Reader Forum

Browning Lockup I have taken a Browning Citori O/U in because the top lever is now left of center, and my customer wants anew lockup installed to bring it back to "right of center". I have not done this particular job before on a Browning. Does this involve buying new parts and installing them? Is there much or any fitting involved, and what parts would I need to get? Thank you. Ask your customer if he has been retarding the return of the top lever with his thumb.

Assuming the response is along the lines of "no way," see if the cocking lever is bent. If so, straighten it by comparing it with anew one, harden with Kasenit, and reblue it. This is far easier than taking on the hand fitting required when installing a replacement, and’incidentally’t his is the recommended repair according to the Browning field service manual on the Citori.

The parts needed to replace the top-lever assembly are the spring-retainer screw, spring retainer, top-lever spring, top lever, dog screw, and dog. A check should also be made of the locking bolt. The recess there for the dog could be worn, which is a more serious problem; the locking bolt is restricted to factory fitting. Misfiring Stevens M77B I have a Stevens M77B pump shotgun in my shop that is causing me to lose sleep at night.

My customer brought it in complaining that it would not fire, and every time he worked the slide the shells would spit right out the bottom through the loading port. The problems seemed obvious’a broken firing pin and a cartridge stop problem. Indeed there was a broken pin and a broken right-side cartridge stop. Both parts were replaced, and I ran out to the range to test fire it. Now this is the problem that is keeping me up at night: The shotgun has developed a feeding issue.

When the bolt is at a halfway point between lockup and cocking, the cartridge stops activate, allowing a shell to be released from the magazine and become lodged up under the bolt face. Sometimes it happens just opening the action to the halfway point; the rest of the time it happens after the action is fully opened and closed to the halfway point. With nothing in the magazine, it appears that it works like it’s supposed to.

When shells are inserted in the tube (I am using dummy rounds for this), it starts doing this again. I am stumped why this is happening. Hopefully, you’ll have some idea what’s going on. (I am glad I have a patient customer.) The shotgun is a hand-me-down and the customer would like it restored so he can hand it down later on. American Gunsmith is a great magazine, I read it cover to cover every month.

Thank you for your time. ry Along time Savage/Stevens gunsmith who knows well the Model 77B, last made in 1971, wonders whether there is any rearward pressure being applied to the slide in the process of firing the shotgun. Misfires will result. He further believes that the shell dropping is related to one or both of two situations: 1) The cartridge stop must fit tightly up against the inside of the receiver with no side-to-side slop. Tightening the stop-pivot screw to the stop nut accomplishes this.

The nose, or muzzle end, of the stop could require a bending inward in small increments. A Word to our Readers about American Gunsmith’ s Mailing-List Policy Like many other publishers, we make portions of our customer list available to carefully screened companies that offer products and services we believe you may enjoy. Indeed, in all likelihood, we were able to first reach you only because another company graciously permitted us access to its customer list.

If, when we make our list available, you do not want to receive those offers and/or information, please let us at American Gunsmith Opt-Out Program, Norwalk, CT 06854-1631. Please be sure to ining label. 2) The lifter may be hanging down too far inside the receiver or even showing below it. You might try bending it upward very cautiously. If bending lifters on old guns makes you as nervous as it does us, take the assembly off and locate a "dimple" at its back end.

Using a prick punch, you can make the dimple protrude more so the lifter can’t droop as much. This is a fine-line adjustment, meaning you only get one chance to get it right. Be prepared to disassemble, tap the dimple, reassemble, and try with dummy rounds, until you get it right. Fiberglass Removal Followup I saw the letter in the April issue concerning how to remove fiberglass from an old Bishop stock.

As a retired gunsmith and amateur lapidary, I often have had to "unglue" things such as metal from stone and metal from metal. The best product I’ve found is one used in the jewelry/lapidary trade called "Attack Adhesive Remover." It will remove epoxy and cyanoacrylate adhesives without damaging most surfaces. It will also work on cured epoxies! It’s relatively inexpensive, costing $6.95 for an 8-ounce can, and avai rande, stock #206- 051 Ion with this company, but have used the product to my complete satisfaction.

