Posted by Richard Thomas on June 29, 2014, 3:48 pm
I own a 12 guage Field Grade Elsie (made in 1947) that was inherited from my Uncle. I started using it around 1962 & hunted with it until the late 70s. After 30 + yrs of neglect,I had it cleaned up 1 1/2 yrs. ago & have been shooting it sporadically since. I now take good care of it.
I recently had a highly regarded gunsmith repair hairline cracks in the buttstock & remove oil from it. After that, he thoroughly cleaned it.
The problem now is that the break open action is not quite as wide as it used to be so that the spent shells are not as easy to remove. The opening is just slightly too narrow. Only with a pull on the "lip" at the front of the fore stock or a press downward with my left or weak side hand on the top of the barrels does the breech action open wide enough to remove the spent shells.
I do not recall this ever being the case before. The shells were never automatically ejected, but it was not difficult to remove them manually.
Does this make any sense to all of you who are much more knowledgable than me? I wanted to get your views before taking it back to the gunsmith.