Stiff action on my over under

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ROCV

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Bolton, Ontario
Hello All,

I have an over under that has several hundred rounds through it and the break is still very stiff.
sliding the leaver is still stiff and still have to push the break open.
I have cleaned and greased several times.

Any suggestions please?
 
Watch a long movie and open and close the action a lot, a stiff top lever probably means the locking bolt has a very tight fit into the bolt recess . What make is the gun by the way?
 
Is it a regular boxlock or sidelock, because I have an old Brno 301 with a really bizarre action where there is very high spring pressure from unlock all the way to fully open. None of my other O/Us have cocking tension like that damn Brno.
 
Many cheap (er, inexpensive) shotguns are hard to work. Note that the opening of the gun is also cocking the hammers and ejectors, if needed. So you can do an experiment, compare the opening force with no barrels discharged, one barrel discharged, and two barrels discharged. This will give you a better understanding of the issue,
Finally, are you lubing the locking lug and associated monoblock recess?
 
Check the top striker cross pin.
I know it's odd, but the cross pin usually holds the spring system, and slider, for the Canuck O/U's. If the slider twists, it can bind the top lever and stiffen the opening.
Hope this helps.
 
I had the same issue with my unfired Huglu short barreled side by side (12"). Single trigger so #### on opening. I assumed that it needed breaking in as well. I had cleaned and lubed it on day with ballistol. The stiff action on opening had me wondering if I should keep it or not. I decided to try Hornady one shot dry lube (gun lube, not case lube) instead. Substantial difference in ease of opening now. Your results may vary but it made a very noticeable difference for me. It should only get better once I finally get it out to shoot.
 
Of note - almost all double barrelled guns #### both locks by compressing both mainsprings at the same time as the gun is opened, these are stout springs and require considerable force to compress them. Add in tight fitting parts and this effort goes up until these parts wear in which normally takes several thousand open/close cycles on a well fitted gun made of quality materials, properly heat treated. Less expensive guns frequently have mating parts that are crudely finished, creating more drag. The barrels are the lever that compresses these springs, long levers have a mechanical advantage over short levers and all else being equal long barrelled guns are easier to open ( and ####) than short barrelled guns. Many name brand quality doubles like Browning Citori are very closely fitted and stiff to open/close for ages requiring a lengthy break in period. The flip side is that these guns will usually also last many tens of thousands of rounds before loosening up and becoming sloppy, not a big deal to a hunter but very important to a clay target competitor. A stiff top lever is usually caused by an overly heavy top lever return spring, often compounded by rough or poorly fitted mating parts, a lack of lubrication ( inside where the parts mate) or even by poor design.
 
for a newer o/u , do not lube the sides of the frame and barrel, and open close it , with the hammers cocked, and look for rub marks or rough edges, usally not a problem with a quality gun
May take quite a while to see anything.
Sometimes, just have to live with it.
For many years my go to gun was a 1930's stevens 26" sxs 12 ga hammer gun, Smooth and handy.
 
ROCV said:
Hello All,
Stiff action on my over under
Any suggestions please?
Click to expand...

There's a pill for that ;)

Remember those 'discounted' SunLu¿ super short over/unders. They were over half price off bcuz they were stiff as hell. I'll check how my buddy got his to loosen up..
 
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