doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com AyA #2 Difficulty in opening breech

I have a 10 year old used #2, 28 ga that experiences intermittent difficulty in opening after firing. It appears that the firing pins are extending into contact with the primer, as there is a light score mark on the 6 o'clock position of the fired primer. I can open the breech, however, more leverage pressure than normal is needed, and then the extractors kick the shells quite away, which is a nuisance - especially when at a clays station. This occurs about 80% of the time. When the top lever is pushed to open, there is a solid click all the time. This seems to be an internal problem, as the pins are free to move within their bosses. Anyone have an idea of the cause?

I had a friend who had an AYA 20b boxlock XXV doing the exact same thing. Very difficult to open after firing.

It was so tough to open that he was worried about cracking the bar.

I took out the firing pins and polished the tips by turning them in a drill press against 400 grit paper, and that immediately solved his problem. Must have been a very small burr or something on the tip that was hanging up in the primer.

Since this is a #2 it's a SLE. If it were mine I'd pull the locks and spray into the interior of the action particularly where the firing pins are located thoroughly with CLP. See if that cures your problem.
Jim

I've had that happen with several sxs guns & one Merkel O/U.

If you haven't already done this, first try a different primer if reloading or a different brand factory load. I've had more problems with Winchester 209 primers than any other & sometimes other brands will work w/o any problem.

Polishing & or slightly reshaping the firing pin tips will usually help but it's a trial & error process & use care not to remove very much material.

I believe that gun has bushed firing pins. Easy to pull them out of the receiver face and examine.
Regards,
Jeff

Stoneke,

I had the same problem with a 12 gauge early A grade Fox.

As Brittany Man suggests, it may be the primers/ammo.

Try some factory loaded Remington Gun Clubs that will have Remington 209 primers. Worked great for me and when I reload for that gun, I use Remington 209 primers. Works fine with those.

Jolly

Another problem that causes this, from time to time, is wear on the cocking levers.This results in the "hammers" not being moved back, until the gun is opening. Whatever the cause, it should be repaired quickly or the gun can be damaged.In my experience, some Spanish guns have "soft"parts, causing various problems.I don't remember this being true in AYA, however.
Mike

I have heard of a number of possible causes for this. I have one gun that had this issue and with that gun the hammers don't rebound until the gun cocks. That requires the gun to begin to open but it can't open without a considerable amount of effort if the firing pins are still embedded in the primers. When the gun is opened you can see where the firing pins dragged leaving elongated dimples on the primers. That is a good way to break a firing pin. Some people have corrected similar issues by rounding, shortening, or otherwise modifying the firing pins. I was using Winchester primers but I started only using Fiocchi primers in that gun and haven't had a problem since.

Could be well worth checking your cases as it sound as if they are expanding into the chambers or rims . Do you reload or use commercial loads ? Have a look at the extractor cam as well to see that it is free and lifting the extractors on opening . Could be pins dragging or broken but I would suspect case problems first .

Well, today I did some additional patterning with the AyA. I took the advice of the contributors and made sure that my hand loads were properly resized. Fired factory rounds from Fiocchi and reloaded WW 209 shells. Not a problem. I had dressed a slight bevel to the bottom of the firing pins and lightly oiled the bushing holes. I do believe the problem is gone. Thanks for the suggestions.