Needless to say, it pays to try it out on something similar or in an area that won’t be visible in the event that it reacts with something in your stock that you aren’t aware of. For me, it works great in

Technical Assistance Hotline To access AGA’s Technical-Assistance Hotline, call between 1 and 3 p.m. ET, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday once at all dan email to Chick Blood, Technical Editor, at removing metal from stones (precious and semi-precious). Also, ordinary household vinegar, white or cider, will remove the sticky epoxy or fiberglass polyester resins before they kick off if used liberally. Follow up with a good scrub with ordinary detergent soap. Hope this helps. Thanks for the tip, Bob.

Locked Up Remington A couple of months ago a guy gave me a Remington Model 572 pump-action .22-caliber rifle. I tried to pay him, but he said that he was just glad to get it out of his basement after 20 years. Well, I tore it down and found some missing parts, which prevented it from firing. I ordered parts from Numrich Gun Parts Corp., and I installed them.

If you look at their web page for this gun, or if you look in catalog #26, the parts I ordered are the locking bar (#46), locking-bar retaining screw (#47), locking-bar spring (#48), and the locking-bar spring stud (#49). I took the rifle out and test fired it. I got about three shots off when the action locked up. I had to remove the trigger assembly to see that all the parts I had installed had fallen out.

I reassembled the new parts and seated the stud until I couldn’t pull it off the locking bar with just my fingers. Well, the rifle fired about 25 times with no problems; then it started what I call intermittent lock-ups. The parts I installed are still in place and seem to be where they belong. My questions are: The locking-bar spring has a straight end and a hooked end; where do they go? Does the hook end fasten onto something in the trigger assembly, or does it just lay where it hits?

Does the straight end go on top of the locking bar or on the bottom? Where can I get a detailed disassembly procedure for this rifle? The only "guidelines" I had were the exploded view on the Numrich page. Is there anything else I may be overlooking regarding the lock-ups? If you pull the forend hard, about four or five times, the action will finally unlock and cycle right. Sometimes it only locks up once in 10 shots. Other times it locks up every other shot, and sometimes it locks up every shot.

I know this is along-winded question, but I figure the more info I can give you, the better the answer you can provide. You haven’t steered me wrong in the past, and I do appreciate your help. Nothing appears in the Remington Field Service Manual for the 572 other than to insist it be returned to the factory when problems arise. That said, the rear tail of the disconnector must be under the forward tip of the left connector’not over it.

Beyond that, the number-one cause for failures to unlock is identified as too little headspace, meaning the barrel is too far to the rear. With this rifle, headspace is adjusted via the receiver bushing. This part is eccentric in form. The barrel-locking screw hole in the bushing can literally be relocated to move the barrel forward or aft. Remove the locking screw, reposition the barrel, rotate the bushing to realign its hole with the screw hole in the forend hangar, and reinstall the locking screw.

Check headspace with go/no-go gauges, and readjust the barrel if necessary. Choke Tube Removal I recently had a 183 D-C Mossberg .410 bolt-action brought into my shop for a cleaning and check up. Cleaning it up was relatively easy until I tried to remove the screw-on choke. It had a hole in it for a spanner wrench, but no wrench. I tried several ideas to no avail. I placed the barrel in a vise and kept putting Kroil in the choke’s hole, hoping to loosen it enough for removal.

After several days of soaking and trials, I took a 3/4-inch nut and bored it out to slip over the screw-on choke. I then measured the hole diameter in the choke and bored a same diameter hole in one side of the nut. By placing the nut over the choke and inserting a short piece of rod through the nut and into the choke hole, I was able to place a wrench on the nut and remove the choke from the barrel. Worked great.

And if the rod has a tendency to slip out, it can be shortened to be flush with the face of the nut and trapped in with the jaws of the wrench. This seems simple, but it was effective. John Treu Milford, Nebraska Thanks, John, and bless you for your perseverance. Brownells shows five different "universal" choke wrenches in their latest catalog. One of them is inserted and expanded to make solid contact with the interior walls of a badly stuck choke.

