A Sick Citori

Devlin

Devlin

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I'm the new owner of a handed down Citori that has seen very little use in the past 10 - 12 years. Dad passed this on to me when he got his new Cynergy. I have been experiencing some odd behavoir with the lower barrell on the gun, here's what happens:

- Fire the top barrell no problem works everytime
- When loaded with 2 rounds and attempting to fire the second barrell it "sometimes" (can't get it to happen everytime) maybe 2 out of every 10 rounds will not fire the second barrell on the second trigger pull
- It will fire the lower barrell on a third trigger pull though

What I've done to it so far

- taken it apart to the point where you can see the action etc
- degreased it and re-greased the mechanism
- I did not remove the firing pins as it was beyond my know how on how to get at them.

Any thoughts or suggestions? I am in the Kitchene/Waterloo area and I think my next step is to bring it in to a smith to have it looked over but wanted to get some feedback from this group first.

Also if people think a trip to a gunsmith is warranted here any suggestions on a good one for over/unders? I know it's not the greatest over/under but it being the old man's gun originally I don't want to hand it over to just anyone to work on it.
 
I had almost the same problem....My issue was having either barrel fire and then the second wouldn't - sometimes. The issue was that "varnish" had essentially formed in the portion of the action - well inside what you can see - that rocked over once the barrel was fired. The recoil was supposed to move this small piece to a position where it could fire the other barrel however that was getting caught up. A supersonic cleaning by a local gunsmith was a quick fix.
 
Have you tried switching the selector and firing the bottom barrrel first? Generally the bottom barrel is fired first with an o/u.

Have you had someone else fire the gun. Do they experience the same problem? It could be that you are not releasing the trigger sufficiently for it to reset.

The other possiblity is that the wood has swollen and is impeding the second trigger pull. This might require the attention of a gunsmith.
 
@ Claybuster...yes apologies missed adding that detail I have switched the selector and had the issue occur that way as well.

Also read up that people run into this when not releasing the trigger properly. Went out to my local range TCRC and ran 100 rounds through it and intentionally removed my finger completely after each initial trigger pull and the issue still happens though as stated previously only intermittently.
 
Browning bottom firing pins are famous for not firing deep seated primers (federal for example) due to the angle of the firing pin on the bottom barrel as it exits the breech face. If you are shooting federal ammo or loading your own, switch to winchester primers or other brands of factory ammo such as remington, winchester etc, and you should cure the issue for a while but eventually you will have to send it out to a gunsmith to have the firing pins replaced.
 
I had a similar problem with a Beretta o/u and it was resolved with a thorough cleaning. I found a small piece of debris under the firing pin. If you can't take apart then get a good gunsmith to help you.
 
Thanks for the info guys, and funny enough I am shooting Federal through this gun in fact that's about all it's ever seen for ammo.

@ planemaker - that link is awesome I am going to take a run at pulling the pins out after looking through that post it seems to be fairly easy to do. Thanks for passing it along, I'll update the thread once I've had a chance to pull the pins out and see what they look like.
 
Covey Ridge said:
Thanks, planemaker. I do not have a problem with any citori that I own, but this is great info. to save.
Click to expand...

Your welcome,
If you are not familiar with the shotgunworld website, it is my favorite for all things shotgun.
Citori's are in general very robust and trouble free but if there is one weakness of the design it is the lower firing pin / hammer arrangement carried over from it's predecessor the (my favorite) Superposed. By far the complaints of non firing on Citoris is the lower barrel, the hammer strikes the firing pin with less force than the upper due to the design and the lower firing pin is angled. If not periodically removing and cleaning the lower pin and channel a buildup of crap can slow it enough to cause light strikes. Another thing is to be sure the lower pin has enough protrusion to be 100% reliable, apparently from what I have read over the past few years is that factory replacement lower pins have had a tad of length added to them to help with lower barrel non firing problems.

Tim
 
Interesting! I have a new to me Cynery Classic Sporting 12 GA that does the same thing when I close the action gently. Doesn't matter which barrel is selected to fire first. I find if I close the action with authority, no problem, both barrels fire. Maybe a deep cleaning is in order as it looks like the previous owner shot quite a bit.
 
Follow the sticky that planemaker posted... it's easy to do. Solved the same problem on my superposed. You won't believe the crap you will swab out of the firing pin holes!!! Save the money you will pay the gunsmith and do it yourself.
 
Well last night I disassembled the butt stock on the Cynergy, removed the firing pins, cleaned them, the springs and the holes and reassembled. All to no avail:confused::confused:

Still the same deal. If I close the action gently, only one barrel will fire, doesn't matter which one is selected to go first. If I close the action with a little authority then no problem. It's not a matter of firing pins not striking or light striking, the trigger itself doesn't switch over to the second barrel so it's like something isn't quite fully engaging in the mechanism without a little persuasion.

I did get lots of gunk out but I think I'll take the butt off again & give the entire action a good shot of G96 or CLP since everything in there looked pretty dry. Let that sink in and maybe things will work more smoothly.

I also did the changing the ejectors to extractors by removing the ejector sears & it took 10 seconds, was easy as pie, worked like a charm! Only tools required were a pocket knife & my thumb nail! That part I'm thrilled with:dancingbanana::dancingbanana::dancingbanana:
 
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Doug The Canuck said:
Are you holding the gun tight to your shoulder when firing. The rest is inertial and needs something to hit up against in order to re-set the trigger.
Click to expand...


Hmmm ........... never thought of that! :HR::HR: I didn't really realize that it was the recoil/inertia that tripped the trigger over to the other barrel. Makes me wonder what that would have to do with how hard I close the action but hey stranger things have happened. I've been using snap caps so maybe you're onto something! Also, if it's the recoil then why does it sometimes work with snap caps if there's no recoil?
I hope you're right as it would be the best possible scenario. :D
Only one way to find out I suppose ......... shoot it!!!
 
Well from what I can tell recoil or inertia should have nothing to do with the second trigger reset on a Cynergy.

According to the owners manual..........
"the Cynergy shotgun has mechanical triggers. The recoil action of a fired shell in the first barrel is not necessary to set the trigger to fire the round in the second barrel."

Seems the saga continues...........
 
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