doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Meriden SxS

I'm thinking about restoring this gun and thought I'd be able to get some questions answered here. I have a Meriden 20ga that was made about 1918 or 1919. I bought it over 20 years ago from a guy who was using it as a wall hanger but I figured that for $6 I couldn't go wrong even if I just hung it up. He had painted all the metal with black epoxy paint then baked it in the oven. I'm in the process of stripping the paint off. I've had it looked at and was told that it could be made serviceable again. Main issues as it stands are some missing parts and the stock has some missing wood at the receiver. The barrels seat well and are not too thin but have a couple small dings which I was told could be easily removed. I do some woodworking and have picked up a free walnut blank so I'm slowly working at making a replacement stock. We'll see how this one goes but at the worst I'm out some time. I was looking on the Numrich site and I can get most of the parts I need. Parts I know I need are cocking rods, front and rear firing pins, firing pin seat (not available), misc. screws (most of which are available), and a top lever spring. Here's some pictures of the gun disassembled. Questions I have are:

* I was going to take the sideplate apart to clean it. Is there anything I need to be careful about when disassembling it?
* I need a firing pin seat which I'll have to try and locate somewhere. Doesn't this also need some kind of a spring for the firing pins?
* One of the parts on the Numrich site was called a locking bolt. I'm not sure what it is or where it goes but it's a pretty good sized part that I don't see in my gun. Any thoughts? Would it happen to go in the round hole in the receive right in front of the safety rod?

Well this is a start and I'm sure I'll come up with some more questions as I go along.
Thanks,
Kirk
[img][IMG]http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo42/kirkp_2008/100_1915.jpg[/img][/img]

Kirk;
The bolt is the part which holds the barrels closed. This would be the part which goes in that round hole & extends through to engage with a notch in the lug beneath the barrles. Not familar enough with the Meriden to say for sure, but I believe it has another bolt in the top which latches into the rib extension.
In dis-assembling the locks, you can make a simple little cramp (or two of them) by sawing/filing a notch in a small piece of metal strip. The hammers should then be pushed back to full cock, the cramp placed over the leaves of the spring to secure it. The sear is then released. This removes all spring tension from the hammer & the lock can then be dis-assembled without parts flying around. The spring can be left cramped until re-assembly.

Hey 2-piper,
Thanks for the reply. I was thinking about using a vise grip but your idea seems better. The bolt I'm talking about is shown on the attached link as part no. AH-15. http://www.gunpartscorp.com/catalog/Products.aspx?catid=9508 I went through this parts listing and noted every part I couldn't find on my gun. Do you have any idea how the firing pins would work if they don't have a spring? It's a two piece firing pin that also needs a firing pin seat. Just seems like a spring would be needed.
Kirk

Kirk,

Here you go. This one is very early, 1915 production. Yours is much later. I do not see much different.



















Pete

Hey Pete,
Thanks for the pics. Is it your gun? Question for you. In your last pic, there is another bar above and to the right of the locking bolt? Do you know what that is? Also, looking at that same pic, the cocking rod has me wondering. I can see how this would fit into the receiver. If you look at the numrich link, the cocking rod is indicated by part number AH-6. In thinking about it, I don't see how they'd work with my gun. Hmmmmmmm.

Kirk

Kirk,

Yes, I own it. This is all I have of it, just the action. As you can see, I have never even cleaned it. I really wish I could answer your questions. I just don't know.

Pete

Kirk,

The hole that the cocking rods ride in have been milled open in your gun. I suspect because your 20 ga. action is narrower. I would bet the 12 ga parts will fit in your action. but i could be wrong.

Peter A.

You can see that the channel for the cocking rods are milled open in this exploded view.

I think the difference is age related, not gauge related. The receiver I provided pictures of is one of the 1st 1000 produced. As I stated to Kirk in a PM. They made so few 20ga guns that I doubt they forged a separate receiver for them.



AH-10 = Firing Pin, Rear (2 Req'd)
AH-11 = Firing Pin Seat (2 Req'd)
AH-13 = Hammer, Left
AH-14 = Hammer, Right
AH-15 = Locking Bolt
AH-16 = Locking Plate Screw, Long
AH-17 = Locking Plate Screw, Short
AH-18 = Lock Plate, Left (Marked A.J. Aubrey)
AH-19 = Lock Plate, Right (Marked A.J. Aubrey)
AH-2 = Bridle, Left
AH-20 = Mainspring (2 Req'd)
AH-21 = Mainspring Lock Screw (2 Req'd)
AH-22 = Safety Thumb Slide
AH-23 = Safety Rod
AH-24 = Safety Rod Screw Post
AH-25 = Safety Spring
AH-26 = Safety Spring Screw
AH-27 = Sear, Left
AH-28 = Sear, Right
AH-29 = Tang Screw, Long
AH-3 = Bridle, Right
AH-30 = Tang Screw, Short
AH-31 = Top Lever, 20 Ga.
AH-31 = Top Lever, 12 Ga.
AH-31A = Top Lever Arm
AH-32 = Top Lever Pin
AH-34 = Top Lever Spring
AH-35 = Trigger, Left
AH-36 = Trigger, Right
AH-37 = Trigger Pin
AH-38 = Trigger Guard
AH-39 = Trigger Plate
AH-4 = Bridle Screw (4 Req'd)
AH-40 = Trigger Spring
AH-41 = Forend Iron, 20 Ga.
AH-41 = Forend Iron, 12 Ga.
AH-42 = Forend Wood, 12 Ga.
AH-42 = Forend Wood, 20 Ga.
AH-43 = Forend Latch Assembly
AH-6 = Cocking Rod (2 Req'd)
AH-7 = Extractor, 20 Ga.
AH-7 = Extractor, 12 Ga.
AH-9 = Firing Pin, Front (2 Req'd)
CO-12 = Firing Pin, Front & Rear
NI = Barrel, 12 Ga., 32", (Pinch Spring Type Forend Catch) Marked Meriden
NI = Lock Plate Assembly, Left, NI (Marked A.J. Aubrey)
NI = Buttplate Screw (2 Req'd)
NI = Lock Plate Assembly, Right, NI (Marked A.J. Aubrey)
NI = Barrel, 12 Ga., 32", (Pinch Spring Type Forend Catch) Marked Meriden
NI = Extractor Screw, NI
NI = Action Spring Forend, NI

Pete