Reader Forum

FAL Trigger Job I have a FAL metric with a terrible trigger (8-1/2 pounds pull). I know that there are adjustable triggers for ARs and such. But I can’t find one for the FAL. Do you have any sources or are there modifications that can be made to the factory trigger to smooth and lighten the pull? Any help would be appreciated. We don’t know of any aftermarket trigger sources for your FN FAL. Takedown instructions appear in Gun Digest’s Assembly/Disassembly for Rifles.

Remove the trigger spring and send it to Wolff Springs Newtown Square, PA 19073) along with a request for a similar, lighter spring. Don’t forget to remind them to return the original spring with your order. While waiting for the new spring, hand polish the sides of the trigger with 300- and 800-grit compound. Do the same all around to the hammer-spring guide. Don’t use power tools for the polishing, and thoroughly clean all compound residue off when you’re finished.

When you reassemble the rifle using the new spring and test fire it, the pull should be both smoother and lighter with no adverse affect on function. If it still is too heavy, remove one coil from the new spring and test fire again. However, the pull must not be less than 6-1/2 pounds, which is the weight DSL Inc. sets when they perform trigger jobs on the FAL. If after reading this, you decide to let DSL handle the job, call Imported Problems I need help today on two firearms.

The first is a German-made derringer in .38 Special. The name on it is as follows: ROHM GMRH SONTHEIM/ BR RG 17 CAL 38 SPECIAL. I reblued the barrels and powder-coated the aluminum frame. My customer brought it back saying that the gun fired when he was loading it. I asked if he had the hammer in the safety position to load it. He stated that he has never had to do this in the past. I had made a drawing of the selector spur and how it was positioned before tearing it down.

I have gone over and over the gun and cannot see away it could be loaded with the hammer down in the fired position. Can any derringer be loaded with the hammer down? The second firearm is a Churchill Multi XII semi-auto 12 gauge imported by Kassnar from Japan. The gun has problems operating with high-brass loads. It works great with sevens and eights. Some low-brass sixes work, but not all the time. I can’t find any info on this gun or if there is any gas adjustment on this action.

I thoroughly cleaned the firearm, gas ports, and gas-operation system. No luck. Can you help? The derringer hasn’t been imported since 1968. It employs a firing pin and spring according to our records. Therefore, the hammer strikes the pin when the trigger is pulled, drives it into the primer, and the spring retracts the pin. We are not aware of a safety or half-cock notch on the hammer of these guns, which were not well made and are of little current value.

Many derringers were unsafe. (See the article on the Bond Arms Defender in the October 2001 issue; it is an exception.) It sounds to us like, somehow, the firing pin is protruding from the breech and coming into hard contact with the round just chambered when the action is closed. Most Churchill semi-autos had 2- 3/4- or 3-inch chambers with the 3inch (only) capable of firing and ejecting 2-3/4-inch Magnum shells. Did you use the proper size drill when clearing the gas port holes?

If you enlarged them, the gun will never be able to operate correctly. Also, in these guns, the piston overrides the barrel extension. Sometimes it can seize to the extension or become attached to it due to corrosion, thereby slowing down the action. Since you were not specific regarding the problems being experienced, we are only assuming they involved extraction/ejection. If you need further assistance, and possibly that includes a copy of an owner’s manual, send an e-mail to Jim Heverling with your request.

He has been with KBI for many years, and is quite familiar with the Churchill. Winchester Bolt I have a friend’s Winchester 67. All I had for a bolt was a bolt sleeve and firing pin. I was able to get all but the striker-spring plunger. I got one as close as I could, and have looked through a few books on it. I cannot get the firing pin to go back when working the bolt. If the striker knob is pulled back with the bolt in place, it will work. Any idea what is wrong? I would appreciate any help you could give me.

We don’t think anything is wrong. The Model 67 did not cock upon closing the bolt. The rifle had to be manually cocked by pulling the striker knob (cocking piece) after the bolt is closed on a chambered round. Davis Shotgun? A customer brought me a shotgun in pieces to put back together. The only mark on it is "Daniel Boone," engraved on the frame and the serial #D6335. I think I’ve identified it as an N. R.

