Picked up a 1974 High Standard Flite-King Riot gun last week. Oddly, my dream gun after seeing one in a 1965 Shooter's Bible when I was a kid. Good condition and doesn't appear to have been shot much at all. One thing I need some help with, though. As I got the gun the "left cartridge stop" (the one pushed down by the action bar every time you pump) wouldn't move far enough to release a shell from the mag tube. The action bar isn't bent or worn, the receiver isn't worn, and the cartridge stop isn't worn or dirty. With the geometry in place it wasn't capable of being moved out of the shell's way. Were these stops originally fit to the gun by hand? Mine looked like it could have been a replacement. I ended up getting another replacement (identical) and stoning the end down so a shell would clear it. But I assume these guns were designed to use off-the-line parts and I'm a little confused how this would have worked in that case. The interaction between the action bar and the cartridge stop doesn't have a wide enough range of movement to work as it came to me.
Sometimes a slightly out of spec part may make its way onto a firearm. Had the exact same problem with my Maverick 12ga. About 5 minutes on some sandpaper and I had the cartridge stop fixed to where it wouldn't rip at the hull of a shell coming out of the tube.
The original was the same as the period replacement I bought. They're cast parts anyway. Not sure if they're wrong for this model year or if I'm missing something.
I can't answer your question but If it's like my Victor you should never shoot hi-velocity ammo through it. That will eventually break the frame and you will wind up with an expensive paperweight.
My god is that a beautiful gun!!! I have a very old Stevens shotgun bought from Sears that is made by High Standard and it is honestly one of the smoothest pumps I've ever owned. I'll be on the lookout for one of these for sure!
You can shoot anything that will fit in the chamber in that thing. High Standard made some of the best pumps (12 ga) and worst semi autos ever. The shell stop is stamped, not cast. I replaced a couple of them, and they were drop in perfect fit back then. As long as you got it to function I wouldn't worry about it.
Just a thought: The cartridge stop may have been for a 20 or 16 gauge gun. It may have fit, but may need to be adjusted to work properly.
That gun is in beautiful shape! I believe the Rock Island M-5 is patterned after the High Standard Flight King. In fact I think some of the parts are interchangeable. At least with a little gunsmithing. I picked up a pair of them, one in blue, and the other in Electroless Nickel. I've run about every load there is under the Sun through them, including a bunch of handloads. Both of them ate everything they were fed without a single hiccup. These are beautiful all steel shotguns. (No Aluminum, except for the trigger housing).
I have had my eye on the M5 for awhile. Still might get one as a good budget and compact 12ga. Looks like both of yours had the bolts jeweled as well.
Numrich Gun Parts and Jack First gun parts have some of the parts for these shotguns. Nice looking one! I have a 1971 K121 Flite King, and a 1958 JC Higgins Model 20 Deluxe [basically, same as HS K10 FliteKing]. I love the way they feel. I haven't tried to find one in Riot Gun config though. Maybe I ought to... . Looks wonderful. The big dif between the M5 and the HS is that the M5 uses double action bars, while the HS uses single action bar. I don't know the other differences, but assume there are some. It ]M5] looks more like the K10 and earlier HS shotguns, where there was a figure 8 clamp on the barrel and magazine, rather than the K120/K121's method, but I haven't inspected them.
Bumping this thread. My replacement shell stop came from Numrich and it looks the same as the one the gun came with. I don't know if there's a change both are the wrong style, but looking online I don't see any different ones out there that fit this series of shotgun. Still trying to figure out what's going on here. In the general sense the shell stop on these things seems to be a bad design compared to other shotguns. Instead of a real mechanical linkage moving it, it's just a tab on the action bar that nudges it out of the way. Even if everything had zero wear it's still only capable of moving a small amount. There's a lot I like about the Flite King but my Ithaca 37 is more developed.
I do think that the parts were hand fit for High Standard- as the receivers were not stampings, but milled from steel. There are only four pieces involved: shell stop, stop spring, action slide and action bar. If you don't know the history, someone could have bought a shell stop and put it in, but not fitted it. I cannot recall the nuances of how the action slide, bolt and forend/action bar fit together, and if it is the action bar or the action slide that pushes the left slide stop in, or allows it to pivot out. If it were me, I would first try this with live rounds, as I've found issues with azoom snap caps sliding past my shell stops on High Standards, Winchester Model 12 and Stevens 520 shotguns- yet, they all functioned properly with live rounds. IF the problem continues, isolate it- move or remove the part that presses that left slide stop tab in and allows it to pivot out. Once you have the slide stop in the receiver, and NOTHING is touching it, try again. This will check to see if it IS pivoting out far enough, but the action slide or foreend/action bar is preventing it when assembled, and that is a fitment issue. IF it isn't pivoting out enough to stop a live round from slipping past, then put a small jewelers screwdriver under the stop part, to pry it out as far as the design allows. This tests the weakness of the spring to see if it has taken a set and isn't pressing out far enough. IF the stop works with a live round now, then put a stiffer/longer spring in there and test it assembled. IF it isn't pivoting out enough to stop a live round from slipping past [with live round], then you may need to stone the tail end [the part of the see-saw that is pressed against the receiver when the shell stop is sticking out as far as it can]. The idea here would be to remove just enough metal to allow the see saw of the slide stop to pivot out enough to function, but not too much. If you are uncomfortable with this, a gunsmith is in order. Now, If the problem went away when the action slide, or forend/action bar was no longer touching the shell stop, then it seems like a timing/fitment issue between whatever part of the firearm is touching the shell stop and the shell stop. However, remember that the left shell stop is 'bypassed' when the bolt is locked into battery. That is when the 'right' shell stop is functioning. When the bolt is in full retract position, the right shell stop should have pivoted up/down, out of the way to allow a shell to feed, but the left one should be working- I believe. This is the best I can do without tearing one of my shotguns apart to verify. If you have followed all of these steps, I apologize. As you know, we don't know each other. Many today can swap parts, like for a Glock, where they are truly 'plug and play', but are not experienced at fitting parts to make the firearm work- and that is when a gunsmith is the safest bet. No offense intended if you tried all of this already.
Thanks, but my problem is the opposite of that. The issue I have is the stop doesn't move far enough out of the way to reliably pop rounds out of the mag tube. I've stoned down the business end, as well as the tail (so I can maintain enough engagement of the shell rim.) That's given me the desired results but I didn't originally think these guns were hand-fitted. Next time you have yours apart I'd be curious if the stop showed signs of filing/grinding or if it was just a plain casting like mine came with I'm guessing birch or maple? It's a very light wood compared to what I'm used to seeing as walnut. The 37's walnut.
