Stoeger OU shotgun - Break open problem

[DoggyDaddy]

A buddy of mine has a Stoeger over-under shotgun and while it loads and fires just fine, after firing, it is impossible to open with out tapping or gently banging the top of the barrel on a bench or something. He sent it to a gunsmith and they tried some things to loosen it up (I think), but it is still doing the same thing.

We took it to the range today and noticed that the primer in the shell in the top barrel had a "drag mark" going from the indent to the outside edge of the primer. Upon closer inspection, I think I see what it's doing. When breaking open the unloaded gun, the bottom firing pin retracts into the receiver as it should, but the top pin actually comes OUT of the receiver. I think it's retracting when the action is closed - so no issue with slam fires or anything. But since it's going out when it should be going in, it's catching on the primer indent and keeping the action from opening unless you force it open as described.

I'm not sure what the "guts" look like inside an OU shotgun, but it seems to me like something is hooked up backwards in there... like maybe a spring that should be attached to the top of a lever is attached to the bottom (or vice versa). Anyone familiar with what goes on in there? Does that sound like a reasonable explanation?

 

[DoggyDaddy]

Update. My buddy called and said he was able to get the firing pin to retract sometimes by holding the break open lever over to the right through the whole break open process. That made me think it might just have some crap in there causing something to stick. I told him to put a little oil or penetrating oil if he had it in the firing pin opening and let it sit for a few hours and then blow it out with his air compressor. Occam's Razor... aka Try The Cheapest Fix First.

 

[chezuki]

I have one that works correctly if you need me to check anything for comparison.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

I have one that works correctly if you need me to check anything for comparison.

Thanks chezuki. I'll let him see if the oil and air compressor helps. I'm just a little nervous about getting inside the receiver on someone else's gun. If I screw up one of mine, I'm ticked, but if I screwed up his I'd feel terrible.

 

[PGRChaplain]

Spray some Break Free on the firing pin. Might be a broken spring also.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

Spray some Break Free on the firing pin. Might be a broken spring also.

I did put a few drops of Break Free on it at the range, but it didn't help. That's kind of what I was thinking though by having him use penetrating oil and letting it sit. I haven't checked back with him to see if he did it or if it helped. If he did, and it still didn't help, then I think he'll probably end up taking it back to the gunsmith now that we know what it's really doing.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

Spray some Break Free on the firing pin. Might be a broken spring also.

Turns out you were exactly right! It was indeed a broken spring. He took it back to the gunsmith (INGO's own Squirt239) and he found it and fixed it at no charge (Kudos to him!). Without test firing, it would have been very easy to miss. Buddy is happy!