Davis, by matching the parts to that gun in the Gun Parts Corp. catalog, but I don’t know exactly how to reassemble it. I can generally figure it out if there is a schematic, but the parts are just laid out in no specific order. Would you know of anywhere I could find the info I need? Davis made cartridge shotguns from 1853 to 1919. These included improvements shown in N. R. Davis patents of 1879, 1884, and 1886. If you have the barrel from the gun, it’s usually the place where a patent number

is shown. Send a check for $3 to the U. S. Patent Office, Washington, DC along with the number and a request to secure a copy of the patent, which will contain detailed drawings of the gun’s interior. If there is no patent number shown, you can still contact the patent office and request they conduct a search based on the dates and name provided here. A search will cost more than 3 dollars, however. A copy of the patent is important because there are no schematics of Davis shotguns.

They predate by many years the use of such drawings. You should also be aware that Davis made blackpowder percussion shotguns which would not be suitable, or safe, for modern loads. S&W Specs I have some questions concerning three Smith &Wesson revolvers and their headspace and barrel-to-cylinder gap: the Model 14-K-frame, .38 caliber; Model 19-3 K-frame, .357 Magnum; and Model 586-3 L-frame, .357 Magnum. What is the headspace and barrel-to-cylinder gap for each model? Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Distance between the rear of the cylinder and the frame equals shell rim thickness plus .006 inch. Barrel-tocylinder clearance in S&W revolvers gauges between .003 and .006 inch when they leave the factory. Maximum allowable is .008 inch, and the ideal is .005 to .006. Model 1894? I have an old Rem 12-gauge double barrel that is giving me fits. When it fires, the firing pins stay forward and will not allow the barrels to break over.

I have tried making shorter pins, putting springs in front of them so they retract, and at times the gun fails to fire. I cannot find this gun in any of my books, and have never seen one before. It is hammerless and the pins are in a screw-in sleeve on each side. It came in with a bad safety, doublefiring with one trigger only (while it has two), a broken stock, and a triggerreturn spring that did not function. All is repaired except the pin problem.

The gun has no model number, but the patent date is stamped Oct 30 94. Under this date are the numbers 4 821, and on the other side of the inside of the action is stamped what appears to be a serial #371047. It has a case-colored frame, and looks to be the thin cyanide-type coloring. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Jerry Martin Shawnee, Oklahoma We believe you have a Remington Model 1894, which went out of production in 1910.

It was the company’s first hammerless and was available with or without auto ejectors. Judging by the condition of the gun when it was brought in, you have already performed yeoman service for a careless owner. As for the remaining problem, a possible cause is the firing pin(s) binding in the breechface. Fabricating and installing bushings could resolve this problem, but if you choose to take on the task, don’t fail to countersink the new bushings at their rear.

This will make transit of the firing pin easier, and can also ensure center hits on the primers. Smith & Wesson? I have a .38 S&W Double Action Third Model that I am working on and I have no assembly/disassembly schematic to work from. I have tried Numrich without success and none of my NRA manuals have it either. I was hoping that I could get some help from you.

The thing that makes this difficult is that there is no sideplate on this mod- Technical Assistance Hotline To access AGA’s Technical-Assistance Hotline, call between 1 and 3 p.m. ET, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday only. For assistance at all el. Everything assembles through the trigger guard area. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Sorry, Rick. It’s not a Smith and Wesson.

Caliber on the barrel is probably marked ".38 S&W" but no S&W double-action ever made was disassembled through the trigger guard and none was ever sold without "Smith & Wesson, Springfield, Mass." stamped on the barrel. What you have might be an H&R, an Iver Johnson or’in the worse-case scenario’one of those clones made by who knows who or when. If you can find out where it came from, we might be able to help you with takedown or parts info. Savage Receiver Sight I have an earlier Savage Model 99 in .303 Savage.

My customer wants to have a receiver sight installed. I have a Williams 99S receiver sight for a Savage, which is drilled for 6-48. The receiver of the Savage had at one time been drilled and tapped for 8-40, but the hole spacing exceeds that of the Williams sight. Therefore, either the Williams sight must be opened up to accommodate 8-40, or the receiver drilled and tapped for 6-48. If I alter the Williams sight, I’ll still have to drill and tap one 8-40 hole.

