Need force to reset firing springs

[Andy_Q]

For the first 250 rounds my Condor would open easily after firing just from the weight of the barrels. Suddenly it would only open half way. I took it back to Dick's where I bought it. They explained to me that you had to force it open the rest of the way to reset the firing springs. They even showed me a brand new one from their display to show me it was the same. However I know that it worked better than this when I first got it. My guess is that what has happened is that the recoil is supposed to reset the springs and this has stopped working on my gun. The one I was shown in the shop was hard to open as it was dry fired and so there was no recoil. Am I correct? If I'm correct does my gun need to be sent back for repair?

Thank You

Andy

[timb99]

Andy,

On most, if not all, break action guns, the action (hammer springs) are reset by opening the gun, just like the guys at Dick's said. Sad, but true...the salesmen were right.

If you take the forearm and barrel off your condor, and look at the receiver, there is a rod along the bottom of the pocket where the barrels sit when the gun is closed. This rod is part of the mechanism that resets the hammer springs when you open the gun.

If you shoot only one shot, and open the gun, you are only resetting one hammer spring. If you shoot both barrels, you're resetting both springs so it will be stiffer to open.

If you open the gun...before you have shot it, it should just fall open, because you're not resetting the springs.

I suspect you need to clean and lubricate the gun well.

Right after you got your Condor, and before you ever shot it, did you clean the living snot out of it first?

They pack these guns in thick cosmoline grease from the factory so they don't rust, and they absolutely need to be cleaned inside and out (I even took the stock off and cleaned the action before I shot mine.)

Automotive brake cleaning solvent in spray cans works great, but it strips all the lubricants off so you need to coat them after using it with something like RemOil. I also like Amsoil Metal Protector.

Another good cleaning solvent is Ed's Red. Go out on the internet and do a search on Ed's Red. It's equal parts transmission fluid, acetone, mineral spirits, and kerosene, mixed in a suitable container. DON'T GET THE BRAKE CLEANER OR ED'S RED ON YOUR STOCK! It will damage the finish.

After you have thoroughly cleaned the gun, you need to lubricate it well, at certain locations. The hinge pivot point, the sliding surface between the forearm and the receiver, and the little "extension" on the forearm that pushes on the rod that resets the hammers (don't know what it's called, but there's a sliding surface there that needs grease.)

I use wheel bearing grease, but Mobil 1, lithium grease, or the little tubes of grease you get to lubricate the pins on disk brakes also work fine.

Hope this makes sense, and I hope it helps!

Tim

[Andy_Q]

Hi Tim,

Thank you for the reply.

What I don't understand with this is that the first 250 shots I made with the gun it opened easily after firing both barrels. Now I almost have to put it across my knee to open it. This change happened suddenly, in fact I was in the middle of a round of clays and gave up the rest of the round as I thought the gun had broken.

The salesman didn't tell me I had to clean it before I shot it the first time so no it wasn't cleaned at this time. I clean the inside of the barrels after every outing with the gun. You say you cleaned the action on your gun by taking off the stock. Is this a hard thing to do?

Thanks

Andy

[timb99]

Andy,

Not sure why there was a change after 250 shots. I suppose there might be something in a bind. I'd recommend first, a thorough cleaning and lubrication. If it is still really difficult to open, then you might consider sending it in for repair, but be warned, Stoeger's customer service does not get glowing reviews on this weblog.

Taking the stock off is not really difficult, but if you're not comfortable doing it, get some help or have a gunsmith do it.

First, as always, make sure it's unloaded.

Take the forearm off, then the barrels. I'll assume you know how to do that.

Then, in end of the recoil pad, there are a couple of screw hole openings. I can't recall if they're phillips or flat screws, so try both. Probably phillips. Helps if you put a little vaseline on the shaft of the screwdriver to ease the resistance of the rubber recoil pad.

Get the recoil pad off (all you really need to do is loosen one screw and fully disengage the other and swing the pad out of the way.)

There will be a hole in the end of the stock. At the bottom of the hole is the head of the bolt that holds the stock onto the receiver. You'll need a 3/8" drive socket wrench with about an 8" long extension. I can't recall the size of the bolt head, though 11 mm comes to mind. You'll have to try a couple to make sure you have the proper size.

Unscrew the bolt, and gently pull the stock off, and voila. There you have it. The inside of your action will be exposed.

I use spray brake cleaner from your local auto parts store. That stuff works great, but as I noted above, make sure you lightly lube everything after using it. The chemicals in the brake cleaner really strip off the lubricant as well as any grime, and if you don't re-lubricate, machined surfaces will rust.

Also, as I said, do not get the brake cleaner on the stock or forearm wood. It'll ruin the finish.

Assembly is the reverse. Make sure you don't over-tighten the stock bolt. The Condor wood on either side of the top lever has a tendency to break.

Make sure you grease all the things I noted above.

Wipe fingerprints off, and coat all the metal parts with light oil.

Hope this helps.

Tim

[Andy_Q]

Hi Tim,

Followed your instructions and took the stock off with no problems. Had a good look at the action and nothing looks wrong. As you said there is a lot of grease on there. I didn't have anything to clean the grease off so I just put a few drops of gun oil on the place where the plunger pushes on the hammers to reset the springs. Reassembled it and it is now easier to open on the break. Thank you for your help, at least now I know that I'm not going to break anything if I have to force it open.

Andy

[timb99]

My pleasure.

Next time you have an opportunity, I'd take the stock off again, and clean the internals well to get rid of that grease. I suspect that is gumming things up.

Light oil, like RemOil after cleaning, then back together.

Just had mine apart last night for a thorough cleaning.

Shoot safely, and shoot often!

[rsway123]

I have had the same problem with my condor over under, i think the trick is to keep it clean, and lubed. I have been using rem oil on the parts that move when breaking it open and resetting trigger. this spray has silicon, its dry and does not attract the resudual after firing gun, then i lightly oil barrel with reggular gun oil, to much attracts all that grim. or so my thinking goes

[rsway123]

Here's a new thought: sometimes when i mount the stoeger o/u, after firing both barrels and reloading, it seems the forend moves, i am pulling the forend toward my shoulder, to brace the gun for the next shot. I am wondering if that connection of the forend to the barrel and reciever could be flawed or a bad design, allowing it to move when the hammers are reset. Has anyone experienced this?

[awfulshot]

My STF3000 Condor was stiff to start with, but became really stiff after about 200 or so rounds. You literally had to break the thing open over your knee to get it open at all. It took me reading these posts to figure out what probaby happened.

On the advice of a friend, I had cleaned the action really well with Gun Scrub. I suspect that some of it got down into some areas that really needed lubrication and dried them out.

I pulled off the buttstock and cleaned and re-oiled all of the internals with Rem Oil. The gun is still a bit stiff, about like it was when I bought it, but at least now I can open it in a normal manner without having to build new muscles to do it.

These posts helped.