The nose of the action seems too tight on those 1894 after color casing. The joint check installed just fine, and it’s nose pushes on the extractor as it should, but the barrel hook will not descend far enough to wrap around the hinge pin to allow the barrel to close.
I braced the tangs, but I didn’t wedge anything in the gap between the water tables. What now?
B.Braham,
It sounds like warpage somewhere. You should smoke the bottom side of the barrels and see if you can ID the interference.
Mike
Probably shouldn't be, but I am surprised at the location of the warpage. The check joint inserted with out issue, the trigger/floor plate seated perfectly. I would expect if the water table warped, those things wouldn't fit like they did before.
The barrel hook starts to bind about 1/3 of the way during insertion.
What's the fix? I would assume it would be to dress down the sides of the hook.
The gap in the water table measures .380” at the face, and .374” at the hinge. The barrel lug measures .376” of average +/- .002”.
I think gently fitting the lug is an acceptable solution.
It's pretty close, maybe you can look inside the slot, under magnification, to see if there is any scale. If you "work" it back and forth a few times( oiled) it may loosen up some, then you can take the rest with stones working where the wear marks tell you.
A little work with a 220 soft Congress stone, and polishing with 400 grit solved the problem.