Win 97 - sometimes hard to open slide action..

[McCrower]

I have been shooting my old Win 97 mod for about a year now, and lately there has developed a problem opening the slide action after a shot to eject empty hulls.. It doesn't happen all the time, only now and then. I need to use "extra" force to open the action, and then the hull ejects as normal. What could cause this problem? I am to "sloppy" when cycling the slideaction, or is there something wrong with the gun?

McCrower
Norway

[hp246]

A couple of things I would look at.  Have you made any changes to your loads?  Sizing, brass, etc?  Have you done a thorough cleaning.  Really hosed out any old lube/ powder, carbon?  Has the action slide bar become damaged?  They can sometimes develop a bit of a kink high to low that may not be easily visible. 

[Coffinmaker]

My instant and immediate knee jerk thought, since it is an intermittent problem is to look real hard at your ammunition.  If for some reason your not getting a good solid resize on the base, it's gonna stick.

Coffinmaker

PS:  And just for funzies, I'd pull it completely apart, thoroughly clean and de-grease everything that moves (or not), the apply fresh grease and oil.  Then take a real hard look at your ammunition ...... again.

[McCrower]

Thank you guys for quick answers. I have now pulled the shotgun apart and cleaned it. After cleaning I suddenly discovered that it sometimes was impossible to get hammer drop after loading motion, I had to kind of twist the barrel and magasine tube to get the hammer to drop. Then I suddenly discovered that the trigger stop screw behind trigger was stopping the trigger too early.. After backing the trigger stop screw out a few turns, the shotgun works again, and when dryfiring with suitable snap caps the ejection of hulls is very good again. Could the trigger stop screw be the reason for my problems?

McCrower
Norway

[McCrower]

No, still the same problem after beeing to the shooting range. I noticed after comparing to a friends Win 97 that my breech bolt don't go all the way forward when the gun is loaded. I can push it forward about 1mm with my thumb. It seems a bit loose. Could this be the problem?

[Coffinmaker]

The pump handle and action bar should pull the Breach Block fully into battery.  If it does not, you also will have a head space problem.  Yours is a take-down and may well be subject to "wear and tear."  I will go ahead and start the other discussion ...... Dry Fire with or without snap caps is not good for your shotgun.

Coffinmaker

[hp246]

Coffinmaker hit the nail on the head.  The take downs are subect to a bit more abuse.  As I said in my original reply, take a close look at the action bar.  They can develop a slight kink that may not be readily apparent.  It can cause the problem you are experiencing.  I had a similar issue that required replacement of the slide and action bar assembly.