Flintlock
09-20-2003, 04:54 PM
I have been going everywhere to try and get some information. I'm hoping someone here can help me. I've got a 20ga. 48AL that had a few dents in the magazine tube which were blocking the mag. follower (it's amazing how a tiny little dent can cause so much trouble!!!). Well, after making myself a dent raising tool, I got the dents pretty well ironed out and now the shells and follower move smoothly in the magazine. I thought that was my only problem. To make a long story slightly shorter, I have a problem with the shell latch arrangement. I noticed that the shell latch was not retaining the shells in the magazine. Well, after much studying and consternation, and perhaps a few cuss words, I THINK I finally have figured out how this gun is supposed to operate (It is a very odd system, in my opinion). The action of the bolt has no relation to the action of the magazine; in other words, simply loading the magazine and retracting and releasing the bolt will not cause a round to be fed into the chamber. The magazine catch operates entirely by the motion of the barrel. The first round must be loaded directly into the chamber, and the other rounds loaded into the magazine. The firing of the gun and the recoil of the barrel will cause the other shells to be fed through the gun.
There is a cam lug on the bottom of the barrel, which will, when the barrel recoils to the rear, slide under and behind the "secondary shell catch". Then, when the barrel begins to move forward, the cam lug rides over the shell catch, depressing it, and allowing a shell to move out of the magazine. The barrel will continue to move forward for a short distance until stopping. APPARENTLY, the cam lug is supposed to then slip off of the shell catch, allowing it to reset and catch and hold the second shell in the magazine. Again, APPARENTLY, the designers had in mind for the barrel to "outrun" the magazine spring in the hopes of the shell catch returning to the "closed" position before the second shell pops out, jamming the gun. IF I am correct in the way that this gun is supposed to operate (for I can see no other means by which it could operate, and even this procedure seems weird to me), then comes the problem. With the gun assembled, the barrel does not move forward far enough to allow the cam lug to slip off of the shell catch, and the catch stays "open" allowing all the shells to fly out and jam the gun. It seems that the fore end is too short (it has not been messed with). I can turn off the fore end cap/nut a few turns, allowing the barrel and fore end to move forward enough to hear the "click" of the shell catch slipping off the lug and resetting so that it may retain the shells in the magazine, however, when I do this, the fore end is almost 1/16" away from the receiver. Obviously, this is not right. At first I thought that perhaps there was supposed to be a metal "spacer" between the fore end and the receiver, as with the buttstock, but this is not the case. Then, I thought that perhaps the spring loaded nylon ring in the fore end (which the barrel ring bears upon when it is in its forward postion) was supposed to compress slightly under the impact of the barrel ring, but she stops cold with no motion of the ring at all. I could easily remove the nylon ring and shorten it or inlet it deeper in the fore end, allowing the barrel to move forward enough so that the shell catch will slip off of the cam lug, but I do not want to do anything like this until I am absolutely sure that this will be effective and not destructive.
Many thanks.
There is a cam lug on the bottom of the barrel, which will, when the barrel recoils to the rear, slide under and behind the "secondary shell catch". Then, when the barrel begins to move forward, the cam lug rides over the shell catch, depressing it, and allowing a shell to move out of the magazine. The barrel will continue to move forward for a short distance until stopping. APPARENTLY, the cam lug is supposed to then slip off of the shell catch, allowing it to reset and catch and hold the second shell in the magazine. Again, APPARENTLY, the designers had in mind for the barrel to "outrun" the magazine spring in the hopes of the shell catch returning to the "closed" position before the second shell pops out, jamming the gun. IF I am correct in the way that this gun is supposed to operate (for I can see no other means by which it could operate, and even this procedure seems weird to me), then comes the problem. With the gun assembled, the barrel does not move forward far enough to allow the cam lug to slip off of the shell catch, and the catch stays "open" allowing all the shells to fly out and jam the gun. It seems that the fore end is too short (it has not been messed with). I can turn off the fore end cap/nut a few turns, allowing the barrel and fore end to move forward enough to hear the "click" of the shell catch slipping off the lug and resetting so that it may retain the shells in the magazine, however, when I do this, the fore end is almost 1/16" away from the receiver. Obviously, this is not right. At first I thought that perhaps there was supposed to be a metal "spacer" between the fore end and the receiver, as with the buttstock, but this is not the case. Then, I thought that perhaps the spring loaded nylon ring in the fore end (which the barrel ring bears upon when it is in its forward postion) was supposed to compress slightly under the impact of the barrel ring, but she stops cold with no motion of the ring at all. I could easily remove the nylon ring and shorten it or inlet it deeper in the fore end, allowing the barrel to move forward enough so that the shell catch will slip off of the cam lug, but I do not want to do anything like this until I am absolutely sure that this will be effective and not destructive.
Many thanks.