Reader Forum

Doug Spooner The Armorer’s Bench It just might, Mr. Spooner, so we’ll pass your tip along to those having trouble getting the front sight to let go of a slide. In the case of 1911 pistols we have found, more often than not, that locking the blade securely in a vise and rocking it back and forth until it breaks normally works. All that remains in the slot is a bit of the tenon which can be punched out downward into the recoil tunnel.

M1 Garand Tanker I have a customer’s Springfi eld M1 Garand Tanker model which he purchased a number of years ago from Springfield Armory. He says that shortly after purchasing it he had an incident that involved the operating rod flying loose from the receiver track during firing.

Thinking that perhaps he had not assembled the rifle properly after an initial cleaning, my customer installed the operating rod back into the gun, but after several fi rings the rod came loose again from the right hand bolt projection as well as its track, fl ew back and hit him, injuring his hand. He says he was using standard military ball ammunition when the incident occurred. Because of this incident my customer promptly reassembled the rifle, oiled it up and put it away.

I am now trying to deduce the problem fi ve years later. I have completely disassembled it and inspected all parts for obvious problems to include any abnormal bending or "tweaking" of the operating rod. The operating rod track in the receiver is properly machined and without any deformations as is the rod projection that rides in the track. I can find no obvious problem areas. I should mention that during my early years while in the Army this was the weapon of choice back then when it was general issue.

I have fi red the Garand extensively and never encountered this problem myself but have heard of rare instances similar to this, however, I can not recall the causation. John Funk John’s Gun Repair & Sales Fall River Mills, CA We checked in with Springfi eld Armory on this one and received three possible causes. One, the op rod has been improperly fit to the receiver track. Two, the op rod is worn out. Three, the op rod receiver rail is worn or out of spec.

Since you probably do not have milspec drawings or gauges to check out the Tanker’s existing measurements we can only suggest you establish the present dimensions, write them down and contact Springfi eld for the proper ones. If the root cause lies in the receiver you will more than likely have to return the gun to Springfi eld for corrective action. We agree, this problem occurring with the Garand is indeed rare. General Patton was so right when be stated the M1 Garand as being the greatest battle implement ever.

Remington 700 Extractor I have a Remington 700 in .300 WSM that has had the extractor replaced. The complaint is now the bolt is much harder to close than before. The bolt will close and extract the case so I feel like the right part was used. Before I start working on it, is there anything you would suggest? Dennis R. Riley We suspect the extractor was improperly fit to the bolt head in the

replacement. There is some area of it that is protruding or ill-seated and, as a result, creating resistance when the bolt is moved forward into battery. An indicator fluid such as Dykem or even a black magic marker applied to a clean extractor can tip you off to exactly where the interference is occurring. Whether it is correctable or not depends on where it is present but you may have to remove and replace the extractor in the long run. Shotgun Questions I have several questions about shotguns and ammunition.

To begin, I have a Winchester ‘97 pump and am wondering about the proper chamber length. I purchased a Walker gauge from Brownells to check the chamber length. After disassembling the gun and removing the bolt the the chamber gauged at 2- 5/8". This surprised me because I was expecting it to be either 2-1/2" or 2-3/4". Is this because of the roll crimp typically used on old paper black powder shotshells?

What references would you recommend on the history on shotshell length, development and the time line for the changes? Now that I know this shotgun’s chamber is too short to use modern 2-3/4" ammunition, is it advisable to use a chamber reamer to increase the chamber length to accept standard length shotshells? Given that this action is in good condition is it strong enough to handle the pressure increase of modern factory ammunition over older 2-1/2" shotshells?

My other project gun with this same issue is on an old single shot shotgun with a KK on the side. I believe this stands for Keen Kutter made by either Crecent Arms, Hopkins and Allen, or J. Stevens. This gun has a 2-1/2" chamber as measured with the Walker gauge. Would it be advisable to ream this chamber to accept a modern 2-3/4" shell? I would like to be able to shoot these guns, safely of course, with modern factory ammo instead of having to find 2-1/2" ammunition.

Failing this, how can I obtain or make shortened 2-1/2" hulls and load them? OK, Stacey, it’s pretty obvious what you intend to accomplish is the rechambering of what you believe to be a black powder shotgun made by someone and converting it to use smokeless powder shotshells. Firstly, let’s begin with some history regarding the Model ‘97. It was a Browning design—who else?—that improved on the Model ‘93, itself an improvement on the Spencer pump gun.

The ‘97 was chambered for 12 or 16 gauge in both 2-3/4" and 2- 5/8" smokeless rounds. It was never a black powder gun as that would leave too much tell-tale smoke even for close-in trench warfare. Browning’s '97 eliminated the open-on-recoil problems of the ‘93 and could still be fired until the magazine was emptied by holding the trigger to the rear and repeatedly cycling the action. The M97 with which you’re involved has a 2-5/8" chamber. Can it be lengthened to 2-3/4"?

The last time we looked, that equaled the length of a fired 2-3/4" hull so the answer is yes. Whether or not the gun should be fired with anything other than low brass ammo depends on the metallurgy of the receiver. Crescent Arms made and branded shotguns for anyone – even local hardware stores – who wanted their name on a shotgun. As far as we know, H&A and J. Stevens were more selective.

In any case, it would be wise to have the ‘97 on hand checked out, perhaps by a local university with a metallurgical lab equipped to do so, whether you intend your personal use exclusively or the sale of the gun to another. Even if the testing indicates no faults or weakening, magnum loads are to be avoided.

Chamber pressure comparatives between high brass, low brass and magnum loads can be secured from the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Institute (saami.org, Stacey Jones As for your request for references on shotshells themselves you can turn up many links and cross-links by keying in "Shotshell History" into your favorite search engine. AG