doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion German & Austrian Sporting Guns @ doublegunshop.com 1915 J P Sauer 12g shotgun.

I just got my first Sauer from the last Holts sale for about $60.00. Its clearly had a life but seems to be mechanically sound, its one of a large batch of guns which came from a Danish collector in the auction. The strip down has been fairly straightforward but I've come to a halt at the hanging sears. Can anyone advise on the correct way to release and remove these. I'm guessing that the tumblers are similar to any boxlock when dismantling
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If you haven't got any joy just yet, be sure to release the force by dropping the hammers taking the tension off the scears. The overhanging scears will need to be removed before the tumblers can be compressed and rolled out. Gently slack up the overhanging scear pin quite slowly and remove it taking the tension off by lowering it. Typically in European sporting weapons the mark usually go on the right side. Be sure, be very sure to note, take a tonne of fotos, whatever exactly how the spring guide is oriented as it must be returned in the exact same position.


Serbus,

Raimey
rse

Thank you for your reply. My main concern was the strength of the coil springs which "tension" the sears. When I remove the pivot pin it feels as if it will be very difficult to relocate them when re-assembling everything because of this. Is it normal to have such strong springs ? I wondered if a previous owner had preferred a stiff trigger release and had replaced them.
I'm photographing every stage and noting every mark. One thing I have noticed is that virtually every part inside the action and fore-end is stamped with the last three numbers of the serial number, in this case 797, from 214797 which seems to personalise everything.

Regards
Thruxton.

I have serious reservations that anyone would go to the lengths just to replace the spring for another with a higher -kx. The situation is just that of German offerings. Indeed, the Germans were quite pedantic and put a number on everything to keep everything in the kit sorted and then each mechanic applied his initials or mark for compensation & liability.

Pleasure us with some fotos when you have it all disassembled. Then when you are herding cats and get it all back together, a few more fotos would be excellent. Might I ask why you are attempting this feat?

Serbus,

Raimey
rse

Thruxton,
Did you follow Raimey's advice to lower the hammers, first, to take the tension off?
Mike

Thanks again for the replies.
I did lower the hammers at the start of things and the sears move freely, but with some effort as the coil springs shown in the one image I have managed to upload are pretty strong, hence my concern about removing the pivot pin.

My reason for dismantling the piece is partly curiosity as it has clearly been stored for a number of years and I'd like to check and clean everything before using it. Another reason is, like Everest, because its there. I simply enjoy exploring the innards of old guns and then using them.

Could anyone point me toward the thread some while ago which explained how to display images please. I remember enough to provide a link but not how to show the actual image.
Thruxton.

Use imgbox.com or similar. Another quick option you can just forward them to me & I'll gladly post them.

Serbus,

Raimey
rse

Well, that was much more straightforward than I imagined it would be. By carefully pushing in the correct upward direction, shielding my thumb with a small square of leather on the painfully shaped sear arm the tension on the pivot pin was slackened and it all came apart easily. The mainspring was compressed with a trusty piece of yew wood with a "V" in the end and the tumbler pivot pin was released and removed. It looks like the small connecting piece between the tumbler and the cocking indicator is missing but I can live with that. Everything was in tidy condition and just needed cleaning and polishing before re assembling and repeating the process on the other side. Whilst I was in the vicinity I dismantled the top lever, its pivot shaft, the bolt and the Greener/Kirsten assembly, cleaned everything and popped it back where it came from.
The stock had seen some life, with a couple of cracks at the top front caused I think by the breech and hand pins coming loose at some time which required a careful repair of a tapered and oval hole through the stock for the breech pin. The front cracks were cleaned, drilled for a dowel and glued back together. Finally, the stock had been cut down to about 12" which needed an extension made and fitted, from the remains of an old stock I had knocking about. It won't win any prizes but it looks workmanlike which applies to the whole gun really.
Pictures to follow, either by myself if I can crack the technology or via the kind offer of "ellenbr" above.

Thruxton