doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com In closing

When you close a side by side should you, 1) actuate the lever and close the barrels or 2) snap it shut without actuating the lever?
Inquiring minds want to know!
Lance

Most makers I have spoken with on this issue say to allow the bolt to "snap" shut. Theory - it is better to assure positive bolting than to try to minimize bolt wear.

DDA

Agree with Rocketman about letting it snap shut - which is different from slam shut.

+1 Agree with Rocketman/Jerry

Certainly not like I saw at a recent clay shoot. Hold gun in right hand by small of stock; slam shut with whip like motion to make noisy clunk. Pull trigger, thump butt with base of hand as hard as possible and pull trigger a second time; throw in boot (trunk) of car. Makes me wonder how long that Browning is going to last. Lagopus.....

On P guns,catch thr top lever with your thumb,or you will need a new top lever in rather short order.I have a box with broken top levers to make this point with Perrazi owners.Giacomo asked me to stress this when I sold and worked on them.

I know it is contrary to most opinions, but I ease the barrels closed and ease the toplever closed. If you look at a Beretta O/U that has been shot a lot and snapped shut, you can see the holes where locking pins engage barrels loosing their roundness and becoming oval. Also believe it saves wear on top latch and barrel shoulders of high volume Kguns. I carry idea over to Supers, M21's, etc; have never had a problem from doing thus, it makes me feel better and I can't be talked out of it.

I always thought that differing technique was dictated by the bolting system.
Rotary Bolt- snap shut
Others- lever eased
Bob Jurewicz

My stock guns, especially after reproof, are very tightly jointed on the bite and although I ease this jointing to make them easy to open without undue force, they still need to be 'shot in'.
Allowing the bolting to snap shut (not 'slam' shut!) means they are bolted to the correct degree by the sprung leverwork and they will settle in correctly.
Damping the action of the spring can only make then bolt at a lesser degree and I would be concerned that a 'step' could be created on the botling surface making it increasingly likely that the gun will not bolt fully.
Snapping a gun shut (repeat, not slaming) will allow the spring to do its job much more consistently than your thumb could ever discern.
Once a gun is fully 'shot in' I doubt whether it makes any real differance. If loosely bolted on the first shot, the recoil will probably settle the bolting to where it should be and the second shot would be bolted where it should be.
If it loosens the bolting, the gun probably needs rejointing anyway!
But then what do I know?

Not long, if it was a Browning O/U of recent vintage. I am around a lot of clay shooters, high volume, and without exception Brownings wear out, to the point that they open themselves after the first shot, quicker than any other commonly seen clays gun. I have no bone to pick with Browning at all, but this is fact. They just won't last under high volume shooting, without being re-bolted regularly.

I don't think easing them shut would make a difference, either.

SRH