Home Forums Reloading 16 Gauge Society Been doing some repairing and restoration

Good evening folks. I just wanted to share a few pictures with y'all.

I have this old shotgun. The one that my Dad gave to me when I was barely just a teenager. That old gun and I were a team when I was growing up. I never feared anything in the woods with it and went on many adventures together. From hunting and hiking and camping to other things. I wouldn't even be able to count the meals that I helped put on the table with it. Gray squirrel. Fox squirrel. Grouse. Rabbit. Turkey. With it being my only gun for years until I got old enough to eventually buy my own, it would be easy for me to admit that I was have gotten more game with that gun, than I probably have all my others combined.

So, needless to say, that old gun has a special place in my heart.

I got it out a couple of weeks ago, and had discovered that it wasn't ejecting the empty cases anymore. It was extracting them about half way out of the chamber enough to grab with your fingers and finish pulling out, but certainly not ejecting them. OK. No problem. I'll just order a new spring.

To which I quickly discovered there are multiple different ones over the years these were produced so that made it interesting searching for the "right one" I needed.

Well, that got me going down a road that I wasn't expecting to be on.

For starters, the new spring I got, while the correct length, had a smaller interior diameter than the old one. Which meant I couldn't use the old guide rod that was in it.

Ummm. Ok. Now what?

After looking at the guide rod for the ejector and extractor that was in the gun, I wasn't able to find another in a schematic for the multiple model variations they made and couldn't anything even similar to it. You'll be able to see the old guide rod in the picture I'm going to add in a few minutes. But, to me, it looked more like a cut off paneling nail. Or at least that's the first thing that went through my head. Until this year, it had never given me any problems before and to be honest was the first time I had ever taken that apart for any reason, so I knew that it had worked this whole time so I didn't question it, it was just too fat to fit inside of the new spring, which was wound a little tighter than the one that was always in it apparently.



So, to keep from having to pull my hair out hoping I could order one the correct size (which would have likely been an exercise in futility since it doesn't show up in any schematic that I have seen anyway), I went downstairs and got out my air nailer and got one of the little 18 gauge finishing nails and cut it to the same length as the old one and it slid fit perfectly inside of the new spring and put it back together. It's working exactly as it should be again now too.

After I got it back together, the empty hulls are ejecting about 5 or 6 steps behind me again just like it always did. So, now it's functioning properly again.

While I've been working on it, I couldn't help but notice how worn the blueing is on the receiver. While nothing but honest to goodness wear and using it will give that appearance, I decided while I was waiting on the new spring that I would put a few coats of cold blue on it and try to preserve the old gun for a while longer.

I posted this picture the other day in another thread, but this is to show how the blue looked.



And a pic after I finished the cold blue. While not perfect, at least now maybe it'll help preserve the metal better. I had considered doing some hot bluing, but was worried about getting it too hot and messing up the temper of the metal and weakening it. So, I opted for the Birchwood Casey.



I also took the furniture off and washed them in hot soapy Murphy's oil soap. The wood felt terribly dry to me. Which make it more prone to cracking. There's already a crack in it from when I fell and body slammed myself in wet leaves 25 or 30 years ago and I landed straight across it.

After the water dried, I put a very light coat of minwax english chestnut over it just to let it soak it up. It was always kind of a light blonde'ish color, but over the years, has turned more orange'ish anyway. I don't think the minwax stain changed the look of it too much. But did soak into the wood, better preserving it over the long haul.

Nice work! Looks great!

Nice.
16 ga. Double nice.

Thanks for the compliments guys. I'm just trying to keep the old gun in working order and looking at least halfway decent. It's been a work gun almost my whole life at least. One of these days, one of my sons or grandkids will end up with it. I'd like to see it last at least through their time as well.

I found out a little earlier the 18ga finishing nail wasn't strong enough. After a few shots it bent, which caused weak ejection again.

So, I fumbled through just about everything in my shop and found the smallest allen wrench happened to fit inside of the spring. So, I cut it to length and am not having a problem again (at least not that I'm aware of yet--time will tell).

I'm sure the allen wrench is hardened much more than that soft tiny finishing nail. I was hoping it would work, and it did for the first handful of shells, until it didn't.

The allen wrench will likely break before it bends. So far, so good. I'm hoping it's fixed now.

Oddly enough, that little guide rod is not even showing on any of the schematics I have seen.

(part #23 is the ejector spring--there is no guide rod part shown for this M variant but it was there when I took it out). But I'm sure this isn't the only rolling production change anyone ever did.

Where did you get the idea it was a double?

If the allen wrench should fail, consider cutting a drill bit to the correct length and substituting it.

Thanks Remington4Ox. That's a great idea.

Not sure if I can find a 3/64 bit with a 1-1/4" shank on it though.

Edit to add:

I was able to find a 3/64 mill bit that would have a long enough shank.

Gonna post a link here so I can find it later if I need to.

Thanks again !!!!

https://drillsandcutters.com/3-64-hss-straight-shank-straight-flute-chucking-reamer/

And a hardened blank as well would probably be cheaper (depending on shipping).
https://drillsandcutters.com/3-64-hss-jobber-length-drill-bit-blank/

Was able to take the gun out again today. The allen key is still working. Empty shells ejecting about 7 feet still.

So, looks like the allen key is going to be alright. No issues with it.