My problem is: How do I drill a hole on the curved receiver that is "normal" (dead perpendicular) to the receiver? I called Savage Arms, Canada, and they know the problem, but they didn’t have a factory jig here to do the work, nor did they offer a suggestion. I have a Forster jig, but it won’t work on this type of problem. I also have a bench mill, but I’m not dan email to Chick Blood, Technical Editor, at

(continued from previous page) sure if I can use it to do the work. I don’t want bad holes; I’ve seen what can happen. I appreciate any advice you can give. Thanks. Mike Grinnell Haliburton, Ontario Your problem begins with a Williams sight that hasn’t been made in about 20 years. One reason for ceasing production is that owners of Savage 99s had no desire to have holes drilled in the receivers. The sight you need is a Williams FP99, but that’s also out of production.

Maybe you could turn one up on the internet or by shopping around in the old parts market. Try Gun Parts Corp. Antique Gun Parts or get a free copy of Brownells "Parts Source List" and let your fingers do the walking. While you have Brownells on the phone, you might as well order a Palmgren Drill Press Vise, which can be used for rounded stock and will hold it steady during drilling.

If you want to try installing the 99S, hopefully, one of the 6-48 holes in it will match up with one of the 8- 40 receiver holes to align the sight with the bore. Drill that hole out to accept an 8-40 screw, and fasten the sight to the receiver after you drill out the second sight hole to 8-40. Secure the receiver in the Palmgren, use the enlarged sight hole as a drill guide to open up another hole in the receiver. Make no change in the vise angle, and use a Tru-Tapper (from B-Square) in your quill to tap the hole.

But don’t charge ahead just yet. If it appears the process outlined above will not result in a proper centerbore fit for the sight, please suggest to the rifle’s owner that he forget about more holes in the receiver, and join you in the search for an FP99 sight. It’s either that or paying you for your time’ plus phone charges’in trying to find one for him. Auto-5 Extractor I have a question regarding a Browning 20-gauge Auto-5 of Japanese manufacture.

I bought this new, and after about 1,000 rounds, the left extractor broke. I replaced it and ran another 1,000 rounds or so through the gun before the left extractor broke again. Is there something I should be doing or looking for to prevent these from breaking? I don’t see that any fitting is necessary to replace these. Another question: On apart like this, isn’t only the surface hardened by the heat-treating process used in manufacturing it?

If this is true, wouldn’t any required fitting require that the part be heat-treated again? Any help would be appreciated. Unfortunately, Browning is no longer showing the Auto-5 in its line. Sad…very sad. Gas guns rule these days it seems. Your notion about the lack of fitting is incorrect, however. When the extractors are reinstalled, capture a dummy round between them. Force the right-hand extractor to its outer limit by sliding the shell against the bolt face.

Tilt the shell so it clears and shows a space between the shell rim and the left extractor. The gap should be between 1/32 inch and 1/64 inch in width. Any wider than 1/32 and the shell will occasionally drop off the extractors and/or extraction will be sluggish. Sluggish extraction places extra stress on the extractor and will weaken it. The gap is corrected by tapping the hook of the left extractor inward.

Check the adjustment by reinserting the dummy round, and tilt it without applying pressure to the right side. The shell rim should be retained by the left extractor until only moderate tilting pressure is applied. If the shell doesn’t release, the left extractor hook is too sharp or too long. Both can be corrected with a fine file.

Additionally, if the left hook doesn’t move outward from the boltface when pressure is applied, the extractor is misshapen or the last coil of the extractor spring has lodged between the extractor and the breechblock. To correct this, "turn in" the last coil of the spring or replace the warped extractor. To answer your other question, the amount of fitting we’re talking about here should not call for more heat treatment.

If these measures result in yet another broken extractor, you should return the gun to Browning in Morgan, Utah. Auto-5 extractors are not supposed to break after only 1,000 rounds, and Browning engineers would probably be interested in examining your shotgun.