Hello, I am new to shooters forum and have a question about my SKS. I modified the gun by putting a composite stock on it and also bought a 30 round banana clip. My problem is that I have no idea how to insert the banana clip into the gun... The gun still has the 10 round internal box magazine which is striper clip-fed. I'm pretty sure this will need to come off however I am unsure of how to remove it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

-Nick-

Welcome, As far as I know it is illegal to add a detachable mag to a fixed mag SKS. Check this out! Look under ATF Brochure. JP
http://www.victorinc.com/SKS-FAQ.html#LCMM_DISCUSS

As far as I know, in my state, you are allowed to have a high capacity magazine in these firearms but I don't know how to use it????

The assault weapons ban was repealed and did not keep one from owning a high cap magazine anyway. If my memory serves me right you might have to remove the stock then remove one screw on the rear of the box magazine. I could be wrong and you might just pull the box mag from the rear to remove it. Once that is done just replace the stock and your done. The detachable mags are clumsy but make for good fun and can be tricky to place and remove. The front goes in first putting the notch over the box "bracket". Then curl it back to engage the release catch. Have fun with it. My old SKS was one of those "I wish I never traded off guns"

AL

thanks for the advice, i guess ill just have to play around with it.

Hello, I am new to shooters forum and have a question about my SKS. I modified the gun by putting a composite stock on it and also bought a 30 round banana clip. My problem is that I have no idea how to insert the banana clip into the gun... The gun still has the 10 round internal box magazine which is striper clip-fed. I'm pretty sure this will need to come off however I am unsure of how to remove it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

-Nick-
I'd sell the 30 rounder to someone that you don't like.
The 30 can't be removed without holding the bolt open manually. If you need to stop shooting before the magazine is empty, it takes about threee hands to make the gun safe.
It's REAL easy to loose control of the bolt handle during this procedure and have an awkward hold on a fully loaded gun.
Been there, done that...

Hello, I am new to shooters forum and have a question about my SKS. I modified the gun by putting a composite stock on it and also bought a 30 round banana clip. My problem is that I have no idea how to insert the banana clip into the gun... The gun still has the 10 round internal box magazine which is striper clip-fed. I'm pretty sure this will need to come off however I am unsure of how to remove it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

-Nick-

Not sure what state you are in, but most states it is legal to add high capicity magazines to SKS. CA does not, but then again you can't own much anything "fun" firearms related in CA.
Changing out the fixed magazine is not a difficult proposition, but you do have to do things in a certain order. You will need to remove all the internal magazine parts. I had done this in the past and found that the extended magazine was more trouble than it was worth. Most of the 5-round mags work well, and may be required if using as a hunting weapon. The larger 20 and 30 round magazines are kinda hit and miss if they work well, in my experience. I have owned several SKS and some would work with extended removable mags and some would jamb up every other round. Just realize that this may be true of your weapon as well.

It has been a while since I did the swap out procedure and I can't remember the correct procedure at this time. I suggest that you order one of the cheap SKS manuals that are offered all over the net if you want to know anything about the SKS. You will find other usefull information in the manual as well and it will contain pictures in it for full disassembly and cleaning protocol.

SKS can be fun to shoot and the ammo is cheap in bulk. Just remember NOT to lube up the firing pin too slick as it may cause "slam-fires" and could empty your magazine in about 5 seconds. The firing pins on the SKS are free-floating and the force of the bolt closing can turn your semi-auto into a full auto, until the bolt gets a little dirt on it from the powder. I have had this experience several times on my SKS until I figured out what was going on. It wat pretty cool at first, but it ain't the safest thing to have happen on a range. But it will get you some weird looks from the guy at the bench on the right who gets sprayed with the ejecting cases! I wondered if somebody did some work to mine to make it do this, but it all appears "factory". I have heard of this happening to other posters as well. Enjoy.

Guys, the AWB has nothing to do with the law prohibiting putting a detachable mag on most SKS. The import ban is still alive and well and it is the import ban that prohibits you from building a rifle that would otherwise be banned from importation, and putting a detachable magazine on most SKS would cause it to be banned from importation therefore it is illegal to build UNLESS that particular SKS had been converted before the 1989 and 97 import ban or has no other evil feature (or you have taken steps to reduce the import parts count from the named 20 parts so that the rifle contains no more than 10 of the named imported parts).
You see it is like this, the import ban bans from importation any semiautomatic rifle with any of the following:
detachable magazine*
night sights
bayo lug
grenade launcher
pistol grip
folding or telescoping stock
flash suppressor.
Any of the above features *other than the detachable mag bans that rifle from importation, period (Page 125-6, item 21, ATFE Federal Firearms Regulations Reference Guide, 2000). That is the only item you are allowed

The SKS was not banned because it does NOT have a detachable magazine and after 89 you notice that all the SKS rifles imported did not have the bayo lug, flash suppressor, grenade launcher or any of the other named items. However, some SKS rifles that made it onto the C&R list were allowed to be imported even though they had almost all the evil features, but to put a detachable mag on these rifles removes its C&R protection and it would now be a banned rifle. If your rifle was imported after the ban went into affect putting a detachable magazine on the SKS makes it a banned weapon if it has any other feature other than the detachable magazine.
Plus, most people who have tried the detachable mag on the SKS pretty much agree it sucks with only so-so reliability. It is much faster to charge the 10 round mag with stripper clips three or four times than it is to remove and install a larger detachable magazine, and a heck of a lot more reliable.

I'd sell the 30 rounder to someone that you don't like.
The 30 can't be removed without holding the bolt open manually. If you need to stop shooting before the magazine is empty, it takes about threee hands to make the gun safe.
It's REAL easy to loose control of the bolt handle during this procedure and have an awkward hold on a fully loaded gun.
Been there, done that...


You can keep the bolt open by reaching in and sliding the catch at the back of the magazine box up w/ your finger while slowly releasing the bolt against it. It will hold and then you can easily remove and replace the detachable magazine.

Each of these rifles is hand fitted, so your detachable magazine may require you to do some filing around the latch, or to inlet the stock a bit more in the latch area. If things don't exactly fit, just look at what's in the way and be careful not to remove too much wood or metal.

From what I have gathered I guess I will just use the 10rd stripper clip. You folks have me thinking this 30rd clip is more hassel then it's worht. Thanks for the input and for saving me some aggrevation!!!

-Nick-

From what I have gathered I guess I will just use the 10rd stripper clip. You folks have me thinking this 30rd clip is more hassel then it's worht. Thanks for the input and for saving me some aggrevation!!!

-Nick-


you can have many of the same problems with a 10 round as a 30. It's the attachment to the rifle that may need some hand fitting.