again to shoot this rifle! Thanks Ben.

[murray]

     Music to our ears!! Thanks for the report. 

[murray]

Just a copy and paste from the Feedback section. FYI

Charlie1949
SKS Newbie

 Murry's Gunsmithing work

After reading here on SKS Boards about numerous complaints from owners of having their SKS's pierce or pop primers and a fix Ben Murry proposed to fix this I contacted Murry's Gunsmithing. I had been experiencing this problem with my 1953 Tula SKS on a regular basis and had stopped shooting it.
They reworked the bolt face and installed one of their spring loaded firing pin kits as well as increasing the lead in the barrel slightly.
Just back from the range and here are the results.
Fired one 20 rnd box each of Tula, WPA performance, WPA military classic, Wolf, Red Army, Brown Bear and Gold Bear ammo and not a single issue of any kind.
I am very happy with the results and thank Murry's Gunsmithing for solving what appears to be a common problem with the SKS and ammo available for them.

[MitchM]

Hey guys this my second post after having Murray's perform the throat and neck service on my Chinese SKS. After another 120 rounds of herters 124gr fmjs I still haven't had any popped primers and this was the same ammo I was using when my FP spring was fried in the bolt earlier this year. A friend went to the range with me with his unmodified Chinese SKS and I gave him a box of my herters 124gr fmj and he experienced 6 out of 20 popped primers compared to my 0 out of 100. I would say that this tuning by Murrays is a success. I'll probably be sending in another SKS for this service after I put another couple hundred rounds through the modified sks.

[mbshp]

i'm not the most brilliant guy but I couldn't find anything on murrays site about the cost of the t&n job.

[BillyBang]

i'm not the most brilliant guy but I couldn't find anything on murrays site about the cost of the t&n job.

He mentions this in one of the previous posts above:

We feel this is great news and are extending the FREE OFFER. As mentioned in our June 28th post, you can send us your barreled receiver, pay $20.00 for return shipping, and get the "Neck & Throat" reaming done for free, as long as you send us report(s) or post publicly here at the Boards about your subsequent range trips. No matter if we're doing other part installation or service to it, we'll even offer this to anyone that has a 100% original SKS that is experiencing popped primers, but wants to keep it purely original. The "reaming service" should not effect it's "originality" to any great degree, as most people would not even know it's been done. But it will sure digest that Russian imported Berdan primed ammo better!

But this offer does end at the end of this month. After that, it will be $30.00 + shppg. We're managing to keep the turnaround near a week or 2 at the most, so take advantage of a great offer, and help some fellow SKS owners of the future by reporting your results.

[murray]

Thanks BB!

We don't have it on our site yet but here's our mail-in form.

http://www.murraysguns.com/download/sks%20Neck%20&%20Throat%20Service.pdf

[MitchM]

This is my third review after having the Throat and Neck reaming service and bolt modification performed on my Chinese sks rifle. All is still well, I was able to shoot another 60 rounds of 124gr full metal jacket tulammo and looked at just about every round and once again not a single popped primer. Thanks again Ben, I'll be sure to pass along the word to all the sks owners that I know to have these mods done by your shop.[/URL][/img]

[MitchM]

[pinhead1979]

That's one happy pack of Wolves!

[nlsnsteve]

I have a norinco sks and have experienced numerous popped primers. Had the bolt face and spring loaded firing pin install done, still popped primers fried the firing pin spring and actually broke the firing pin. Ben replaced pin and spring free-good man. When I contacted Mr. Murray about the broken firing pin and popped primer problem he suggested the neck and throat reaming service being newly offered and I took up his offer. Glad I did, ran 50 rounds of Wolf and 50 rounds of Tulammo thru her (same ammo I was popping primers with) and experienced no, that is-zero popped primers. This guy is good at what he does and would recommend him to anyone with sks problems or needed modifications. Thank you Ben you have brought joy back into my life shooting a sks hoo-haa.

[Gunter13]

          I would like to report that the repairs & mods Ben has done for my customers rifle was the perfect fix.
     One of my customers brought an SKS to me with several problems. The bolt would not extract the shell but was not an extractor problem. The case was locked in the chamber after firing and could not be removed without difficulty. Also the primers were pierced. Ben installed his new gas valve and firing pin and also reamed the chamber a bit. The bolt face was showing signs of wear around the firing pin hole so it was also corrected.
     My customer is very pleased as am I. My customer is a regular buying more ammunition every time I see him. Excellent work Ben. Thank you!

[PedleyDan]

Thanks to Ben Murray, I no longer have the popped primer problem. I have what was a brand new Norinco Paratrooper.  In May 2012, before ever firing it, I installed his modified firing pin to eliminate any possibility of a slam fire. But, in no time, I experienced multiple popped primers using the white boxed ammo made in Russia, which some say is made by Wolf. My Paratrooper was unusable.  The spring was fried and the firing pin jammed. To make a long story shorter, he worked with me over the last year looking for a cure, and I am happy to say that my Paratrooper is finally a real trooper and runs perfectly. The neck and throat reaming service works. That is what handled the popped primer problem. I am now shooting the same lot of white boxed ammo as before with no problems at all.

In addition, I've upgraded to his latest version of spring firing pin and had him install his sear and adjust my trigger.  Real nice. It runs smooth as can be. I can now easily hit an 8" diameter steel target [painted red so I can see it] 200 meters away while shooting standing/freestyle with the original iron sights.