Stoeger Coachgun Top Lever break weight

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Cliveaw0

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Maple Ridge, BC
I have a Stoeger SxS 12ga coachgun and have started using it for CAS shooting. My wife came out this weekend and when on the clock was having a heck of a time sliding the top lever to break open the shotgun. She tried another fellas coachgun and told me it was lighter to open.

I just measured the weight that mine opens at by using a digital hanging scale. I placed the strap around the thumb tab on the top lever and pulled in the direction the lever moves. I made ten measruements and on average it breaks open at 9.25lbs.

My question is, does this weight seem excessive?
 
They are heavy. You can get a spring from Brownells that lightens the lever throw considerably, or you could cut a couple of coils (a coil at a time), but that spring is a royal pain in the A$$ to get in and out without losing an eye. I replaced the spring completely and it made a big difference. It's called a gunslinger shotgun spring
 
Thanks Dogzilla. I’ll order one up. Do you know of anywhere that has the pull weight for the top lever? I am curious if mine is on the heavy side of the manufacturing tolerances.
 
It won't be "on the heavy side" for a factory issued gun...they are all very heavy "thumb hurters" right out of the box. A lot of men just ignore the force needed but never seen a female yet that didn't complain after half a match...broken finger nails usually start the b!tching big time.
 
When you change the spring you may as well remove the safety too. I just knock out the roll pin, that way you can re install it at a later date, and it won't void the warranty. You don't need it for cowboy, but may want it for hunting.
 
That was my coachgun she tried. I've done some work inside the gun but I never changed out the spring or modified it. But it is lighter than most other doubles for sure. Just luck of the draw I suppose.

I think I mentioned that you need to be careful not to go TOO light on the lever spring's force or the gun can jump open when fired. I've seen that happens on one where the guy went way too far with this and the gun would unlock upon shooting it. Mind you it was lucky for him that it was a single barrel. But between what you've got now and "too light" there's a good amount of room for working it down.

Just as importantly as reducing the spring is to smoothen out any burrs or any bad surface roughness on the parts. And in some spots to actually polish things to a smooth but brushed look. In particular the shaft for the lever and where it cams against the sprung locking bar to retract the bar. But you need to do that sort of thing without removing much metal or you can run out of travel in a hurry.

If you're not comfy with this level of mechanical work I'd suggest it's time for the shotgun to take a trip to Rusty's shop. I'm sure he has options for "basics" to "full meal deal". Likely as not a basic once over to lighten and smoothen would not cost a super amount.

If you elect to try it yourself look up videos and such and remember that it's always easier to take more off than to go too far and have to put some back on..... So baby steps and go back in as you find out how well things work.

A hearty ditto to the idea of defeating the auto safety. Totally needless if you're only using it for cowboy action and range plinking where you load and shoot right away.
 
Thanks for the help at the range on Sunday it was good to compare you couch gun against mine. I have already taken 600 grit to most of the surfaces but did not do the lever shaft.

I am fairly handy and don’t feel over whelmed at shortening up the coil spring by half coil incraments untill it is light enough to be operable by my wife.

What are the legalities regarding removing the auto safety feature or disabling the saftey all together? Most folks are quick to suggest cutting the pin that engages the saftey automatically but I am not sure what the law says about altering a manufacturers safety devise.
 
I wouldn't remove the safety on a field gun, but for cowboy it isn't an issue since the gun is always pointed down range. It's why I remove it rather than permanently disable it. This way it can be re installed for the field or if you sell it. It's a 3 minute job.
 
For the safety on mine I just trimmed the rod shorter so it no longer engages when the gun is opened but it still works just fine manually. I noticed that my open lever smoothed up after a case shells but I don't recall it being that stiff to begin with.
 
I cut 2 coils off. (little at a time) Very easy to open! Guessing at least 1/3 less force. The spring and rod isn't that difficult to remove. I used a common kitchen fork. There are videos on utube.
 
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