Stevens 311 cocking plunger/hold open modification

[The_Shmoo]

Just picked up a nice 311, an A model I think, markings are scant. The only thing I'm not a fan of is having to hold open the gun that extra 1/8" to add or extract shells. Has anyone successfully shortened the cocking plunger to increase the opening? I've heard of removing material from in the cocking lever, but I'm not super keen on attempting to reassemble this beast.

 

[The_Shmoo]

4 years oughta do for a bump as I Google things and end up finding my own post.

 

[Scar270]

Been quite a few years since I ran a stevens 311, so I can't answer your question, but i can tell you the mainspring are a bugger to reinstall. I think they are 90lb springs.

 

[The_Shmoo]

I have definitely heard the horror stories of the 400lb hammer springs, I will not be tackling that job unless it absolutely comes to it.

 

[straightshooter]

I had a Savage Fox B (same as 311 with slightly better finish details) that broke the cocking plunger. It was not a complicated task to remove the broken one and install the new part. Whether trimming the plunger will solve your issue or not, I can’t say. There’s a remote possibility that the gun won’t coc k properly once the plunger is shortened.

 

[The_Shmoo]

There are a few different methods i've found from the cowboy guys, one is taking the little nubbin end off the cocking plunger, there is the cocktail napkin drawing of profiling the cocking lever, and there is just simply shortening the cocking plunger. I need to go into the wayback machine to find the napkin drawing.