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Posted: 12/17/2014 2:15:53 AM EDT
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I am new to pump action shotguns and am having an issue that I'm hoping can be easily fixed.
While I have been firing single shot shotguns since I was a child, I bought my first pump action shotgun last month (an H&R Pardner Pump 12 gauge) and took it out last week to see how it handled various ammunition loads. I fired a combination of 6 and 8 shot birdshot, 9 pellet 00 buckshot, and one ounce slugs. All rounds were 2 3/4 shells. All rounds could be loaded and fired without problem. However, once a round was fired, the forend could not be pulled back to eject the spent shell and chamber the next round. After each shot I would have to finagle the forend for several seconds or even a full minute before finally loosening it up enough to cycle the weapon. The only time this didn't happen is when firing the slugs, which consistently cycled without any problem. The ammunition was a variety of manufactures (Remington and Winchester for the birdshot, Spartan for the buckshot, and Winchester again for the slugs). Does anyone have any experience with this sort of issue? Is this simply a matter of breaking in the shotgun? Are Pardner Pumps known to be finicky about ammunition? Might I have a more serious problem that requires the repair or replacement of parts? As near as I can tell, the gun is in perfect working order and does its job without issue, so long as I only ever use slugs, but if I had wanted a smoothbore that only shot one ounce lead projectiles, I'd have bought a musket. Pedersoli makes a mean Brown Bess. It's a bit frustrating because these 870 clones have a reputation for being very reliable and nearly everyone I hear from, who actually has shot or owns these shotguns seems to rave about them. I'm hoping I didn't just get a lemon. |
| When you look down the barrel (from the breech in particular) do you see any defects in the barrel, a burr perhaps? It almost sounds like there is a defect in the chamber, either a burr or in the dimensions of the chamber itself, causing the spend shells to stick once they heat up upon firing. Does the gun extract and eject loaded but unfired ammunition? |
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Quoted: I am new to pump action shotguns and am having an issue that I'm hoping can be easily fixed. While I have been firing single shot shotguns since I was a child, I bought my first pump action shotgun last month (an H&R Pardner Pump 12 gauge) and took it out last week to see how it handled various ammunition loads. I fired a combination of 6 and 8 shot birdshot, 9 pellet 00 buckshot, and one ounce slugs. All rounds were 2 3/4 shells. All rounds could be loaded and fired without problem. However, once a round was fired, the forend could not be pulled back to eject the spent shell and chamber the next round. After each shot I would have to finagle the forend for several seconds or even a full minute before finally loosening it up enough to cycle the weapon. The only time this didn't happen is when firing the slugs, which consistently cycled without any problem. The ammunition was a variety of manufactures (Remington and Winchester for the birdshot, Spartan for the buckshot, and Winchester again for the slugs). Does anyone have any experience with this sort of issue? Is this simply a matter of breaking in the shotgun? Are Pardner Pumps known to be finicky about ammunition? Might I have a more serious problem that requires the repair or replacement of parts? As near as I can tell, the gun is in perfect working order and does its job without issue, so long as I only ever use slugs, but if I had wanted a smoothbore that only shot one ounce lead projectiles, I'd have bought a musket. Pedersoli makes a mean Brown Bess. It's a bit frustrating because these 870 clones have a reputation for being very reliable and nearly everyone I hear from, who actually has shot or owns these shotguns seems to rave about them. I'm hoping I didn't just get a lemon. |
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I suspect that you are pulling the gun back into the shoulder by applying heavy rearward pressure on the forend preventing the slide from releasing upon firing. Try applying less rearward pressure to the forend and more with the strong hand on the grip area of the buttstock. Personally, I prefer the push/pull method for holding a defensive shotgun (pull with the strong hand on the grip and push out with the support hand on the forend) it mitigates perceived recoil and allows for better control of where the muzzle is pointed. If you don't like that, get into the rhythm of pushing the forend forward upon firing as an immediate prelude to working the action rearward and see if that doesn't make it a smoother operation. In time, the action should loosen up a little bit and smooth out.
Also, cheap shells (bird and buck) can cause or contribute to a lot of feeding AND ejection problems. A couple years ago I purchased a case of "Spartan" brand 00 Buck that caused nothing but problems in most any gun I ran them through. It was failures to feed in some guns and failures to eject in others. I finally figured out that most every shell was slightly out of round being more of an oval than a circle in cross-section. Other people seemed to like this stuff so I am guessing my case of shells may have sat on the bottom of an over-loaded pallet at some point during shipping/storage. Discount birdshot like Winchester's "Universal" load (and others) has been notorious for case head/rim issues causing hard extractions. |
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