Reader Forum

Remington XP 700 I recently received a call from a customer with what seemed to me to be an unusual request. He has a XP 700 and would like to have 4 barrels installed (individually, of course), headspaced and witness marked so he can later swap them out himself depending on what cartridge he wanted to shoot. He claimed he was going to use a properly-sized loaded round to check the headspace and planned to purchase a vise for the swap-out.

After recovering from my shock, I explained to him that swapping barrels was no easy task, involving a considerable investment in tooling. Secondly, headspace was no measurement to be taken with makeshift tools. He backed away from the idea after I expressed my grave concern over the safety of doing these swaps himself and because I declined to do the work. This lead to him asking if I would be willing to swap barrels for him when he wanted to change calibers and this leads to my question.

Have you ever known of barrels being changed out on a regular basis on a receiver such is found on the XP 700? Is there a chance of wear or other negative affects to the receiver and barrels if they are constantly stressed by disassembly and reassembly? If changing the barrels on a reoccurring basis is not a problem, what frequency would be safe? I am looking for input so I can advise the owner and possibly accomplish this in a sensible, safe manner.

Any advise will be greatly appreciated, although I am hesitant to accept this work. A sensible, safe manner would be to stick with barrels Remington produced for the XP 700. This would assure compatibility with the receiver and maintain any warranty still in effect. The 700 is a strong receiver but should your customer have an urge to try belted magnums in an XP not intended for magnums the result could be explosive. Winchester 97 I have a Winchester 97 12 gauge pump take down shotgun.

The gun has not been shot for a very long time and I am in the process of restoring and repairing some problems it has, such as cutting off the bulged barrel. My goal is to get the gun back into shooting shape. I have heard about some really old shotguns that shot 2-1/2-inch shotshells. Was the Winchester 97 ever chambered for 2-1/2-inch shotshells? How can I check to see what mine is chambered for?

I am a little confused about what the actual chamber measurements would be for a 2-1/2 or 2-3/4-inch, or for that matter a 3 or 3- 1/2-inch chambering. I know this gun has what I calla chamber ring inside the receiver that adds about 1/4-inch to the length of the chamber that is actually inside the barrel. Careful you don’t shorten the barrel to less than legal length for civilian use. The minimum legal length is eighteen inches from front of the receiver to the end of the muzzle.

You can secure official chamber specifications from SAAMI saami.org) but we aren’t certain the Model 97 was ever chambered for 2-1/2-inch shells. We’re fairly certain it long preceded the longer magnum shells. Once you have the specs, make a chamber cast with Cerro Safe, available from Brownells, and compare the casting to the specifications. Dale Annis Annis Arms Ellendale, DE Savage 219 Do you know where I can get disassembly instructions for an early model Savage 219?

I have one and it needs service as the firing pin will not retract. We do not but the Savage historian might. Contact John Callahan, Westfield, MA 01085. While you wait on Mr. Callahan, try squirting some CLP into the firing pin opening and subsequently pressing inward on the pin a few times. It could be frozen in place by fouling. If this doesn’t cure the problem then likely the firing pin or its spring is broken.

M1890 Feed Problem I have been working on a Rossi copy of the Winchester Model 1890 for a couple of weeks and cannot figure out what is wrong. The rifle will fee one round from the magazine perfectly but if a second round is put in the magazine it will jam every time. I can look into the action and see that the second round (the one in the magazine) is against the bullet of the first round (the one in the carrier) and is preventing the carrier from pivoting up in line with the chamber.

It appears that the shell stop in the carrier is not working, but no matter what I do it will not catch the second round. I can work the action slowly with nothing in the magazine and the carrier will stick in the down position but if I work it sharply it functions every time. The rifle is very old and wear is probably a factor. Do you have a picture or a drawing of the shell stops profile or any suggestions?

Stacey Jones Walter Erspamer The Model 1890 was almost the immediate predecessor of the Winchester Model 62A. Directions for disassembly and reassembly of the latter appear in the The Official NRA Guide to Firearms Assembly, available from the NRA at nrastore. com. We see a couple or three possibilities for your problem. It is likely a worn magazine throat, a worn out cartridge stop, or a weak carrier spring. A drawing of this does appear in the aforementioned NRA publication. Dennis Hoehne

Polish P-64 I have just purchased a P-64 through J&G Sales and am researching these firearms, such as locating the owner’s manual, assembly/disassembly exploded view drawings and schematics. Gene Smith Covenant Resources You should have fired right back at J&G when the pistol arrived sans an owners’ manual. From what we have uncovered in Small Arms of the World, published by Stackpole, the Model 64 is disassembled similarly to the Walther PP and PPK.

There is also a drawing of the Model 64 trigger linkage along with a note that the magazine catch is at the bottom of the grip and the safety catch on the slide blocks the trigger. Winchester 62A Mis ire I have a Winchester 62A that misfires if any rearward pressure is put on the fore end slide. If it is held forward it fires every time. Examination shows that with rearward pressure the bolt rises enough for the firing pin to not hit enough of the cartridge rim to fire.

This gun is in 99% condition with very little bluing wear inside the action. I therefore surmise that it has done this since new. On the left side of the firing pin is a triangular protrusion I will calla "boss." This boss slides into a cut in the side of the receiver locking the bolt down until firing pushes it ahead to release from the cut. In the locked position this boss allows the bolt to lift about 0.020", thus causing a misfire.

I changed the firing pin, which has no bluing wear, with anew one from Winchester with no improvement, not that I expected any. The cut in the bolt that the firing pin boss slides in is only about 0.002" larger than the boss so it is a good fit. This leaves only a too high or too wide cut in the receiver allowing the boss to move up in the receiver while in the locked position. It’s hard to believe Winchester would make a rifle where lock up is nonadjustable let alone let one with this problem leave the factory.

Any help will be greatly appreciated and keep me from banging my head on the wall! Serial number range is 302XXX. We have been receiving an unusually high number of queries on the 62A but it has been around since 1939 so we’re not overly startled. The locking system of the Model 62, which replaced the Model 1890 in 1932, was designed so the slide handle could be moved a fraction of an inch to the rear before any opening movement of the bolt occurred. The Model 62A returned to the Model 1890 locking system.

Any premature movement of the slide handle initiated movement of the bolt both to the rear and upward. Therefore, your misfires are very likely being caused by the design of the rifle. A second possibility exists. Due to its age the rifle may have developed a headspace problem. We have our doubts about this since your query indicates little to no wear apparent in the action. You can double check the condition of your rifle with .22 LR headspace gauges.

Regarding your comment about "non-adjustable lock-up," as required by law, SAAMI and insurance companies, every firearm is proofed and additionally test fired before it is released for shipping by every domestic manufacturer. This was true when Winchester was Winchester, became US Repeating Arms and it remains true in its newest incarnation as Browning/Winchester. Beyond that fact, the matter of adjusting lock-up, which a manufacturer also refers to as "qualifying," is a required element of the preshipping process.

Qualifying includes assurance that existing headspace meets specifications. Out-of-spec guns are corrected prior to leaving the factory. This correction can be a relatively simple matter, such as installing a larger locking bolt on a Model 1894 but can require refacing of the receiver and setting the barrel back as might be required on a Winchester lacking a separate locking bolt, such as the 62A. Keep forward pressure on the slide handle and we believe your misfires will cease. AG Frank Borgeson Scottsdale, AZ