doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Gun hard to open. Any ideas?

I recently acquired a pair of guns made for Orvis by Union Armera. They are marked M 215. They are both little used. The number one gun fires and ejects both barrels fine. the number two gun opens and ejects well independently, however, when both barrels have been fired, it is very difficult to open. It takes a lot of force. The spent shells eject perfectly timed. Could it be that the number two gun need more time to break in having not been shot nearly as much as the number one gun? Ideas? Am I damaging anything forcing it open?

Check that the knuckle has grease or a heavy oil on it; it could be metal galling between knuckle and fore end metal.

Aside from inadequate lube and overly tight fitted forends, some gun designs have less mechanical advantage to cock the hammers/strikers. For example, my new Parker Repro is much harder to break open to cock it than my Browning BSS guns. The Browning is probably among the best for this. LC Smith guns are very difficult as well.

Does this happen consistently when firing the second barrel? Examine the primer from the spent shell as your firing pin may be hanging up in the primer and this willl certainly cause difficulty in opening the gun.
jim

The first place I check when a double has stiff opening is the chambers. If the chambers are dirty they put a lot of drag on the extracting shells and make you think there is a mechanical problem with the gun. I have corrected stiff opening guns several times now by putting a piece of green Scotchbrite on the end of a rod and using a hand drill to scour the chambers clean. Use good lube with this to float the grit out.

I am not real familiar with your particular gun but there are a number of less expensive doubles I have encountered that need to wear themselves in a bit. Make sure the mating surfaces are well lubed. Wipe that lube out after each use and relube because if it is wearing itself in there has to be some metal cutting going on and you want to get the debris off those surfaces.

I have a Union Armeras 215 and have not experienced any hard opening. It does open slightly harder when both barrels are fired. Nothing unusual about that you cocking both barrels versus one.

Thanks all for the help. I will try the suggestions. Just to recap, no problem when either barrel is fired individually. It is orders of magnitude harder when both barrels are fired and I don't think it's from having to cock both barrels. It is overcoming the resistance when you first break the barrels open.

If it's the very first movement of the barrels that is the tough part, I think either Jerry is correct about chambers rough or check the primers for firing pin drag.

Another question. Did you use the same shells in both guns? Some of the lower priced shells have steel heads, and can be very hard to extract, while the premium shell with brass heads extract normally. I have seen some guns that when fired with Estate shells require a rod or knocker to extract the empties.

I agree something is causing friction thus causing the significant resistance. Did not think to check primer and gave all my hulls to a squadmate. I will check the chambers. Winchester AA featherlites were used in both guns