Reader Forum

Winchester Model 77 Clip I have a Winchester M77. When the rifle is fired, it ejects the empty, but does not cock the gun. The bolt hangs up on the new cartridge as it goes forward, and because it is not cocked the ejector sticks out and catches the end of the rim on the new cartridge. I think the springs are too strong for the fired cartridge to cock the mechanism. I would like to cut off the spring, but there are two springs which could be cut—one on the operating rod and the other on the hammer rod.

Dick After speaking with a Winchester/ USRA technician who remembers the M77 autoloader well, we believe the problem is caused by ammunition or dirt, and not the clip. The rifle is showing definite signs of short cycling with high speed .22 LR. Try using standard-velocity roundnose ammo after a thorough cleaning of the action. It is very probable your 40-plus-year-old rifle (it went out of production in 1963) is seriously fouled. Such fouling can solidify and slow down the action.

Stuck Barrel-Jacket Bushing I’m trying to remove a rusted-in barrel-jacket bushing from a Remington Model 8 barrel jacket. Your April 03 article on the Model 8 refers to this part as "a slotted ring." I’ve tried heating the barrel jacket and dousing the joint with Break Free, and standing it on end and soaking it in a cup of Kroil for four months, and it still won’t budge.

I’m holding the barrel jacket in fitted wooden blocks and using apiece of scrap metal that fits the notches in the slotted ring, and applying as much hand pressure as I can to turn the bushing, and it will not budge at all. I don’t want to damage the bushing or the barrel jacket, but in order to do a decent job of cleaning this old rifle, that bushing really should come out. I really have been working on this for six months. Any suggestions?

Is there a choketube wrench that is a good fit and could be used to apply more torque without tearing something up? As a last resort, I’m willing to sacrifice the bushing, figuring that I can probably get another one pretty cheap, but how do I get it out without tearing up the barrel jacket?

Ben Wolcott Our response comes right from the pages of an early Remington field-service manual: "Use a spanner wrench on the barrel nut at the muzzle and hold the barrel extension from turning by inserting a screwdriver blade in the slot of the extension. Turn off barrel nut. Pull the barrel to the rear and out of the barrel jacket. Use a spanner wrench on the barrel-jacket bushing and unscrew it from the barrel jacket.

Do this carefully so as to control the recoil spring and prevent it flying from the barrel jacket." We recommend you locate and have a replacement barrel nut on hand before following these instructions. Finding one may not be easy. Source for Owner’s Manuals I’ve noted that there are a lot of folks looking for documentation on various firearms.

While looking for a manual for my Remington 742, I stumbled across a site (www.nold ensfirearms research.com) authored by a man named Harley Nolden who has a modest collection of manuals for various arms and will email.jpg versions at no charge—a tremendous service to offer. While he doesn’t charge anything, he appreciates a note of gratitude. He does this out of the goodness of his heart (he professes to be an "old guy" and this keeps him thinking and busy).

A nice wat to say "thank you" might be to take the time to scan any firearm manuals he does not have 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 other times, you can send an email to Chick Blood, Technical Editor, at listed, and email them to him so he can help others. Dusty Baker Thanks, Dusty, for the tip.

Iver Johnson Stock I have a customer who brought me an old Iver Johnson shotgun with a cracked stock. I went to Numrich, but they do not have any stocks on hand. Any suggestions on where to find one? If you can’t repair it by pinning, filling, and refinishing, try Boyds Gunstock Industries They may have a pattern for the stock of your customer’s gun. If so, they can turn out a fresh stock for a reasonable price. If they don’t have a pattern, they can still make a stock off the old one.

That, however, would cost considerably more money. Lathes and Mills I’ve purchased the American Gunsmithing Institute Professional Gunsmithing Course and have taken a basic machine-shop course at our local community college. I am now in the process of building a garage/ workshop, and have been looking at lathes and mills to put in my shop. I’ve looked at the Grizzly Model G4003 and Enco Models BD110-1353 and BD110-2038. Prices run from $2,100 to $2,500.

Would either of these be suitable for a small gunsmithing shop, or can you recommend a more useful machine? I will be retiring from my equipment repair tech job with the state of Virginia in about three more years, and would like to do more gunsmithing work besides replac

(continued from previous page) ing small parts, stock work, minor adjustments, and scope mounting. Any information would greatly be appreciated. Robert Adams We suggest you contact Blue Ridge Machine & Tool Talk over your goals with them and don’t forget to mention you are planning to do both metal and woodwork with the lathe. These folks are much more knowledgeable on current machine tools than we are. Also ask them about a vertical milling/drilling machine.

S&W Followup Referring to the letter titled "Mistimed S&W" in the Reader Forum in the May 04 issue, I have some additional information to provide. The S&W 629 is not "mistimed"; it’s suffering from the same problem that all N-frame revolvers in .41 & .44 Magnum had before the Magnum Improvement Program (M. I. P.) at S&W was initiated.

The problem has two parts, neither of which can be corrected by fitting an oversized hand or leveling the ratchet lugs: First, during the recoil from heavy loads, the cylinder stop bounces out of its notch in the cylinder, unlocking the cylinder. And second, cylinder end play allows the cylinder to "rattle" longitudinally along its axis of rotation, bouncing the hand away from the ratchet, and essentially freeing the cylinder completely.

The cylinder, unimpeded by either the hand or the cylinder stop, essentially sits still (it’s called inertia; it comes from Newton’s Second Law) while the revolver rises and twists in recoil. Because of S&W’s RH rifling twist, the revolver rotates "away" from the fired chamber, leaving it ready to be brought up for firing when the action is next cycled. The solution to this problem has three parts: First, remove the cylinder end play. S&W’s M. I.

P halved allowable tolerances in production revolvers—you don’t see this problem occurring in newer S&Ws. You can stretch the yoke or use Powers’ shims (from Brownells) after truing the end of the yoke. I prefer the shims, because each shim added doubles the wear area and creates a longer-lasting repair.

The ideal range of end play is 0.0005" to 0.001 inch, but beware — if the gun’s owner likes to go to the range and burn a couple of hundred Magnum loads as quickly as possible, heat expansion may cause cylinder binding. I rarely have any problems with S&Ws with end play approaching 0.0015 inch, but heavy handloads can still cause sporadic "backups." Second, increase spring tension on the cylinder stop. The easiest way is to put a small steel ball (a ball bearing or such) inside the cylinder-stop spring pocket.

Don’t overdo it; it doesn’t take much once the end play problem is resolved. And third, don’t shoot maximum loads in the older S&W N-frames. Heavy loads simply beat the revolver to death. If you just must shoot the absolutely hottest load you can cook up, get a T/C Contender. If you need more power than factory loads provide (and they’re plenty hot for the pre-M. I. P revolvers), get more cartridge. Sorry, but the Smith & Wesson design and construction won’t allow you to make a .454 Casull out of your .44 Magnum.

Russell Corbitt CZ Rifle Safety CZ is manufacturing a fine rifle on their Mauser action. The problem is, the safety works backwards (rear to fire, forward on safe). Is there a reliable way to convert the safety to work forward to fire? This is important on a dangerous-game rifle, since you may not have time to remember which way the safety works. Thanks for any ideas. Greg Horne CZ tells us there is no way to "reverse" the safety. It was manufactured to operate one way and one way only.

What you might do is affix ared dot to the stock or action to indicate the "fire" position. The other way—though not ideal for carrying a rifle—is to place the safety on fire and remember to keep your finger off the trigger until you bring the gun to bear.