So a buddy of mine showed at the farm today with a dandy 20GA Charles Daly semi-auto shotgun that he just bought. He had wanted me to help him get it patterned for turkey hunting and also do a custom paint job on it.

We fired a couple of #4 high-brass loads through it and the 3rd round went "click." The bolt was jammed shut. Long story short: after considerable consternation and difficulty, I finally decided to drop out the trigger group and get the bolt moving again. The back end of the bolt had come apart from the front half. The part with the firing pin was sheared off from the front half with the cocking knob.

He bought it from a gun shop. I say take it back and get a store credit, but what do y'all think about this? I never saw a shotgun fall apart like that. Cheazy metallurgy? Bad design? Anyone know anything about Charles Daly semi-autos?

You hate to tell your friends their baby is ugly, but this one looked like it was still-born.

I have a Charles Daly 12 ga semi-auto and have not had any problems with it in the last 4 years. Maybe I will take it a part and take a closer look at it just to make sure. I have never heard of the bolt coming apart like that, did you take pics?

Better take it back for a credit if he can! There is no guarantee coverage now that Charles Daly has gone out of business, ergo no customer service department, so otherwise he is stuck with a boat anchor!
CHARLES DALY (KBI) CLOSED JAN 29TH.

Myron

Charles Daly was a gentleman (not a company) whose goal was to give the U.S. shotgun consumer a European-manufactured gun of similar quality to the premier American shotguns of the same era. Accordingly, he had various European firms fabricate shotguns with American shooting features and preferences. Many "Prussian" Dalys were built by various firms in Suhl, Germany. Importation ceased prior to WWII. These Prussian Charles Dalys utilized the finest materials and best workmanship of their time.
In 1865, Charles Daly was one of two partners who founded the sporting goods business named Schoverling & Daly. They were importers and dealers located in New York City. In 1873, the company reorganized to include a third partner, and the corporate name was changed to Schoverling, Daly & Gales.
Marking the Charles Daly name on firearms began some time around 1875. Daly's name was chosen because it had an appealing sound and would likely influence potential buyers to choose their firearms. Schoverling, Daly & Gales established their lofty reputation by dealing in top-quality merchandise. Because they were known for their high standard of excellence, the Charles Daly brand garnered much esteem.
Schoverling, Daly & Gales made every effort to select only the finest quality firearms for sale in the United States. Initially, manufacturers in Prussia, such as Schiller and Lindner, and later Heym and Sauer of Germany, were selected for their suberbly constructed shotguns. Early manufacturers also included J&W Tolley of England, Newmann of Belgium, and even Lefever Arms of New York.
Schoverling, Daly & Gales changed ownership several times throughout the years. Eventually, the company's primary asset was the Charles Daly trademark. In 1910, Henry Modell bought the company, and controlled it for several years. In the 1920s, he sold out to the Walzer family, owners of Sloan's Sporting Goods of Ridgefield, CT. The Walzers established a branch of Sloan's in New York known as Charles Daly & Company. Sloan's imported quality shotguns from many companies, including Italian gun makers Beretta and Vincenzo Bernardelli, Miroku of Japan, and Garbi of Spain.
DALY, CHARLES: 1976 TO PRESENT
Currently manufactured trademark imported since late 1996 by KBI, Inc. located in Harrisburg, PA. Previously imported by Outdoor Sports Headquarters, Inc. located in Dayton, OH until 1995.
In 1976, Sloan's Sporting Goods sold the Daly division to Outdoor Sports Headquarters, Inc., a sporting goods wholesaler located in Dayton, OH. OSHI continued the importation of high-grade Daly shotguns, primarily from Italy and Spain. By the mid-1980s, the Charles Daly brand was transformed into a broad consumer line of excellent firearms and hunting accessories.
In 1996, OSHI was sold to Jerry's Sports Center, Inc. of Forest City, PA, a major wholesaler of firearms and hunting supplies. Within a few months of Jerry's acquisition of OSHI, K.B.I., Inc. of Harrisburg, PA, purchased the Charles Daly trademark from JSC. As it turned out, Michael Kassnar, president of K.B.I., Inc., had produced almost all of the Charles Daly products for OSHI from 1976-1985 in his capacity of president of Kassnar Imports, Inc. K.B.I., Inc. resurrected the complete line of O/U and SxS shotguns in early 1997.
In 1998, the line expanded to include rimfire rifles and the first pistol produced under the Daly name, a Model 1911-A1 in .45 ACP cal. In 1999, semi-auto and slide action shotguns were also reintroduced. In 2000, the additions included 3 1/2 in. slide actions and semi-autos, Country Squire .410 bore shotguns, bolt action centerfire rifles, and the DDA 10-45, the first double action pistol produced under the Charles Daly name.
During 2004, Charles Daly began importing Bul Transmark pistols from Israel. In 2007, the Little Sharps single shot rifles were introduced.
In 2008, a Charles Daly Defense line was established, which includes AR-15 style semi-auto rifles.

The recent shotguns were made in Turkey starting around 2001-2002. Owned by KBI, Inc. that I believe has closed it's doors as of Jan, 2010

...which speaks volumes...


I wonder where the parts for C.D. firearms will end up? Numrich?

Numrich supposedly bought Charles Daly. Don't know if that means the whole company or just the parts. Numrich says they are going to take a while to sort it all out, so details are not available yet.

That said, I have also seen a bunch of Daly parts listed on Gunbroker. One dealer a few weeks ago claimed to have bought the Daly parts inventory, and would be listing them for sale, but I think he was full of crap.

Myron

Thanks all! I'll pass this back to the guy. I'm hoping he can get his money back. That was a sad-looking sight inside that receiver.