Reader Forum

Model 12 Winchester I have recently acquired an heirloom Model 12 Winchester pumptype twelve-gauge shotgun, serial #3506XX from my father. It is quite old and hasn’t been fi red for at least forty years. The problem witht the gun is the bolt is wide open with the slide locked back and tightly jammed open. There is no apparent rust. How to free it and make any needed repairs? Dr. Fred J. Schuster Sounds like quite a keep sake to us. We advise against turning it over to anyone who hasn’t worked Model 12s over before.

It’s no more complex than many modern pump guns but locating and replacing parts or the whole bolt release assembly, which we believe is causing the problem, could end any hope of the gun coming back to life if not performed properly. We recommend you contact Nu Line Guns, former Winchester Authorized Service Center, and negotiate their assistance Firearm Identi cation I recently bought a Husqvarna rifle from an estate and have some questions.

The safety is on the bolt, though my research indicates other rifles of this make had tang safeties. The floor plate release is not on the trigger guard and the bolt stop is of Mauser M98 style. The serial number is 125XXX. Steven Stanford Our standard response for all firearm identifi cation questions is the same. Send several pictures of the gun in question along with a description and stamped, self-addressed return envelope with your inquiry to the NRA Museum.

As you might suspect, the museum’s curators are experts in firearm identifi cation. Their contact info is National Firearms Museum, Fairfax, VA 22030. Phone or via the web at nra.nationalfi rearms.museum or nramuseum.org. En eld Cock On Opening Kit I have a Pattern 14 Enfield rifle that I want to use as a base for a customization project. What cock on opening kits do you recommend? Walt Kuleck offered to handle this one.

Cock on opening kits for the Pattern 14 and Model 1917 Enfield rifles have been available for as long as I can remember, which would be at least as far back as the early 1950’s. There are several still being offered. SARCO (e-sarcoinc.com) has both Pattern 14 and M1917 kits. A more modern arrangement is now being made by Dayton-Traister as their Speed Lock Kit P-14/17 Enfield DSLP. These can be found at greenesgunshop.com.

Brownells also has a product listing for their version of the Dayton-Traister kit (brownells.com, part number is 240-150-017.) While I don’t believe that the D- Tkit requires any modification to the bolt, Brownells listing indicates that a Dayton-Traister trigger must be used, though unlike the kit direct from D-T, a trigger isn’t included in the Brownells offering. While cock on closing feels different, with the proper bolt manipulation technique it can be just as fast as cock on opening.

My first rifle was a Lee-Enfield No. I Mk V, so maybe I just got used to it over the decades! Monroe, OR Rochester, NY M1 Carbine Stove Pipe I have an M1 Carbine that routinely stove pipes on fi red cases and I’ve not yet diagnosed the cause. What are some suggested fixes? There is a good chance the ejector spring is weak or possibly gummed up with packing grease. I would check there first. While not M1 Carbine specific, a technique from a similar sounding issue may also prove helpful.

While working on a knock-off Thompson submachine gun that used old .45 ACP M3 "grease gun" magazines I was having stove pipe/failure to eject stoppages and a failure to feed separately at various times. The Tommy gun might fi re one or two rounds before one of these two things happened. Turns out it wasn’t a problem with the gun itself, but rather the magazines.

Since the M3 mags came from actual old military stock they were used in a full auto guns that would heat up pretty good and, after awhile, distort the magazine lips slightly. The lips hold the top round in the mag and between the heat distortion and full auto functions they gradually moved outward in a "V" shape. By spreading the lips outward on the front side the front of the top round would sit higher in the magazine, rubbing on the bottom of the bolt as it cycled and slowing the whole action down.

I even suspected it slowed it down enough to not allow the bolt to fully cycle open before closing again. This did not allow the empty case to eject because of the partial open bolt. Of course, the empty is fl ung away when the bolt reaches full open and if it doesn’t open fully the bolt starts to close again before clearing the ejection port. The empty then releases and falls in the open chamber allowing the bolt to close on it, causing stove pipes.

