A Savage Attack On An Old Shotgun, Part Two

Last time we learned how to remove the stock and looked at several ideas on how to modify it and make the gun look better. This time we are going inside the action to see what we can do to smooth it up and make the barrels hang far enough open to allow the Cowboy Action Shooter to quickly reload without having to physically hold the action open. It will be a great help to if you have a reference such as the The Official NRA Guide to Firearms Assembly or an exploded parts drawing, although it is not necessary.

The NRA manuals don’t address the 311 under its own name but list it as the Fox B. In truth they are both essentially the same gun so you can refer to it for disassemble instructions. Before we get started, I suggest you give the good folks at Brownells a call and arm yourself with their SS-311 Pro Spring Kit (# 080-665- 311). The springs are all made by Walter Wolff at Wolff Gunsprings and are simply the best that can be had.

The kit contains a 15% reduced power sear spring, two 30% reduced power hammer springs, a 15% reduced power top lever spring and two factory hammer springs. This allows you to lighten up the top lever, lighten the trigger pull and make the gun easier to cock. Each of those functions is important when you’re shooting against the clock. They also supply a set of replacement factory power hammer springs should you need them.

Assuming you have already removed the forend and barrels, the stock is removed by first removing the wood screw from the rear of the trigger guard and removing the trigger guard by unscrewing it from the receiver. Remove the buttplate and unscrew the stock bolt that holds the buttstock to the receiver using along screwdriver. Pull the buttstock straight to the rear and set it aside with the forend. The working parts of the gun are held in place with pins and it is important that pins be removed from right to left.

The Sear Pin and Cocking Lever/Hammer pin are knurled on the left side to hold them in place when the gun is assembled. When you start driving them from the right to the left you should see the knurled portion come out of the receiver in the first quarter of an inch of movement. If you do not see knurling on the pin, stop and try driving it back in and removing it from left to right. Chances are someone has been in there before you and reassembled it incorrectly.

If you do not see knurling on these two pins at all, the originals have been replaced. To remove the rest of the parts, drive out the pins retaining the trig-

The receiver as supplied by Savage. Note the step at the front and slab sides. We are going to change that as well as contour the metal on the top by the lever. gers and pull them out the bottom of the receiver. Drive out the safety lever pin and remove the trigger springs and safety lever. You can now pry out the safety spring and remove the safety. Tap out the sear pin and remove the sears and the sear spring, remembering to drive all pins from right to left.

Drift out the cocking lever/hammer pin and remove the hammers, cocking lever, mainsprings and plungers. The firing pins are held in by screws and they can be turned out and the firing pins and springs removed. Depress the top snap trip (the little thingy in the groove in front of the top lever) and move the top lever to the far left position. The top snap plunger spring (the spring at the top inside the frame with the rod through it) can now be removed out of its slot on the left side of the frame.

Remove the top lever screw and the top lever as well as the Top snap trip and its spring. Now, wasn’t that fun? Reassembly is, of course, in reverse order but, if you want to attempt any fancy metal work, now is the time. I gave mine along hard look The remodeled 311, slimmer, trimmer and looking nothing like the frumpy old lady Savage originally produced. and decided that there was enough metal in the receiver to grind out the steps at the front, straightening the sides of the receiver.

While I was at it I also rounded the sides so they blend into the bottom and rounded the top by the top lever and around the barrel lumps. I tried to take some of the bulk out of the design to get a sleeker looking gun. Heart stopping as the filing was, as I waited to see if I would break through the metal. The polishing and finishing were harder. Draw filing everything to remove all the previous file marks and then grinding and buffing all the marks out is a slow process that takes the one tool I lack: Patience.

Once the receiver is polished smooth it can be finished by painting or color case hardening. The receiver is a cast piece and will not take bluing very well. Hot salts bluing results in a plumb color. I tried my old standby, Dicropan IM, but the best I could do is get a blotchy finish. Additionally the cast surface is pinholed and either a band blasted finish or one of the painted-on finishes American Gunsmithing Association

is the fastest and easiest answer. I finished mine with Brownells Semi- Gloss Black Liquid Aluma-Hyde II (083-002-112AH), a spray on epoxybased paint that have used successfully in the past. With the exterior metal work done you can start reassembly, but only after you clean each part well and remove any rough spots or burrs that the factory left in so you would feel you got a lot for your money.

