doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Repairing Top Lever that goes left

Dustin,
I agree with that method of tightening a forend iron. And like any technique, there's nice work and not so nice work when doing this.

The cleanest example of this was a set of 3 Krieghoff subgauge barrels I had that had been around the block. A gunsmith had used a small ballbearing or similar on each side of the forend lump, and apparently squeezed in a vice or similar process, just ahead of the rear surface, to push metal rearward. Nice and neat, no hammer marks and no shock from hammering that might dislodge the solder/braze of the lump.

Hey guys...

I have no Boss's here. Likely never will.

But, if the bolt fully engages, the gun is tight on face, and there is no evident wear or sloppiness any place that will accelerate wear in other places..

Just because the lever is past center, do we have a problem?

If the gun is Boss then there are two or three things to consider .Firstly it is the spindle that is worn or has "twisted" with years of use . The simple remedy is to heat it up and set it back ,then re harden and temper .It could also be that it has worn both in the body and on the spindle cam ware it comes to a stop . Again the simple answer is to build up the leading edge. add to this possible ware on the bolt "stop" ,the bit that stops it going in too far.
Without seeing it all is educated guess work ,but those are the points I would look at first . This will entail stripping the gun and checking the position of lever and spindle both with and without the bolt in . Bite is another matter .

To the best of my recollection I have three doubles on which the top lever was made to center & remains centered after more than 100 years each. One is American (Lefever), one English (J P Clabrough) & one German (J P Sauer & Son). Of these three only the Lefever has bolt wear compensation. The lefever is a side pivot opener with a vertical bolt entering the rib extension from the rear. Compensation is applied via a screw through the top tang over the bolt.
Both the Clabrough & Sauer have double underbolts with a Doll's Head. The notches in the underlugs are simply cut on a horizontal plane with the bolts fitting with minimum clearance to allow bolting. Both show considerable use yet both remain tight with no slop in the bolting. Sort of makes one wonder if the "Tapered" bolts to provide wear compensation doesn't actually induce as much wear as they compensate for. None of these guns have a latch for the lever, it being cammed over in closing. As the bolt comes in line with the notch it snaps home. "IF" the bbls are closed smoothly yet firmly, the bolt actually snaps home virtually without touching the notch surface to produce friction. A wear compensating bolt always seats with friction on the taper.
The Lefever also bolts tight, but of course I cannot say if it has ever been adjusted or not.

Interesting observation, Miller.

I can see the logic in that, and it may well be the case.

Still, the wear compensating systems were developed in response to wear developing in uncompensated designs, no?

Buzz
You should take you Boss gun to a real gunsmith like gunman. Don't give it to some red neck with a CAT cap on.

Ken Eversull is classified as a "real" gunsmith.

Dustin

Mr Red Dot,
If may read between the lines here, and I could be completely wrong, but from the little information provided in your profile and your three eloquent posts I think it would be safe to assume that you�re in England�I can also see that you are somewhat biased in your opinion as to just whom should be working on all these misfortunate examples of the British gunmakers art.
So do yourself a favor�and this should be relatively easy for you, please call Nigel Beaumont at Purdeys and ask him to tell you just whom this Ken Eversull fellow in the swamps of Louisiana is�..just remember to take your foot out of your mouth before you ring him

All Best

CJ

Well stated, Claudio.

SRH

My late father had a German 16 gauge side by with double un derlocking lugs and Greener crossbolt. A nice gu, but it had shot loose over the years. He took it to a gunsmith in Fresno. This fool proceeded to lock the barrels in a padded vise and peened the underlocking lugs and the crossbolt extension with a center punch. This was his idea of tightening up the action. I was 16 at the time and while I was able to shoot it, I had my concerns. In Christmas of 1975 I got the gun for a Christmas present. I turned around and took it to a gunsmith in Sacramento. He helli arced the peens and filed them down to where they were flush with the lugs and crossbolt extension. Never had any problems after that.