Reader Forum

NEF Handi-Rifle I recently finished a job that has been languishing in my shop and the October 2020 Reader Forum letter on the NEF Handi-Rifle from Rueben Cole caught my attention. This job consisted of a Harrington & Richardson Handi-Rifle and the complaint was the same, with the action popping open upon firing. The gun was in mint condition and chambered in 500 S&W Magnum. I soon diagnosed a case of too-little engagement at the locking block to the barrel underlug. And, brother, I mean barely engaged!

It malfunctioned from the factory. How do I know? The serial number on the barrel matched the receiver. I checked a number of things first. The solution proved to be draw filing the rear surface of the barrel to allow a deeper seating of the barrel/ underlug further into the recess of the receiver breech area. If you find something similar on your bench, check the breech end of the barrel for burrs, milling traces, dings, etc. It does not take much.

Pull the barrel off and chuck it up with the breech end up in your bench vise. Place a wide, flat file on top of the barrel. With both thumbs and forefingers, move the file back and forth sideways briskly with short strokes, keeping the file pressed flat against the breech face. While doing this, walk in "peepy" steps around the barrel at least half way to monitor your progress, ensuring you’re keeping the surface true and flat.

When you’re satisfied with the job, wrap fine sandpaper or, preferably, emery paper for a good polish. Test it in the gun before finishing too fine because more draw filing may be required. I fitted a Savage The 219 has been made available as a combo and this was obviously an add-on barrel as the fit was terrible. Draw filing was the answer. This will shorten the distance between the breech end of the barrel and hinge recess. Just be careful as it won’t take much.

Final warning, don’t ever do what I say as this was for entertainment purposes only. Smiles! 7mm Mauser vs. 7×57 Mauser The December 2020 Reader Forum letter "Remington Rolling Block No. 1" references that the 7mm Mauser and 7×57 Mauser are different cartridges. For over forty years I have understood them to be different names for the same cartridge, as do several references I have now checked. Please explain. Don Roberts Shoot The Works Gunsmithing From Mark Hollensen.

The early 7x57mm was slightly different than the 7mm Mauser cartridge created later. My understanding is that today’s 7mm Mauser and the 7×57 are virtually the same. Based on the dimensions provided in the article, it appeared the chamber was more closely related to the old original 7×57 cartridge, but that was more of a possibility than a conclusion based on the information at hand. RK Campbell is right. The dimensions could be outside the specification for either the 7mm Mauser or the elder 7×57.

If a 7mm Mauser doesn’t fit and the original 7×57 cartridge (not the modern one) doesn’t fit, then the search will need to continue based on the actual casting measurements. I believe today’s 7mm Mauser cartridge cases and the 7×57 cases are made to the same specification though. My copy of Cartridges of the World, 3rd edition has data shown here. My assumption is they are very close but not exactly the same dimensionally.

They list the 7mm Mauser as: OAL 2.235"; base to start of shoulder 1.7277", base to base of neck 1.8957", neck diameter 0.3207"; neck diameter at top of shoulder 0.324"; rim diameter 0.473"; case diameter at base 0.4711"; shoulder angle 20 degrees, 45 minutes; diameter of case at base of shoulder 0.4294". The 7x57mm is listed as neck diameter 0.320"; shoulder diameter 0.420"; base diameter 0.470"; rim diameter 0.474"; case length 2.23"; cartridge OAL 3.06"; bullet dia. 0.284".

Chris Stauffer Hillsboro, OH Remington 1100 Hammer Spring Service Customer has two 1100s. One works fine while the other frequently will not fire when the trigger is pulled. Strength of the hammer spring is suspected to be weaker than other as unfired shotshells will discharge in the other. Has there been an article on Remington triggers or hammer springs?

Jim Thompson JT’S Sporting Supplies Look up March 1993 ("Working the Remington 1100 Shotgun"), January 2007 ("Servicing the Remington 11-87 Premier Trap Shotgun") or April 2007 ("Troubleshooting Ejection Failures On the Remington 1100".) The January article is most helpful for your situation and we’ll send you a copy. From Mark Hollensen.

