I have a 20 ga. V. Bernardelli Italia SxS hammer gun made in 1969. I shot sever boxes of shells through it last June, and it worked flawlessly. I tried shooting skeet with it in October, and halfway through the firs t round, the left barrel failed to fire on several shots in a row. By the end of the first round the right barrel also failed to fire about every third shot using Remington Gun Club shells.

I would appreciate recommendations for a gunsmith who has experience repairing this type of shotgun. I live in Southeast Virginia.

Gunter Pfrommer, Rocky Mount, VA. I use him and he is excellent

ROTELLI, LOUIS
CLASSIC RESTORATIONS
17 BUCKINGHAM LN
GAYLORDSVILLE, CT 06755
203-788-4920

He's done work on my 20 gauge Italia Extra and a Perazzi for me. I was more than satisfied with both projects.

I'm curious what you mean specifically by "fail to fire"? Do the hammers drop, are you getting light primer strikes, etc, what exactly do you mean by "fail to fire"? I am always curious when something stops working as it should. Thank you.

I'd say that it is too early to jump the proverbial gun, and send it to a gunsmith.

You haven't given us much information. If this happened with a gun that I owned, I'd first be looking carefully at the indentations on the primers. It takes a solid and consistent hit on the center of the primer to have the shell fire reliably. I would also observe whether the hammers move freely during cocking and firing, and whether the cocking force (or mainspring tension) felt normal and equal for both locks.

Then, considering that the problem started with one barrel, and soon began to misfire with the second barrel, I'd start to suspect a possible problem with your ammunition. It will be a whole lot cheaper and easier for you to figure this out by trying the gun with another brand or lot of ammo, rather than immediately concluding that the firing mechanism in both locks suddenly quit working correctly. Locks sometimes fail. Rarely do they both fail in the same round of skeet, unless the ammo is bad, or something like congealed lube in the locks has reduced the force of the hammers striking the firing pins.

Have you tightened the lock screws? Or the hand or action screw? Take a look at the fireing pins .i would try another brand of ammo first it shouldn't be hard to figure it out.

Try a different brand of shells. Your problem may go away!

like keith said...

The ammo you were using wouldn't happen to be B & P Comp Ones, would it?

Insure the firing pin retainers are screwed in tightly

Thank you for the recommendation. I have also used Gunter Frommer a couple of times, the last time being about 10 years ago. I have been unable to contact him by phone or email and had begun to wonder if he was still in business. After I saw your post, I tried calling him again, and he answered the phone. I will have him check it out.

Light primer hits.

Remington Gun Club shells.

Glad you were able to reach Pfrommer. Would you please do a follow up after the issue is sorted out and let us know what he found? It is most interesting to me in regards to it being a hammer gun, and having light hits. I have experienced a similar problem in the past with CompOne shells and determined the rim on them causes them to sit deeper in the rim cut of my doubles. I have a very high incidence of misfires with them in these guns ........ Perazzi MX8, Browning B-SS, AH Fox BE, LC Smith 3E, AH Fox HE ........heck, basically every one of my 12 gauge hammerless doubles I tried them in. Then, I had the idea to try them in hammerguns, thinking that they might have a bit more firing pin protrusion. Evidently they did because the shells work perfectly in my San Georgio hammergun made by Bernardelli in 1973, in my Remington 1889, and in my Iver Johnson Special Trap (external hammer). So, you can see why I find it interesting that the Bernardelli of yours is experiencing a problem like this, and am keenly curious as to what the issue is.

OBTW, I had determined it by careful measurements, but further proof came my way that the CompOnes were sitting deeper in the chambers of my guns when I was given a tip on here, by private messaging, to buy a package of the tiny rubber bands that women use for their hair and slip one over the head of a shell, under the rim, and try it. Worked perfectly, 100%. These rubber bands are very tiny when stretched over a 12 ga. shell head, but cause the shell to sit a few thousandths higher in the chamber and ignition is 100% with them. Doubt I'll be buying any more of the CompOnes because I can reload to the same pressures without the head spacing issues, but the little rubber bands will let me use them up in other guns besides the hammerguns.

Being frugal, can you re-use the little rubber bands?

Gun guys don't refer to stuff like that as being frugal. It's called "reloading".

Haven't even considered trying to save them, though I believe you probably could. They cost something like $1.00 for a bag of about 400 at the Dollar General, as best I remember. They were in the ladies' hair stuff section.

stan, clever fix...simple and safe...

Pfrommer Gunworks: Gunter E. Pfrommer 2954 Hopkins Rd., Rocky Mount, VA 24151. Phone 540-484-5555 email: pfrommergunworks@hotmail.com

Got a 12 gauge Walter Bates hammergun back from him two weeks ago, VA.

Regards, Tim

Gunter the man!

Stan, "using Remington Gun Club shells." I know you have had problems with B&P ammo. Completely agree to switch shells first. A problem moving from one side to another is unusual and most likely has only one cause as Keith says. Bad factory ammo is much more common than ever and promo ammo seems to be the worst. Right now they can sell anything that goes into a box, and it seems that quality control is lacking. I have seen some re-loaders seat a primer so deeply that it could cause light primer strikes. Again a ammo issue not a gun issue so much. It might have a issue with a little dried oil on the firing pins having gummed up things with a little crud. Good cleaning should cure that.

From a mechanical perspective, for a problem to go from one side to both side you need something in common for both to share. Hence the inquiry about loose screws. Do the firing pins protrude when the hammers are dropped? Do both move back and forwards like they are not gummed up? Start with a thorough examination, good cleaning, change of ammo and retest it to see if the problems still occurs. Nothing is more frustrating than an intermittent problem but your sounds like it is a persistent problem which should be easier to find. When ever I have a failure to fire, I go down the same checklist. Ammo, loading properly, action clean, action operation properly, close inspection of mechanics. Change only one thing at a time to see what the problem is. Ammo first because it is expendable and easiest. Are the primers seated flat to the base of the shells and are the primer strikes light? Sometimes a light strike can be confirmed by just trying the shell in the other barrel and have it work. Then go back and figure out why the first light primer strike like crud in the action. Try the ten dollar cure with new ammo and go from there after a good cleaning. Hammerguns are too much fun not to use.

kY Jon,

I appreciate your comments and those of others who have posted here. I don’t have the tools or feel I have the necessary mechanical skills to work on the innards of a more “valuable” gun like this Bernadelli.

I bought it used at a local gun shop. The first time I shot it, I had FTF’s with the left barrel. I took it back, and the dealer had his gunsmith work on it (no charge) before I hit it last June. It worked fine, but I might have been using different shells.

The firing pins do protrude all the way when pushed in manually, but the left one is not as smooth as the right. I put a piece of masking tape on the end of a shell with a deep primer hit, and pulled the left trigger. The tape did not break and the mark on the tape appears smaller than the diameter of the firing pin, which might not mean anything. I did note that the left hammer does not retract to the “safe” position off the firing pin. It remains touching the end of the pin.

Thank for that gentle reminder, Jon. I obviously overlooked that the first reading. My bad.

Stan you are too tired from looking for $3.00 diesel and reasonable fertilizer for the Spring. All is good on my end, except prices are out of sight.