Last Saturday I attended an auction where a number of interesting side by sides were on offer. One of them was described as "Unknown Spanish" - a rather curious description since the maker was clearly marked on the barrels - Gaspar Arizaga. This should have been my first clue that the auction house had not done a decent job of inspecting the gun prior to writing their catalog description. However, the gun is in great condition and I've been looking for a nice Spanish side lock ever since I broke the stock on my previous go-to pheasant gun. (Full disclosure: My own inspection was somewhat lacking, as I missed an obvious issue myself.)
I stopped by my friend's house on the way home (some of you know him as Sharptail on this forum), excited about having just purchased a sweet Spanish side lock for a mere $345.00. You can imagine my disappointment when he cracked open the action and said,"Where are the firing pins?" Sure enough, neither of the firing pins could be seen. When I removed the locks later that day, I found that the pins were there, but both were broken. Researching the subject on the internet, I learned that many guns of that era employed what are known as 'free floating' firing pins. This design includes no springs or other mechanism to return the pins after firing. When opening the gun designed this way, if the barrels are pointing downward, gravity pulls the extractors down and, even though the pins are protruding past the fences, they don't come in contact with the extractors or the shells and all is well. If, on the other hand, the barrels are facing skyward when the action is opened, the extractors remain fully extended but the pins slide back into their channel and, again, they are safe from damage. This is a bit of a goofy design, IMO. But, it was not uncommon around that time.
First thing Monday morning, I went to Western Gun Parts and purchased pins from their miscellaneous tray that were as close to the dimensions of the original pins as possible. I also picked up an assortment of springs. I then set about hand filing the new pins with needle files. The inside of the firing pin channels in the receiver are of a given diameter, then there's a flange that stops the pin's forward motion and constricts the channel to a smaller diameter suitable for the striker portion of the pin through the fences. (NOTE: the pins have a notch on one side into which a set screw is introduced to limit the backward motion after firing.) It took me until Tuesday at lunch time to hand fit the new pins. They now worked as originally designed, but the design is far from optimal due to rust, dust, and crud build up that causes the pins to jam occasionally, usually resulting in more broken pins, I suspect.
I had to cut coil springs to 5 different lengths before I came upon the optimum size. I placed said springs (they look almost exactly like ball point pen springs) over the strikers so that they seated against the front of the firing pin body at the back end and against the striker flange at the front. The result was nothing less than spectacular. The gun functions flawlessly now without even a hint of the previous jamming issues. With the modified design, the pins never protrude past the fences, except for the instant when the hammers slam them into the primer. Even then, they are prevented from striking too hard and potentially piercing the primers. This gun is well designed other than the firing pin mechanism and sports gas ports in case of the rare occasion when a primer might be pierced despite my best efforts.
I really wanted this gun to start the pheasant season which opens in just over a week. Going from abject disappointment to having new-found skills in two days only has made the experience even more fun than I had expected.
I apologize for the complete lack of photos for your viewing - I was so focused on getting this right that I forgot about taking pictures. The stocks aren't beat up by any stretch, but another job that I really enjoy is refinishing the wood. I'm planning to hunt with it the way it sits and then refinish the stocks over the winter. Bottom line for a sweet handing, fine looking Spanish side lock SXS (including all parts, auction buyer's premium, and taxes) was $387.00. How can you beat that!??!
I stopped by my friend's house on the way home (some of you know him as Sharptail on this forum), excited about having just purchased a sweet Spanish side lock for a mere $345.00. You can imagine my disappointment when he cracked open the action and said,"Where are the firing pins?" Sure enough, neither of the firing pins could be seen. When I removed the locks later that day, I found that the pins were there, but both were broken. Researching the subject on the internet, I learned that many guns of that era employed what are known as 'free floating' firing pins. This design includes no springs or other mechanism to return the pins after firing. When opening the gun designed this way, if the barrels are pointing downward, gravity pulls the extractors down and, even though the pins are protruding past the fences, they don't come in contact with the extractors or the shells and all is well. If, on the other hand, the barrels are facing skyward when the action is opened, the extractors remain fully extended but the pins slide back into their channel and, again, they are safe from damage. This is a bit of a goofy design, IMO. But, it was not uncommon around that time.
First thing Monday morning, I went to Western Gun Parts and purchased pins from their miscellaneous tray that were as close to the dimensions of the original pins as possible. I also picked up an assortment of springs. I then set about hand filing the new pins with needle files. The inside of the firing pin channels in the receiver are of a given diameter, then there's a flange that stops the pin's forward motion and constricts the channel to a smaller diameter suitable for the striker portion of the pin through the fences. (NOTE: the pins have a notch on one side into which a set screw is introduced to limit the backward motion after firing.) It took me until Tuesday at lunch time to hand fit the new pins. They now worked as originally designed, but the design is far from optimal due to rust, dust, and crud build up that causes the pins to jam occasionally, usually resulting in more broken pins, I suspect.
I had to cut coil springs to 5 different lengths before I came upon the optimum size. I placed said springs (they look almost exactly like ball point pen springs) over the strikers so that they seated against the front of the firing pin body at the back end and against the striker flange at the front. The result was nothing less than spectacular. The gun functions flawlessly now without even a hint of the previous jamming issues. With the modified design, the pins never protrude past the fences, except for the instant when the hammers slam them into the primer. Even then, they are prevented from striking too hard and potentially piercing the primers. This gun is well designed other than the firing pin mechanism and sports gas ports in case of the rare occasion when a primer might be pierced despite my best efforts.
I really wanted this gun to start the pheasant season which opens in just over a week. Going from abject disappointment to having new-found skills in two days only has made the experience even more fun than I had expected.
I apologize for the complete lack of photos for your viewing - I was so focused on getting this right that I forgot about taking pictures. The stocks aren't beat up by any stretch, but another job that I really enjoy is refinishing the wood. I'm planning to hunt with it the way it sits and then refinish the stocks over the winter. Bottom line for a sweet handing, fine looking Spanish side lock SXS (including all parts, auction buyer's premium, and taxes) was $387.00. How can you beat that!??!
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