No damage to the interior of the barrel will result, but the same can’t be ensured for the overly stubborn choke tube. Balky Broomhandle I have a bit of a technical problem with a C96 "Broomhandle" Mauser. I acquired the gun earlier this year, and didn’t get a chance to fire it until a couple of weeks ago. Every time I try to load it, it jams. By reducing the number of cartridges in the clip, I can get it to function, but even then it "chokes" frequently.

The gun is an 1897 vintage "Cone Hammer" that someone in the past has converted from 7.63 mm Mauser to 9 mm Parabellum. I had a suspicion that whoever did the conversion didn’t change the magazine follower, which I understand is necessary with such a

(continued from previous page) conversion because of the difference in the case type (straight vs. bottleneck). I compared the follower with the one in a "Red 9" and against the one in an "Italian Navy Contract" and found that the follower in the Cone Hammer is identical to the one in the Italian Navy (7.63 mm), but there are differences with the one in the "Red 9." This tends to confirm my suspicion that the follower in the Cone Hammer was not replaced.

I’ve tried Sarco, GPC, and several other parts suppliers and have been unable to locate a 9 mm follower. Is there anyone you can suggest? The problem could be the ammo itself. The 7.63 is more powerful than 9mm duty rounds (115 grain). Try the more powerful 129-grain 9mm. In seeking a follower, contact Tom Forrest He sells magazines of every description and may have one from which you can extract a Red 9 follower’if he can’t supply a loose one.

Battered Win Receiver I have a problem with a Winchester Super X, Model 1, that I hope that you can help me with. A customer brought this gun in with the complaint that the bolt was stuck back into the receiver and that it would not cycle shells. The first examination revealed that the tube and receiver were rusty and the buffer was missing. It appeared that the bolt had battered the rear of the receiver so much that anew buffer would not fit unless the area was relieved.

After I completely broke down this gun and ultrasound cleaned it, it would not function with 2-3/4 or 3dram target loads, only with 3-1/4 dram. This gun was fitted with a skeet choke barrel, and as I understand it, it was used to shoot skeet. I replaced the action-tube spring and cleaned out the gas ports on the barrel. The gun still only functions with the 3-1/4 load. If I cut, by trial and error, the action spring, will the gun function? How much can the gas ports be enlarged?

I’ve used this method on 1100s to fire light loads, but I’m not sure about this one. Did Winchester make an action spring for the skeet grade? Thank you for any suggestions. Don’t cut the action spring. Clean out but don’t enlarge the gas ports. If you haven’t already, install anew buffer. Then call Browning/Winchester and get a copy of the Super Xowner’s manual.

In reading it, you can see how the recoil-system rings are properly installed for target loads. (They can also answer your question about a skeet barrel.) We suspect the rings may have been incorrectly installed by the gun’s obviously neglectful owner, and that the gun has been used with highbrass/hunting loads (in spite of what you were told). This would account for the receiver battering and destruction of the original buffer.

Steyr Extractor I am forced to make an extractor for a Steyr straight-pull rifle. (I’ve tried to buy one, but they are just not available.) Considering the design, I know that it must be turned from one-inch bar stock. After slitting, I would end up with about six of them. Could you advise what kind of steel should be used, and after hardening to what RC should it be drawn down to? I would appreciate some advice. Thank you. In Roy F.

Dunlap’s Gunsmithing (Stackpole Books), the author writes at some length on the forming and heat treatment of springs. We’re not familiar with the shape of a Steyr straight-pull extractor, but we can safely assume it’s flat in configuration, wears a hook, and should be quite strong. Dunlap suggests the use of .030inch flat drill-rod stock or its equivalent.

He goes on to say that a pattern for the finished piece should first be made from thin box-strapping metal, fitted into the rifle, and adjusted for curvature and other dimensions. The new extractor is then fashioned to conform to the pattern. Your flat stock should be heated to between 1480 and 1500 degrees prior to bending it. After bending with the aid of a vise and smooth-jaw pliers, the workpiece is reheated to about 1400 degrees, and hardened by quenching in a bath of lukewarm oil.

If you’re going by color for tempering, buff off the workpiece and reheat to a bluish purple. Generally, this is hot enough (about 700 degrees) to burn off a couple of dippings into common motor oil. If you lack fancy heat-treating equipment, you can use Tempilac (Brownells) to establish when the temperatures mentioned here have been reached.