doublegunshop.com - home Forums Thread Like Summary - Boxlock Saint-Etienne gun - really tight top lever

A few years ago I bought a war-trophy Saint-Etienne SxS 12 gauge as an extra gun for guests. It was probably made in late 1920's, has "Wonder" on the top lever, probably a gun made by Ravat, a Saint Etienne company which marketed "Wonder" bicycles at the time using the same font. It definitely has the V-C inverted top lever screw "Helice-style" top lever. It was discussed on this line:
https://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=481696

I rarely use the gun. It's choked very tight .026, .026. However, because of the shortage of 2 1/2" shells, I've recently been shooting the gun using 2 3/4 inch ammo because It's built like a tank. My problem is even after extensively deep cleaning the gun, and putting a couple of hundred rounds through it, it is so difficult to break that I sometimes have to use a table to assist. The top lever is so tight a gorilla might have a problem with it. Looking at the thinning bluing on the left barrel where you have to grip it to break it, it's pretty obvious that the original owner had the same problem.

I'm not a gunsmith but what might I do to loosen things up?

Just to finish this story. . Drove down to Rocky Mount today to pick-up the "Wonder" from Gunter. He relieved the chokes, installed an orange pad increasing LOP by 3/4", shortened the firing pins. It looks to be a much better gun and certainly the ergonomics feel better. No chance to fire it down there but based on feel along, I think it points better and it certainly breaks easier - It's tight - not silky smooth but I don't have to hammer at it. This is my back-up gun for when the 6 former special forces guys descend for Memorial Day - in 2016 I ran out of guns - but It points really well and we'll give it a try next go-round. (Never could hit squat before - better use a rifle).



I wish I had you all's expertise. When this was mentioned, Gunter sort of grunted and said, "For tools, start with screwdrivers." He also said a lot of people visit and hang around because they "like to watch gunsmiths work." He doesn't much appreciate that but since I was "picking up" - I wasn't included in the criticism. He also added that it's almost impossible for a "gun smith" to run a retail gun shop - the jobs of selling - promoting and repairing -fixing cannot be intertwined without staff support.

Gunter said he'll be at the Southern next week. I won't make it. But it's worth talking to him. How he wound up in the middle of the Virginia mountains is a question. I asked him. . .got a sort of jumble of reply starting with "economics of real estate." The vagueness of answers may be endemic in the gun-repair community. . not sure of this.

Three weeks ago Virginia and the great valley was a paradise...floating down a corridor of purple - the red bud was out in force and the crab apples like large clumps of pure cotton-color were everywhere. This time it was the Wisteria - purple and white - and the new green of the trees along with the back-country azaleas - purple, white, red, pink and some late blooming white dogwood . I've lived in Virginia for some 50 years - 26 spent abroad of course - and can never count myself as a Virginian. I'm from the Deep South and look for Spanish moss, black water creeks and Savannah's and marshes as my habitat...but on a spring day, in rural Virginia...especially in the Great Valley running from Birmingham to Pennsylvania, with the windows open on the jeep and the smell of new plant and cow funk, mountains to the left and right, trying to figure out the drainage basins of the Shenandoah and James Rivers, it is pretty exhilarating.

Gene,

I suggest you first go to YouTube and search for the Midway video where Jack Rowe tells you how to dismantle a Boxlock shotgun.

Even if it doesn’t tell you anything you didn’t already know it is lovely listening to a real old Birmingham gunsmith.

OK. here is my check-off list.

Cocking rods free to move?
Ejector or extractor rods free to move
Di-chem the forend knuckle to check wear pattern
Di-chem forend end joint pin to check wear pattern
Di-chem breech face to check wear pattern

Starting from there, we can move forward

...says every bodger who ends up bringing a partially disassembled gun with buggered screws to his gunsmith, saying, "My dumb brother-in-law took this apart, and I need you to fix it "

Come to think of it, that's also how a lot of old motorcycles end up being sold as "basket cases".

What you really need is this:

Gunther Pfrommer Gunworks
2954 Hopkins Rd
Rocky Mount, VA 24151

And perhaps some of this: