Home Forums Birds & Dogs Shotguns Do owners even READ their manuals???

Posting this here because I've had more issues with owners of shotguns having no clue how their own firearm works..

At least 5-6 times per year I get a shotgun in that "won't cycle shells".. Probably 25% of the time it's the owner not knowing his own firearm. The last one (2 days ago) claimed "shells won't come out of the magazine"..

Ok, it happens, especially with the Rem 1100/11-87 items when improper installation of the bolt can break the feed latch tip... Guy comes in and drops off a brand-new Beretta Pintail. I look it over and say, "let's go outside and do a test fire"..

I load one in the chamber, load 2 more in the magazine, point down range and let 'er fly.. BANG BANG BANG in very short order.. "WTH", he sez, "but when I go to unload it I can't get them out of the magazine"

I was pretty sure I knew the answer but he didn't have his manual with. So I went online and downloaded the pertinent page, then highlighted the sentence he needed to read, then offered a demonstration for the technique.

Come to find out he never read the manual and didn't know this particular shotgun needs to be unloaded while upside down and with your thumb pressed against the shell stop - the shells are then removed one-by-one..as opposed to the Rem units where one just cycles the action by hand.

Two months before, another semi-auto came in that 'wouldn't cycle ammo'.. After the fore-arm was removed it was obvious the piston and ring were installed backwards.. The proper sequence is diagrammed in the manual..which I gently (and with a smile) reminded him to reference next time in case he forgets the procedure..

Even those with Browning A-5s many times can't get it right - and most of THOSE have the diagram glued inside the fore-arm!!..Hello!!


Not, by any means, complaining - just wondering if you shotgun owners here truly read the manuals that come with the firearm to become familiar with the various operations and disassembly/reassembly functions (unless it's a replacement of one you already know and are familiar with)?

It's not just shotgun owners. Seems a lot of folks are too stupid or too lazy to open a manual or look on a manufacturer's website.

By the way... How do I lube my Glock?

Took a guy duck hunting last year, he had bought a brand new Benelli SBE2.

Gun wouldn't cycle, and continually short shucked.

Come to find out, when I said JUST bought...he bought it at Dicks 8 PM the night before and the only steel they had in his price range was 2-3/4 winchester xperts.


He didn't read either, or he would have known that the SBE2 needs at least a box of heavy 3, or 3.5 inch magnums to "break in" the springs properly. Apparently the sales guy told him that but he didn't want to spend the money on the shells.

So he finished the day out with my beat up well worn SBE2 and I shot the ship out of his with 3.5 inch #1s all day

I bought my SBE from a friend about 15 years ago. He showed me how it works and showed me how to take it down and put it back together. I make my living fixing anything and everything. So I have never referenced the manual after being shown.

I do know what you mean though half of what I fix is because someone thought they could fix it and only made it worse. Or even worse someone did make it work but half-a$$ed or rigged it so bad the next Pearson (me) to work on it spends 3 times the time, effort and aggravation that it should have to get it back up and running.

Why in the world would you need a manual for a shotgun.....

Usually don't except for a casual glance. Then again, with semi-autos I've usually used one before I bought it. Had to reference the manual on a couple occasions to get the bolt back in easily. Other than that there are only a few buttons on them that do anything.

I was just funning.....I've actually owned a couple of auto's but fortunately neither required a manual to figure out.....

I don't think I ever have. But that's because all of the shotguns I own were acquired second-hand(or third-, or fourth-hand) and had no manual with them.

BEST EVER: Friend used to work for Browning in their service center. Guy mailed in a shotgun saying that after he installed the choke tube, the gun would not load shells and he could not get the tube removed.

The joker put the choke tube in the CHAMBER end of the barrel, not the muzzle end. He had to have the gun disassembled to get the choke in and somehow got it screwed in.

Needless to say the barrel was toast and they gave him a new one, with a new manual, and an extra personally addressed letter explaining which end the chokes went in......

Wow! Apparently not.

I've bought almost all used shotguns. And "No" I don't think I've ever read a manual for one.

The sad truth is not everyone is intelligent or mature enough to own firearms. Or drive a vehicle, drink alcohol, patent children, ect.

Had a Pintail for a while. Camo, 26". Carried and balanced well. Cycled everything. Easy to clean.
LOP was a tad too long, other interests came along and I didn't care for the way you unloaded shells from the magazine.
Sold it to a buddy and he uses it for everything.

You can also push the bolt release in and back and it will drop a shell onto the carrier like other Berettas and Benellis. Then rack the bolt to load it and rack again to unload. It's hard to do though and probably slower than just unloading out the bottom.

O/U's don't need a manual...

Then why is one provided?

I'll tell you why O/Us need a manual.

Twice I've had the buttstock come loose from a lot of shooting. To tighten it you need a very L-O-N-G tool to reach down in there. Is it a slotted head of an Allen screw? If eh latter, what size? The manual tells you.

Also if your O/U gets rained on, you might want to take the mechanism out and dry it off.

Fortunately most manuals can be accessed on-line.

Nobody thinks they need a manual because 'Youtube' and 'The Innernet'. Unfortunately neither has a Moron Filter and the best use of the latter is to find a PDF of the owner's manual.

Somehow I have owned dozens of cars, hundreds of guns, countless motorized off road vehicles and tons of other equipment that came with a manual and they have all worked for me and I haven't read one manual.

Is there something in there I need to know?

So have I; but read unending questions from members of various internet forums that could be easily answered by a peek in the manual.

I defer to Agustus Mcrae in that what's good for me ain't necessarily good for the weak minded.

Many times, rather than being either stupid or lazy, they have far too much "experience" and/or "basic understanding of how mechanical things work" to have the need to consult with a manual.