doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Winchester 101 20 gauge

Hello all, first post, longtime looker. My wife's 20 gauge Win. 101 is not firing the bottom barrel. The firing pin is barely denting the primer, but not enough to cause ignition. I assume this is a weak firing pin spring? Anybody seen this before? Is a 101 a bugger to do the replacement on? Any other common things/springs to replace when its in for work?

Thanks for any help!
Forrest

First thing I'd try is a good cleaning of the action. Take it off the wood and soak it in a solvent, brush it, blow it dry and then oil lightly. Like many O/U's, lower barrel is usually the one to misfire. By it's design, the geometry of the lower pin arrangement is not as true as the upper. If the cleaning doesn't do it, you're on your own.

I would second the cleaning. Please, do not spray cleaner down the firing pin hole with the stock attached. It makes a mess and may cause problems with the stock later on.

If cleaning does not work contact these folks:http://www.midwestgunworks.com

I am hopeful the cleaning will work...it usually does.

Jim

A good cleaning just might do it, but if not...

If there are any weak links with the 101's, seems to be the firing pins and hammer springs. I've had two 101's, and both had FTF problems, and always with the bottom barrel. A badly pitted firing pin can certainly be a cause, and better-than-factory aftermarket pins are available.

I've found that more often than not a weak hammer spring is the likely culprit. Fortunately, changing out the springs on a 101 is a very simple 20 minute job for anybody that knows which end of a hammer to swing. There's really no need to pay a smith to do this. I really like the Wolf "extra power" 101 springs, although I found them be a little too long for easy installation.

http://www.gunsprings.com/RifleShotgun/Winchester_RsNF.html#Win101

I cut 2 coils off each spring with a Dremel cutting disk, which still leaves them considerably longer than Winchester factory springs and eases installation. This has proved to be an instant, long term fix for 101 FTF problems.