Charles Daley 20ga not firing

[USAF_Vet]

I took my mom to the range this weekend so get her more aquainted with my step-dads guns. Anyway, long story short, she has a Charles Daley 20gauge SxS that we could not get to fire. I didn't see a safety of any kind, just the barrel selector switch and break action switch. I'm very unfamiliar with the gun, so I didn't tinker with it once I realized I was missing something critical. Anyone more familiar with this shotgun than I am?

 

[earlthegoat2]

I dont know the exact model you are speaking of but the gun should have a safety and since you mention you dont see one then I would wager the problem is that it has a safety and it is engaged so the gun will not fire.

Is there any trigger movement at all. If there is not then the safety is probably on. The barrel selector switch can be on the trigger guard or the tang and the safety will be mounted to the tang where your thumb can reach it. If you can move the safety/selector side to side and forward and back then it is both the safety and selector.

I believe this is your configuration. There can be some problems associated with that design that are escaping me now. Something about moving the safety into the off position and then switching barrels or something like that.

 

[USAF_Vet]

Model is a Charles Daly field hunter II.

the gun should have a safety and since you mention you dont see one then I would wager the problem is that it has a safety and it is engaged so the gun will not fire

Thats what I was thinking, but nothing stood out to me as being an obvious safety.

Is there any trigger movement at all. If there is not then the safety is probably on. The barrel selector switch can be on the trigger guard or the tang and the safety will be mounted to the tang where your thumb can reach it. If you can move the safety/selector side to side and forward and back then it is both the safety and selector.

Yes, there is trigger movement. It feels like it has a full range of motion. The barrel selector switch is on the tang, which moves left to right. It is marked with two vertical marks on the left, one vertical mark on the right (leading me to believe it can fire one bbl at a time or both simultaneously, but I'm just guessing.) But as I said, nothing sticks out as being an obvious safety switch, neither on the tang not guard.

 

[earlthegoat2]

It should not ever fire both barrels at a time.

That switch on the tang is also the safety. It should move forward and back. If it does not then it is malfunctioning and needs to be reapired/replaced.

 

[oneounceload]

Yes, there is trigger movement. It feels like it has a full range of motion. The barrel selector switch is on the tang, which moves left to right. It is marked with two vertical marks on the left, one vertical mark on the right (leading me to believe it can fire one bbl at a time or both simultaneously, but I'm just guessing.) But as I said, nothing sticks out as being an obvious safety switch, neither on the tang not guard.

That selector is also your safety - it will engage automatically every time you open the action - you need to push it up to disengage it so it will fire

It is marked with two vertical marks on the left, one vertical mark on the right (leading me to believe it can fire one bbl at a time or both simultaneously, but I'm just guessing.

The single mark should mean the right barrel, the double line the left barrel, allowing you to select which one you fire first. The gun will have two different chokes (unless someone cut the barrels way back). After the first barrel fires, you will be able to pull the trigger to fire the second barrel

 

[USAF_Vet]

Thanks for the info. I'll check it this weekend and see if that was the issue. The barrels don't appear to have been cut back, so I'll check the chokes too.

 

[Milkmaster]

Thanks for the info. I'll check it this weekend and see if that was the issue. The barrels don't appear to have been cut back, so I'll check the chokes too.

Not trying to be a smart a$$ here, but make sure that gun is empty and the breach opened before you look at the barrel to check the chokes. The Darwin Awards do not need another candidate.

 

[USAF_Vet]

As I would have to use a bore light to see well inside the barrel, I think I've got the whole not loaded thing covered.

 

[oneounceload]

If it doesn't have choke tubes, it might have fixed chokes - most likely IC/M whichh can be verified with a bore mic and about 2 minutes of a gunsmith's time (unless you have a bore mic)

 

[USAF_Vet]

don't have a bore mic, but I do have some high quality mics measured in .000" and .02mm.

 

[oneounceload]

You will want a bore measurement about 7 inches from the breech and at least one within an inch or so of the muzzle. Subtract muzzle from barrel diameter to get choke constriction in .000's.

Then you can go here to get an idea of what the numbers mean:

http://www.hallowellco.com/choke_chart.htm