It was obvious that some "fitting" had been done by the factory to reduce contact between parts and make the shotgun work. However, I found a lot of burred edges on the hammers and sears and, with some judicious use 410 receiver. of Arkansas stones, removed them. Stay away from the contact area between the sears and the full cock notches on the hammers. The parts appear to be case hardened and stoning through the case hardening will greatly accelerate wear.

Besides, the reduced power sear springs will reduce trigger pull and we sure don’t want the gun to slam fire when it is closed or go off if dropped. Use your new springs and all should be right with the world. Or, it should be after you get those darn (but I didn’t say darn) hammers back in. I think the factory hammer springs were originally designed to be used on a truck and the reduced power springs area challenge to install by all but circus strongmen.

I have done the job by putting the receiver in a padded vise and pushing on the hammers with a screwdriver and compressing the hammer spring while inserting the

hammer pin, from left to right making sure the knurling goes in last. My assembly manual suggests you make a tool for the job out of brass or steel. I highly recommend making this as it doesn’t slip like the screwdriver does and it makes the job so much easier. It is a simple enough tool to make requiring apiece of steel or brass six inches long, at least 1/8" thick in steel (brass should be at least 1/4" thick) and at least 7/16" wide.

I coated the bar with Dykem and used the hammer itself as a template to scribe its shape into the dried layout fluid. Then it is a simple matter of using a file to duplicate the hammers shape on the end of the steel and then bend the steel 90 degrees, or about 4 1/2", from the working end.

With the receiver held firmly in a padded vise the tool is used by using the lower point to push on each hammer’s sear notch hard enough to compress the hammer spring and bring the hole on the hammer in line with the cocking lever and hammer pin so it can be inserted. This is by far the most difficult part of the assembly and with the reduced power springs and the tool you made is easily handled by the hobbyist. Another popular modification made by Cowboy Action shooters is to reverse the triggers.

Normally the forward trigger is on the right and fires the right barrel which is usually the more open choke. The rear trigger is normally on the left Easy to fabricate and it makes installation of the hammers much easier than fighting with a screwdriver to compress the hammer springs and line up the hammer pins. and to reach it you have to go behind the front trigger.

In a speed event like Cowboy Action matches, right handed shooters don’t normally care which barrel they shoot first as they are normally shooting the shotgun more like a rifle at reasonably close targets. Many have found that it is easier to access the second trigger if it is to the right of the front trigger rather than hiding behind it, so they reverse them.. It is simply a matter of choice and the use you plan to put the shotgun to, so it is

Barrels must be held farther open while loading or unloading. Bottom gun has been modified as explained in text and it hangs open far enough to load and unload. up to you to set them up in the order that works best for you. To modify the gun to hang far enough open to accept shells without having to physically hold the barrels down, we now move on to the barrels.

With the gun assembled, open the action and you will be able to see the cocking lever extending forward from the center of the receiver in the trough in the receiver and the cocking plunger extending back from under the barrels. Note that with the action opened the cocking plunger is under the cocking lever and some ways back from its end. What we want to do is shorten the rear of the cocking plunger so it comes as close to the end of the cocking lever as possible without riding off of it and locking up the gun.

Close the action, remove the forend and the barrels. Under the barrels you will find two screws. The screw closest to the chambers retains the extractor. The other screw retains the cocking plunger. Unscrew the cocking plunger retaining screw, remove it and pull the cocking plunger out of the barrel assembly, carefully shorten the small end that was toward the muzzle, reinstall and reassemble the gun. Open the action and see how close the plunger is to the end of the cocking lever.

Continue to cut and try until the tip of the cocking plunger is close to the end of the cocking lever when the action is fully open. If you go too far and the plunger over rides the cocking lever, the hammers will not cock so be very careful and remove very small amounts of material as you near the end. Once the barrels hang open far enough to insert shells into the chamber without you needing to hold them further open, stop. You have reached your goal.

You should now have a Stevens 311 that looks nothing like what came from the factory. The stock has been modified to a more pleasing shape, the receiver slimmed down and it should not only look better but function better with burrs removed and lighter springs. It should hang open without you having to hold it open to insert or remove shells. All that’s left is to take it out to the range and test fire it.

AG The bottom plunger shows the shortening of the back of the plunger to change where it rests on the cocking lever.