doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Not a gunsmith but have question

So many things .It was always a problem if someone else had been at it in the past , but if you have had the gun for some time tis is probobly not a factor here .
A gentle cleaning would always been my first thought .
Also check that the safe was not going on on firsts firing .
Check that the trigger is not fouling the guard bow and that it is coming fully forward .
After that it is a matter of checking springs and that any moving part is functioning .
The amount of recoil is also a factor in some older S/T's .
Loose stocks or trigger plates can be a cause , or for that matter if the trigger plate has sunk into the wood due to age and had the hand pin pulled up .
Hope its something simple !


May I also comment on Teds mention about Spanish single triggers ? In so much as AyA used a S/T that was a close copy of a Miller trigger .

I’ve passed on many guns, English and otherwise, that had a Miller single trigger installed. Kiss of death, to me.


That said, if a Spanish maker went to the trouble to try to figure out how to copy the Miller, it was a fair warning that what was there before the Miller was not satisfactory. I’ve not noted that the Spanish gun industry were trailblazing visionary’s on the subject of single trigger design. They used what someone else came up with.


As a young man, it took me most of a season to become familiar with double triggers, after making the switch from the repeaters I grew up with, to my first good double gun. It just wasn’t that hard. I consider a single trigger of any type to be the answer to a question I never asked. Thus, my single trigger experience is anecdotal.

But, there is a ton of that.

Good suggestions, gunman. I hope you are well.

Best,
Ted

I personally know the two previous owners and the gun has been taken well cared for. In fact the first guy bought it directly from AG&L back in the early 2000's.

What happened from 1907 until the early 2000s? Rhetorical question, but, valid.

Some of the things that can go wrong have nothing to do with care, wood shrinks and/or swells, ammunition changes, etc.

Pick a good ‘Smith, and get on with it.

Best,
Ted

I know my experiences with single triggers are not anyone else's, but I have had precious little trouble with them in my lifetime. I currently own two Smiths with Hunter One Triggers and they've worked flawlessly over the years with one exception. Once, my 3" chambered 12 ga. 3E doubled with me using BOSS heavy duck loads. I've pretty well determined it was operator error, due to me inadvertently hitting the trigger again in recoil. I have numerous O/U guns with single triggers and they all work flawlessly. My Beretta SPII Sporting has digested over 15K rounds without one hiccup. Lord only knows how many have gone through my old Winchester imported Perazzi MX8. I even have a $389 Turkish Yildiz S X S with a single trigger, with selector, that has worked perfectly for some 15 years. Never owned a Miller.

I guess my point is that numerous single trigger designs have pretty much been perfected, and if Yildiz can put a perfectly operating single selective trigger on a $389 gun you would think the Spanish and English could, too. Never owned a Turkish O/U with a single trigger, but they have a reputation for unreliability. The S X Ss don't. I love all my double trigger S X Ss but I don't have any problem using a good single trigger if that's what the gun has.

I bought a Model 21 from Steve Barnett about ten years ago. It is a single trigger.

I took it out pheasant hunting soon after I bought it and the first time I shot it, it doubled on me. Can you believe that? So, I'll let you guys in on something. When a 12 gauge shotgun with two loads of 1 1/8 ounce of shot goes off on your cheek at once- you end up with both ears ringing and two distinct emotions: (1) You look around saying, "Was that a plane crash?" and (2) After you look the gun over- "Oh thank goodness this thing isn't damaged!".

Yep. Two 1 1/4 oz. loads (BOSS bismuth) are worse. Doesn't hurt, but it gets your attention.

I have a flock of Miller trigger guns, only one required a minor sear contact adjustment about ten years ago. The others have always worked well. All of my Lancaster single trigger guns have always worked well. My 682 Beretta doesn't reliably set the second barrel with .410s, but I could get that fixed easily.

if you must have a single trigger gun, get one with one barrel only...

I never had any problems switching from one trigger to two triggers. I did have a tough time shooting skeet with a pump gun, though. I saw some of the other guys shooting their model 12s with the Cutts Compensators and I thought I would give it a try. I had a nice 20 gauge Wingmaster. An Ithaca Model 37- 20 gauge. A Model 12 skeet grade in a 16 gauge- okay there we go. The only problem I had was I kept forgetting to pump it after shooting the first shot on a double target. I'd just stand there pulling the trigger over and over and nothing was happening. So after doing that several times the guys shooting with me would start hollering at me after my first shot- pump it!! Pump it!! Pump it!! It took a while but I finally caught on.