doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Fraction Inch

Appreciate comment re why my LC 20ga field and Parker 12ga VH require extra pressure to open last fraction of an inch for easy extraction.

Perhaps it is so the shells will not fall out of the chambers until one applies that extra pressure?

Mark

Mark.
I can't speak for the Parker, but the Smith's last fraction of an inch is to cock the hammers.

My Father's old 2-frame VH-Grade waterfowl gun was out of adjustment and one could open it far enough to remove the shells, reload and close it without cocking it!! Keith Kearcher worked on it and now it requires that slight extra effort and is cocked just before the shell rims clear the top of the breechface.

I personally prefer the gun to cock just "After" it opens enough to clear the shells. On a gun of good design with a proper barrel check it is far easier to simply always open the gun to the check than to have to fiddle with holding it open while loading or unloading. That's just my opinion of course, but guns so constructed have never given me a problem. Those you have to hold open to load are a constant problem as to do it easily & safely you really need three hands.

The hammers of course should be "Cocking" for the entire drop of the barrels, but they do not reach full cock until the sears drop into the notch/bent. Depending on the individual gun this can occur either before or after the shells will clear the standing breech, I prefer it after.

Why do all my other doubles open fully for loading and extracting and the two mentioned do not? It's too cumbersome to be normal. It's too smooth to be caused by obstruction or mechanical. An adjustment of some kind?

There are proper gunsmithing names for what you detect but to the rest of us, what you feel in those last few degrees of barrel movement is the cocking mechanism moving the hammers/tumblers beyond the point at which the sears engage their bents. When you let off the pressure on the barrels/cocking mechanism, the main springs return the cocking mechanism/barrels to the cocked position.
With the greatest respect to 2-piper, the gun should cock BEFORE the spent shells can be removed/ejected or in theory one could reload and slam shut a gun with the hammers in the fired position, ie strikers protruding from the breech face, with frightening consequences.
A correctly regulated gun will only have a little barrel movement after full cock is achieved and a gun that does not let you load or unload without having to push it beyond full cock has had its sears so reduced in length (by bad manufacture or ham-fisted/repeated trigger regulation) that the correct regulation has been lost and the sears need replacement or extending by a knowledgeable gunsmith with a good TIG welder.

King,

Your LC should be fully cocked before the end of the barrel opening swing cycle, you can feel the hammers cock and the sears set. Cocking should go over center and the sears set at about 85%-90% through the opening cycle, not at the absolute very end.

Most likely the cocking plate in your forearm needs adjusting to cock properly, the screw is on the top of your forearm facing forward at an angle. It is item #56 in the upper left corner with the forend iron group, and is available from Numrich by phone or on line for $3.00 USD + shipping. A new cocking plate screw is also available, item #57. The cocking plate is also pictured for your review.

Adjustment is very simple, but if worn you need a new one. On the other end of the cocking rods you have the hammers #26 and #27 and the cocking cams #17 and #18, it is unlikely they are worn, as they are hardened steel.

Best Regards,

I can't thank all of you personally for the assistance you've given me over the years except to say that I'm grateful. I pass it along where I can. Kind regards, King