A bad semiauto CAN be fixed

[hq]

So today was the day. The day when my fire sale -cheap Stoeger 2000 finally cycled 1oz and even some 7/8oz shells without a problem. I've been procrastinating with this some 2½ years but finally got around to put my mind into it and results are rewarding.

Mechanically it was straightforward: polish action rails, magazine tube, bolt head, barrel extension, bevel the rear edges of rails, smooth, round and polish the rear of the bolt where it contacts the hammer and replace the hammer spring with a 40% lighter off-the-shelf spring. That made a noticeable difference in force required to cock the hammer yet it's still strong enough to avoid FTF.

I didn't even have to replace the action spring. MOA Precision has been extremely helpful with troubleshooting the gun and they have a custom lighter one in stock, but arranging export licenses according to ITAR regulations would've cost me an arm and a leg. Their customer service is out of this world, especially considering that I didn't buy - or wasn't able to buy - anything.

I stripped the lacquer stock and converted it to oil meanwhile like I mentioned in another thread (picture below), so now it looks decent and works like it's supposed to.

I might have a lighter action spring custom wound locally but that's not really necessary, reliable functionality with 1oz shells is all I need for sporting clays.

Stoeger M2000 may have a questionable reputation but with some elbow grease and a few dollars in parts even a bad one can be made to work. Those who have happened to get a good one right out of the box seem to love theirs and now I understand why.

Now mine isn't just a nice gun for the price; it's a nice gun, period.

 

[entropy]

Well done. That really is about all 99% of these types of cheap semis need to function properly. The manufacturers skip finishing correctly to get them to price point. A little thought about it and corresponding elbow grease properly applied can work wonders.

 

[Virginian]

True. A shame the same cannot be said for bad owners.

 

[hq]

Thanks, entropy.

Judging from how the stock looked compared to an obviously low shot count, the previous owner wasn't a particularly good one. The like who expect everything to work and keep working no matter how much the gun is neglected. Fortunately the bluing is pretty good and there are only very minor corrosion marks inside the barrel.

He probably just gave up on it and let it go. The gun shop had it listed for approximately $150 w/ five chokes and a choke wrench so they must have paid next to nothing for it. Gotta love people who can't be bothered to investigate and fix problems themselves.

Funny thing is that my Benelli M3 is noticeably rougher inside than the Stoeger was to start with, its action is virtually identical and it has always shot all 1oz shells no problem at all. So something, somewhere has to cause the difference. Considering that there are lots of M2000:s that shoot even lighter loads out there, I must have still missed something because some shells like Winchester AA low recoil loads still cause an occasional FTE. Maybe it's just the action spring, who knows.

In any case we're well beyond "good enough" now and I'm happy as a pig in... well, you know. I can start bargain hunting for another pallet of cheap 1oz #7½ trap/sporting/compak ammo and not worry about one of my shotguns not cycling it.

One of the most rewarding side effects is that cycling the gun by hand doesn't make dragging or grinding noises of any kind anymore. It's smooth as anything and feels a lot like a Benelli now.

 

[Cvans]

Congratulations on getting your gun to function properly. A lot of inexpensive fun.
You are lucky you have one with good bluing. The bluing on my M3020 is not good and very thin. In the sun it's almost brown instead of blue. A shame because I really like the gun otherwise and it functions flawlessly.

 

[billtool]

Congratulations on getting your gun to function properly. A lot of inexpensive fun.
You are lucky you have one with good bluing. The bluing on my M3020 is not good and very thin. In the sun it's almost brown instead of blue. A shame because I really like the gun otherwise and it functions flawlessly.

Call that character, Brother. If it works 100%, it a 100% win.

 

[hq]

Now this is getting interesting. Even though I've polished more or less everything I could have imagined, there's still a slight drag when the bolt turns and opens or when it's closed slowly. Especially when there's a round in the chamber. I've attributed this to the round itself but now I decided to investigate.

After a while I found out that the extractor pin has been driven way too far, it protrudes from the other side of the bolt and rubs against the lugs on barrel extension. The pin is hardened steel and has a sharp edge so no wonder it causes drag.

This is clearly (yet another) quality control issue someone could have easily spotted during assembly, but no. Not a chance when you're building a price point gun.

It never ceases to amaze me why tiny but meaningful details like this are overlooked, even in countries like Turkey where labor costs are ridiculously low and hiring a few workers to check even the most obvious flaws wouldn't drive the wholesale and consequently retail pricing up THAT much.

If fixing this - which will probably take less than five minutes - enables the gun to cycle even the lightest loads, I'm utterly disappointed in corporate beancounters who have "saved" a buck or two by omitting proper QC.

 

[Cvans]

Almost makes you wonder if it was made in China doesn't it.

 

[Riomouse911]

There is always a trade off somewhere...lower prices in the rack are almost always from fewer frills, which may be gleaned from less expensive materials, simpler construction, low paid and less experienced (or lower quality) staff, a lower amount of fit/finish...or combos of all of them.

I have a Baikal 20 ga O/U that seems to be pretty solid... but it’s rough around the edges like your auto was.

Nice fix, glad you got it running like it should!

Stay safe.

 

[hq]

HA! I KNEW IT!

Or I didn't, really, but I just got back from the range. The Stoeger feeds even 7/8oz loads flawlessly now. I tried Gamebore Azul Trap #7.5, Lambro Series 2 Trap #7.5 and Champion Skeet #9, all 7/8oz / 24g and it just cycled them, box after box. Only after a couple of hours it FTF'd three times - I've been running it dry all the time - and a dab of grease and a few drops of oil fixed that.

I would've been a happy camper with 1oz functionality but now it shoots the cheapest stuff too. With OEM recoil spring to boot so there's no need to change anything for 7/8oz range ammo, 2oz magnums and anything in between.

Mission accomplished, well beyond the expectations I had when I started the project.

 

[Cvans]

Glad it turned out OK for you. Thanks for keeping us updated.

 

[hq]

Another update. I dug out my collection of old 7/8oz reduced recoil loads. The hopeless ones that have been gathering dust for years or even decades because they've failed to cycle in pretty much every gun and I've never bothered to bring them anywhere specifically for break action guns.

Now they're all gone, courtesy of the Stoeger. Zero malfunctions during several boxes of "known useless" mix-and-match ammo.

"Surprised" can't quite describe this. Now I'll probably have to tear down, deburr and polish all my Benellis, Berettas and Franchis too, to bring them up to par with this. It's slick as a whistle. Or use my son's left-handed, awful, gas-operated Akkar Altay 212 (Turkish... see a pattern here?) as an additional guinea pig to confirm my findings before I tear into anything actually valuable and ruin something.