Because the magazine lips were bent outward, the pressure of the magazine spring forces the front of the top round to tip up and rub the bolt as the bolt travels rearward. The bent lips also allowed the round to tip up and strip off the mag too early (mid-way) as the bolt closes again, instead of allowing the rear of the round to clear the forward front lips and tipping up to the feed ramp. The fix was so simple.

With a dead weight hammer, I gently pounded the forward lips in a little at a time while manually stripping off rounds until the rear of the cartridge cleared the lips before tipping up to feed ramp. Bob John Linse

This fixed all the failures to feed and ejection problems. Luger Pistol I recently completed a Luger project by replacing the take down lever and side plate. The action is tight and functions properly when cycled by hand, feeding a fresh round with the toggle closing completely. The pistol fires the first round which had been manually chambered, ejects the spent brass smartly and chambers the next round, however, the action will not cock for the next round. I must manually operate the toggle to cock the action.

A guy at the range stated that he had seen that problem before and that the trigger bar spring needed to be bent or replaced. Have you ever heard of such a thing? On an unrelated note, I believe that the Small Arms Shop is no longer in business. Steve Simon is not listed in the directory and the phone number you published is not in service. Fairman Bockhorst Responding in reverse order to your questions, Steve Simon remains in business but no longer is a source for obsolete Savage/Stevens parts.

His services are now limited to repair according to Savage HQ in Massachusetts. His new phone is The problem with the Luger is likely related to the side plate. On its inside is an L-shaped lever that moves down when the trigger is pulled to activate the trigger bar and release the firing pin. It is the opinion of a Director of the American Pistolsmith’s Guild who is a specialist with Luger pistols that the lever isn’t going in far enough.

He went on to say this can be corrected by heating the end of the lever and bending it, not the trigger bar spring, which any significant degree of heat would render useless. H&R Handi-Ri le I would like to build up barrels for the H&R Handi-Rifle for some of the older cartridges, such as .25-20, .32-40, etc. How are the barrel lugs afixed to the barrel in the Handi-Rifle?. It looks like a weld but I don’t know if it is TIG or MIG welded or some other method.

I have rechambered a Handi-Rifle barrel in .44 Mag to 10.4 mm (.41) Swiss Centerfire with cases made from Lebel brass but other chamberings I would like can not be done with standard H & Rbarrels that are available. I have made up the under lugs for the barrel from 4140 steel but need to fasten it on. I had a person tell me the lugs were silver soldered on but they do not look like that to me. James Stuart The under lugs of the Handi Rifles are welded on.

If you decide to proceed with this project, we recommend using TIG or MIG to limit or avoid high heat affecting the integrity of the barrel itself. Samuel Buckley Shotgun I have a double side-by-side shotgun with exposed hammers with the markings "Samuel Buckley & Co, London Laminated Steel" on the convex barrel rib. It’s also marked "Saml Buckley & Co" on each of the side locks. While there is some decent engraving that is still good enough to resurrect, the furniture on the gun is very rough.

I have found one single website that stated I. Hollis & Son were the likely makers of this firearm, which was then marketed by Buckley in the late 1860s to 1880s era. Looking at some similar models lends me reason to believe that this is a reasonable truth. I’m looking for disassembly instructions so I can clean, inspect and potentially repair and restore and then successfully reassemble. Ill probably have to re-craft the forearm and any internal parts that may be broken.

The client is looking to refinish and restore this old horse but has no intention for using it as a shooter. Dane Frazier Send a photo of what you have and wish to learn to the NRA Museum for positive identification. Your double gun predates the use of schematics so we can’t help you there or with an owner’s manual, either.

Use extreme caution with the "restoration." You do not want to run afoul of a BATF inspector choosing to classify your work as manufacturing unless you hold an FFL identifying you as a manufacturer. AG