Spencer Gunsmith Sought

Seamus · October 16, 2009, 02:23:46 PM

Hello the fire. New member Seamus McGillicuddy checking in with an after action report & request for help. I got my .45 Colt Armi Sport carbine earlier this year & after a couple trips back to Chiappa for warranty work I finally got to shoot a couple of matches recently. I had a great time & naturally finished at the bottom but it was worth it. (Two folks at the first match asked me if I planned to shoot Plainsman that day, Ha!). But I had to give up & use my Henry on the last three stages of the last match.

My problem is that the ejector still does not work properly. The weapon cycles & ejects fine with unfired ammunition but fired cases do not come out as well as they should & jam.

I am looking for a gunsmith with experience in working on Spencers, preferably someone in Northern California, to look at this for me. A pard slicked the trigger & hammer action for me but the ejector continues to malfunction. I have read many remedies on this site for ejector problems but I am not smith enough to trust myself to try any of them

Any referrals will be welcome.

Thanks for the help,

Seamus

major · October 16, 2009, 02:53:19 PM

I have found that to get the gun to cycle smoothly, I must use a brisk motion when operating the lever. I have also found that by holding the gun in a vertical position (muzzle up), the spent shell falls clear of the gun. If you lever the gun with it in the horizontal position, sometimes the spent shell will fall back into the works and wedge itself between the chamber and the cartridge keeper (the cartridge keeper is that flipper that is attached to the top of the breech area and rides on the rotating block). This is easily cleared by just picking the spent cartridge out of the way. If you lever the gun with it in the horizontal position, tipping the gun to one side will also allow the spent shell to fall to the ground and clear the chamber area. I hope this helps.

Herbert · October 16, 2009, 11:31:58 PM

I found with my new rifle when the action is fully open(on full extaction ) the action stood proud above the cartrige guide,the extracted casses would acousinaly hit the frame during extraction and bounce forward jaming the action,to fix this i made a new slitly higher cartrige guide this fixed the proublem,you could also file of the small bit of the frame that is above the cartrige guide when fully open but i would say this would void your warinty,though in my opinoun it would not hert the strenth of the action

Herbert · October 16, 2009, 11:40:56 PM

allso have you checked weather chamber is free of bures that are diging into fieard casses

Seamus · October 18, 2009, 12:10:33 AM

Thanks for the tips but too many of my cases, every third or fourth one, are remaining stuck in the chamber itself. Repeatedly working the action sometimes gets them out but the extractor itself is not grabbing the rim properly. I expect it needs one of the fixes suggested in other threads on this site but I need to find a gunsmith who can execute the job.

Seamus

French Jack · October 18, 2009, 07:39:01 AM

Part of the problem is due to the small rim on the 45 Colt cases. It does not afford much purchase for the extractor.

You might try deepening the extractor groove at the chamber mouth and slightly before that with a swiss file or a Dremel tool. Also use some 400 wet or dry emery cloth on a wooden rod to smooth the edge of the chamber in case of burrs. Spray a bit of WD40 on the emery paper before application.

The 45 Colt was not designed to be used in a rifle, just a pistol that uses an ejector rod that pushes out the case.

Hell-Er High Water · October 18, 2009, 10:16:38 AM

Seamus,

The N CA gunsmith that has done work for me on my Taylor's Spencer is Andersen Gunsmithing, 2485 Petaluma Blvd. N, Petaluma, CA, 707/763-3852. You might give him a try. In the past, he has only been open to the public on Thurs, Fri & Sat so it is best to give him a call to make sure of this.

HHW

Seamus · October 18, 2009, 02:28:05 PM

Hell-er HH20,

Thanx much, Hell-er, that's just what I was lookin' fer. We'll get 'er straightened out one way or another come Hell, er, well, you know. I know when I'm in over my head & need expert assistance.

Grogan · October 18, 2009, 08:04:57 PM

Quote from: French Jack on October 18, 2009, 07:39:01 AM
Part of the problem is due to the small rim on the 45 Colt cases. It does not afford much purchase for the extractor.

The 45 Colt was not designed to be used in a rifle, just a pistol that uses an ejector rod that pushes out the case.

Yes, you think the rims are thin now?!!

You should have seen the original 1870s-80s cases!

They were barely wide enough to keep the ctg.s from falling into the chambers!

Just a sliver of metal overlapping the chamber mouths.

That's why NO rifles were made for that cartridge back in the day.

Jbar4Ranch · October 18, 2009, 11:19:44 PM

Here's an 1870's vintage Benet primed .45 Colt from my collection.

French Jack · October 19, 2009, 06:58:24 AM

Since some of the empty cases are extracted, I am assuming that the chamber is not TOO FAR out of specs. Did you examine the cases to see if they have a bulge that might be due to a oversize spot in the chamber? Some of the Italian made arms are not well checked for quality control. The chamber might be rough if not out of true. Polishing with some 400 grit emery wet with WD40 can go a long way to smoothing it out and easing the extraction.