Reader Forum

Savage 25 Magazines Who can I contact to find aftermarket metal magazines for a Savage Model 25 bolt action chambered in .223 Remington? Spare magazines are available for purchase through the Savage service department or online at Store.SavageArms.com. Or contact Savage Customer Service at For metal magazines, Snyder Magazines (SnyderMags.com, a division of Snyder Fabrication, LLC, makes a variety of aftermarket magazines for Savage rifles that have removable box magazines.

Contact them at or 30, Mount Gilead, OH 43338. New Subscriber’s Franchi I’m anew American Gunsmith subscriber and just received my first issue in August 2018. I was delighted by Paul Mazan’s "Winchester 1912 Restoration" as that article is right up my alley. In my experience with cold blue such as Super Blue Liquid Gun Blue, over polishing the surface will always cause a splotchy finish. I remove file marks and scratches with coarse cloth no finer than 120 grit.

I find 120 seems to permit Super Blue to penetrate well. A light buffing with 0000 steel wool between applications works fine. Following the instructions on the bottle is very important for good results. I also received my copy of Learn Gunsmithing. In the chapter on semiauto shotguns there are comments about Franchi models. A friend of mine entrusted me with his Franchi 20 gauge which had functioning issues for years despite having taking it in to a gunsmith previously with no success.

That made me think I might be over my head but I took a look. Disassembly revealed the gun was clean and had no missing or broken parts. After a thorough inspection, I reassembled and conducted a test fire. It appeared the carrier was not able to lift to the point where the bolt was able to push the shotshell into battery fully, as if the hull was too fat and stopped the carrier. The ammunition used had a hull with a plastic unibody.

I happened to have some paper-hulled ammunition and the gun functioned perfectly shooting them. should be under the barrels for this fastener to attach to is missing. Do Gary Weaver Klamath, CA I decided to take a drastic measure. Using a bastard mill file in the draw filing method, I reduced the thickness of the carrier on the side that contacts the hull. With this modification the carrier was then able to lift to the point where the bolt was able to push the shotshell into the chamber.

I test fired again with the previous ammunition that had be causing malfunctions and the shotgun now ran perfectly. Measuring the diameter of the older paper-hulled shotshells and the newer plastic hulls found the plastic to be wider. While the plastic unibodies fired just fine, the unmodified carrier wouldn’t function properly with them. Given this Franchi was manufactured when paper hulls were the norm, I’ll bet the trouble only began when plastic became the only normally-available option. Richard A.

Johnson Worchester, MA Thanks for the kind words. We’re glad our material is helping you. Given that Franchi began manufacturing firearms in Brescia, Italy in 1868, their guns certainly predated plastic shotshells by nearly a decade when Remington introduced shotshells with plastic cases in 1960. Good work on your successful diagnosis and effective fix! Stevens and Crescent Shotguns I have an old Stevens double shotgun that has a forearm with a Deeley & Edge fastener. The piece that

you know where I can purchase this piece? I’m also still trying to figure out the model number and I can not locate a reference for it. I am also looking for a buttstock for a Crescent Firearms Co. No.60 Empire-Hammerless double barrel 12 gauge. Fred Ludwikowski From Paul Mazan. As near as I can see it appears you have a Stevens 1890 shotgun. These were produced from 1890-1915.

Unfortunately if the barrel does not have anything attached to the bottom center I do not know of anyone that offers this part in any style. You will have no choice other than to find a set of barrels you can salvage it from or make on from scratch. It is difficult to give a more definitive answer without more information, however, I will give you some leads. I am personally unaware of any Stevens shotguns that used a Deeley & Edge forend latch. That doesn’t mean that they didn’t, I just have never seen one.

Are you sure that forend originally went with the gun? The forend attachment appears to be the same style as was used on the Stevens 311 and if the underside of your barrels has the same style you might try a Stevens 311 forend and see if it will work. Crescent did use a Deeley & Edge-style fastener. Is it possible you might be trying to use the Crescent forend on the Stevens? If the forend is original to the Stevens and you have the model number your best bet for old parts is Numrich Gun Parts.

They will often have a schematic that shows the parts as well as a listing of parts for the gun along with prices. They also list a number of Deeley & Edge forend assemblies and parts for a number of shotguns. The same source also has stocks for some of the Crescent shotguns but they are listed by the type of mainspring rather than by the model. More about Crescent.

The company made good quality inexpensive single and double barrel shotguns at its Norwich works beginning about or by mail a Big Sandy, TX 75755. 1892. They offered in 12, 16, 20, and 28 gauge guns with Damascus twist or steel barrels. Many considered them among the best American shotguns for the money at the time. The Empire No.60 is in the Standard Catalog of Firearms listed along with a couple dozen other Crescent sub-models.

Huge quantities of these "hardware guns" were produced in the profusion of private brands as well as in Folsom’s house brand American Gun Co. of NY and can be found on many thousands of doubles. Crescent was bought by J. Stevens Arms as a division of Savage Arms around 1930. Prices likely range from $300 for Fair to $500 for Excellent. Outers Foul Out I was reading through my back issues and found an article by Paul Mazan on cleaning with the Outers Foul Out.

I have a Foul Out II which works like a champ for lead and copper. Regrettably, I ran out of solution and can’t find a resupply. Any hints where to look? Sandy Eisele, The Foul Out appears to have been discontinued as I cannot find it anyplace, including the Outers Laboratories website. Unfortunately, it appears the chemicals are no longer available from Outers. I received this confirmation directly from the company: "Thank you for your inquiry.

I’m sorry but the Foul Out System was discontinued about seven years ago and Outers no longer has parts or chemical solutions in stock." Jim Rex Outers Technical Services Anoka, MN All is not lost. There are Do It Yourself electrolysis bore cleaner options (FrFrogsPad.com/copclean. pdf) and homemade solution (bit. ly/2m ZDVDQ) AG