doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Technical Question - Opening Lever To The Left

Hi all, say, on one of my hammerguns, the opening lever is to the left of center, but the gun is tight as a tick, not loose and on face. No wiggle or movement with or without the forend. The gun does have sideclips and a Greener Crossbolt. The crossbolt is flush with the fences.

So...what could cause this and is this something to watch?

BTW, the gun gets fed a diet of low pressure RST's.

Thanks for the help!

Greg

Which gun and how about some pics Greg?

Hey Joel, it's a Franz Sodia 16ga. Can't show pics now, going up to Lake Metigoshe within an hour to chase some fish. Will get back to you soon, you old pirate!

hit has to do with the bite, which is wear on the rear locking lug. if the gun wiggles when closed, it may be time to have the bite tighten up.

here is a good video by larry of midway supply:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXbrmmiSngw


and old jack is cool. he reminds me of old ed.

Why is the front locking ignored ? I would have thought that the front and rear lugs would have to be adjusted together.
terc

According to Jack on the youtube video, (Terc, if you have not watched it, you will wish to) the front lock is a Guide or Guard and does not take much load.

See minute 5:55

Ya, suprised me also

Mike

I did hear that. I guess I was surprised to, and looking for conformation.
Thanks, terc

The front bite is a place for the bolt to go as it engages with the rear bite.
So why have a front bite?
Well, the rear surface of the front lump cams the bolt back as the gun is opened and holds it back when fully open.
Yes, the rear lump could do this but tends to come well clear of the bolt when fully open so the bolt would come forward, the lever would centre and you would have to operate the lever to allow the gun to close.
I recently sold a lovely Blanch hammergun that had a little extension to the rear lump which, even when fully open, was low enough to keep the bolt back. It was long enough that it had to have a 'through lump' hole to drop into.
This meant that the bolt could be half its usual length and there was no need for a split lump: the lump was a single piece from hook to rear bite.
Why did they bother? Probably to get round the Purdey patent.

I know Jack Rowe fairly well and have immense respect for his abilities but seems to me his method of tightening the bite is a bit on the crude side. Having said this, once I had a Birmy boxlock whose forend was loose enough that the ejectors often would not kick. Jack's cure was to remove the forend iron, turn it over and with a cold chisel he stretched the iron a little. Reassembled and it has worked perfectly ever since. Guess sometimes the simplest is also the best.

look at the distance of the two bites from the hinge pin. Its obvious the rear bolt should do the major work bolting the barrels closed. Both the Parker Bros & the Win 21 have shown conclusively that one bolt is ample to lock the gun shut. The US solution was to apply a lever latch to hold the lever over to the right when the barrels were opened or removed. Personally I like the double bolt better for the simple act of letting the lever come back to center & then camming it over as the gun is closed. Also on a "Properly fitted" double bolt the front surface of the rear bolt is cut on an arc of a circle & mates with a cross member in the rame taking a lot of the thrust off the hinge itself when firing. A "Properly fitted" Doll's Head or cross bolt of course takes axial thrust at the top of the standing breech absorbing a lot of Frame Bending forces.