Hard to open over/under?

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huntingfish

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Hi everyone!
I just bought a used over/under (Stevens 555). It's my first one and I haven't fired it yet. I find it seems a bit hard to push the unlock lever to the right. Previous owner said he fired 200-250 shots through it.

I removed the fore-end and barrels and looked at what was happening inside when I push the lever to the right. At the bottom rear of the opening in the receiver, there's a almost full width piece (not sure what it's called) that moves and that gets caught once the lever is all the way to the right. I believe that piece isn't lubed correctly and has too much friction.

I've tried spraying a bit of oil on it and working the lever...but it doesn't solve the problem. My next step would of been to apply to gun grease to it...but I wanted to check with you guys. I wouldn't want to get some grease somewhere it's not supposed to go and compound the problem even further.

Thanks!

David
 
From your description-
The siding piece is the locking bolt, fits into notches in the barrels, holds the barrels closed.

If lever is hard to start and then easier, it is hanging in the notches, maybe some grit or roughness.
If hard all the way, then more possibles - strong lever spring, dirt, rough part, needs time to wear in a bit, etc
Take to a g/s?
 
oldstarfire said:
From your description-
The siding piece is the locking bolt, fits into notches in the barrels, holds the barrels closed.

If lever is hard to start and then easier, it is hanging in the notches, maybe some grit or roughness.
If hard all the way, then more possibles - strong lever spring, dirt, rough part, needs time to wear in a bit, etc
Take to a g/s?
Click to expand...

I added a bit of oil under the locking lever, hoping it would drip everywhere it needs to. Put it back in the safe for a few hours.

I played a bit more with the o/u and I think I narrowed it down to the cocking spring of the bottom barrel...
If neither barrel has fired, the locking lever is now a lot easier to move.
If I open the action (without dry firing either barrels), it still easy to unlock.
If I fire the over barrel and open the action, it's still easy to unlock even though you can feel a bit of resistance.
If I fire the under barrel and open the action, it's a bear to unlock. Same happens when I fire both barrels.

Don't think any amount of grease or oil will fix that. Might have to fire a bunch of rounds through it and see if it gets better. If not, will have to take it to a gunsmith.

Is my assessment well thought out?

David
 
That locking lug plays a very important part in the functionality of the gun. It is spring loaded, and designed to be a very close tolerance fit into the barrel block - in many cases hand fitted. It is softer than the barrel block, so it wears preferentially. As it wears, the spring force maintains its fit in the barrel block channel. If the wear is substantial (from shooting many rounds), the travel of the spring is exhausted and the gun will open upon firing. Lug wear is identified by the position of the top lever, it should be off center to the right, if left of centre you have a high mileage gun that could be close to, or have the lug bottoming out.
A lot of new shotgun owners will try to forcefully centre the top lever when loading the gun. This should not be done, and may cause the problems you describe.
The lug should be lubricated in both the receiver slot and barrel block recess. I use grease due to the relatively high pressures and stress upon firing. This will reduce the friction, and the wear rate of the lug. In your post, its not clear as to whether you have fully addressed this issue.
Finally, a fair amount of force is required to operate the top lever on most shotguns, as the spring force on the lug is several hundred pounds. To boot, the top lever generally does not #### the hammers - opening the gun does, along with the ejectors. Perhaps you should visit a local store and compare yours to a new one. Then you can decide if further remedial action is required - eg take off the buttstock, which is easy to do.
 
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If you've dry fired (or live fired) the gun then you are cocking the hammers against spring tension when you open the gun. If you haven't fired the gun then you are not cocking the gun when it's opened and it will naturally be slightly easier to open.
 
Old lubricant that has dried can cause tough opening. It almost looks like varnish. Clean it well and dry fire it before trying to open it. Carb cleaner works to take off the oil varnish.
 
Following your description and the fact a bit of oil helped, the gun should be details stripped, or remove stock and put the action in an ultrasonic bath. Then lube with CLP - lube. Then , and only then, trouble shooting can start if the problem persist.
The old saying - if it’s ain’t broken, don’t fix it is always a good advise..
 
It does seem to me to most likely be a problem with old and hardened lube. The one and only second hand gun I ever bought had been a safe queen and I had a problem with the safety/barrel selector; you would have sworn it had been welded in place but applying a cleaning lube, probably CLP, and then waiting for a couple of days, then gently working the unfrozen but still stiff safety and selector functions for a while resolved things completely. Your issue seems to be a little more severe but with luck removing the varnished lube, CLP, carb cleaner or whatever, will do the trick. Forcing things in your case would be very unwise and if the problems persists, then go to a gunsmith.
 
Hmm, I didn't think anything of it at first...but with all the posts on the subject, I think I might of left out some vital information.

When I received the gun, it did have some white paste (probably grease I imagine?) on both sides of the lever. And a small part of it was yellow (like it dried off). I didn't think anything of it and just cleaned it up. *facepalm*

I do not have an ultra-sonic bath unfortunately. Can a thorough cleaning do instead? I'll have to look at youtube to see how one cleans an O/U.

Will report back once I do that.

David
 
White lithium grease is good for all sliding surfaces; shoot the hell out of it; it will loosen up.
 
Well - I had a quick look at the 555 schematic, and it appears to #### the hammers with the top lever - very unusual.
OP - You dont need an ultrasonic bath. Take the butt-stock off, its easy to do. This will expose the hammers. sears, etc. Check the function and wear. Buy a can of spray gun lube and go at it!
 
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