It could be a weaker hammer spring, a malformed rear end of the firing pin (dented down, shortening the overall length), or the forend is not seated firmly (sometimes wood is soft) to the front of the action and the bolt is a little more forward than it should be, causing an angle to form where the hammer cannot strike the rear of the firing pin squarely. You will see this last condition more so on the Auto 5s or Remington 11-48s but I have seen it on an 1100 or two.

To quickly check for this condition, put both guns together and see where the barrel aligns with the front of the receiver on the one that works as compared to the one that does not. Also, look at the position of the closed bolt on both and compare to see they are in the same exact forward position. I assume there are light firing pin strikes. The firing pin

might be broken but still in the bolt. An 1100 could also have a chewed up bolt locking lug area on the barrel which can create a headspace issue. That alone can prevent the firing pin from optimally reaching, causing light primer strikes. Finally, is the barrel original to the gun? If not, that could be the culprit. If the gun was made during the 1970s through the 90s, current factory barrels may not work.

I have seen quite a few older Remingtons in the past few years where the customer added a newer barrel and it would not function properly. This may cause the firing pin issue as well. This modern day of plug-and-play guns was not at the forefront of manufacturing to check for a mismatched receiver/barrel is to contact Remington customer service with the gun’s serial number and barrel information. From Paul Mazan. I suspect the trouble will be found in the trigger unit or the bolt itself.

It appears the gun is functioning as far as extracting, ejecting, and releasing the next round from the magazine, feeding it up to where the bolt can pick it up to chamber, so we can eliminate those systems and parts. I would start by assuring myself that the gun is unloaded, then remove the trigger unit and bolt. A visual inspection of the hammer spring is fast and easy. If the spring is broken or bent, that may be the culprit. If the hammer spring appears good, check the bolt.

Check the firing pin for free movement within the bolt as well as for breakage. Abound up firing pin can be burred, broken, or corroded in place. If you find it broken or heavily rusted, replace it and be sure the new one moves freely. The next place to check is the trigger unit. Is the safety disengaging? When pulling the trigger, does the hammer fall freely or does it hesitate and bind?

Often the problem won’t be anything more than the build up of corrosion or crud in the unit because it has not been cleaned or lubricated since the day it left the factory. Although it is not beyond the realm of possibility for the hammer spring to be broken, I rarely encounter that. Today’s springs are very good but replacing it could not hurt. When you are satisfied that the components are clean and operate with a minimum of friction, reassemble the gun and test shoot it.

I’ll bet you will find your problem solved. From Sergey Lyalko. The most widespread problem of this type in 1100 is a broken firing pin spring. Since the firing pin on this gun is inertial, it must be moved back all the way for every shot. The hammer spring on this gun very seldom requires replacement. Unibath Bluing Salts I have a small gunsmith shop and have used Unibath bluing salts for several years. None of the contact info I have is working. Mich Aldrich Try Box 813, Joplin, MO 64802.

Stoeger P350 I picked up a Stoeger P350 pump shotgun. While unfired, it’s older than the one year warranty so sending it in for repair isn’t being considered. The issue is, with the slide racked back, it will lock and not move forward unless the trigger group is removed from the receiver. After reassembly and carefully loading a shotshell into the magazine, the action will work until the shell is ejected at which time the action will lock to the rear.

All parts appear to be there and in the right position, nothing worn, bent, or broken. I did note that the carrier latch will engage more with a shell in the magazine than when the magazine is empty and the magazine spring cap is against the carrier latch. Instead of the cap being flat like the base of a shell, it’s contoured in such away that the carrier latch’s movement is limited. Steve Olin Stoeger Industries offers a five-year warranty on their shotguns. If it’s a never-fired gun it should be a factory fix.

Stoeger option 2) for a Return Authorization and Repair Request or Stoeger Industries. com/repair-request. AG