Posted by John Liles on January 30, 2008, 2:40 pm, in reply to "Re: binding "
Hello Hank, and welcome to the forum. It very well could be that the hammers were not cocked prior to your attempted re-assembly. Are the firing pins rigidly projecting through the firing pin holes? You indicated that the two cocking rods at the front of the reciever were apparently stuck. Both of these symptoms are indicative of the hammer springs being in the discharged position. Really easy fix if this is the case. There are many opinions on the best way to re-cock the hammers without removing the sidelocks from the reciever. Here's what I do. Remove the barrels from the reciever. Sit on the floor with the buttstock resting on the floor between your legs and the cocking lever facing toward your chest. Take a 4" adjustable wrench and close it securely on the right cocking rod with your right hand. Apply enough pressure downward with the wrench to keep it from slipping off of the rod, and slowly crank the cocking rod in a clockwise direction until you hear a noticible "click". The "click" is the hammer being locked in the cocked position. When you remove the wrench, you'll notice that the cocking rod will be loose and will readily flop back and forth, and that the corresponding firing pin will no longer be firmly projecting out of the firing pin hole. Repeat the process for the left side bearing in ming that the cocking rod will have to be turned in the opposite direction as the previous one. Once both hammers are re-cocked, if you haven't done anything evil to the foreend retainer J spring, the gun should perform as it did during hunting season! Good luck, John