LC Smith Marlin misfire

[porsche]

have new LC smith/Marlin o/u 20 g. shot for first time. very stiff action breakopen. shooting heavy field loads (federal) lower barrel first, upper barrel often does not discharge first pull of trigger on second shot. factory doesent kn ow and i dont know if i am breaking it open all the way. thoughts?

 

[Oldnamvet]

If you don't have it open all the way, it would be extremely difficult to get shells into the bottom barrel. Are you fully releasing pressure on the trigger after shooting the first barrel? If I understand you correctly, you can pull the trigger once after shooting the first barrel with no effect but if you pull it again, the gun fires. Correct? With a new gun, you also have to be sure that you have it thoroughly cleaned. Old grease can screw up a lot of things.

 

[Pete409]

I agree with oldnamvet. More than likely, you are not fully releasing the trigger after the first shot. It is a MUST that you fully release the trigger before attempting to pull it again for the second shot. It just takes a little practice.

 

[porsche]

thank you for both of your responses.i believe i may not have fully released the trigger after the first shot. i intend to retry being more careful. as dumb as this sounds, i had not thought of cleaning a new gun (other than to run a brush thru the barrels. i will also do that.

 

[Pete409]

To clean the gun where it really needs it requires removal of the buttstock. Usually this means a #2 Phillips screwdriver to remove the recoil pad. Then either a LARGE straight tip screwdriver or perhaps a socket with a long extension to remove the stock bolt.

Once the stock bolt is out, hold the muzzle of the gun on the floor and carefully wiggle and pull on the buttstock. Don't wiggle it much from side to side or you might crack the wood. Best to do the wiggling in the up and down plane.

Once you get the stock off, just douse the inner workings good with a good solvent such as mineral spirits or kerosene. Let dry, then lightly oil and reassemble.

 

[rcmodel]

I wouldn't recommend cleaning the inside of the action on any brand new O/U!

Most better quality ones have very tightly inletted stocks, and you are liable to do much more damage then any possible good by trying to take the stock off.

And in all likelihood, you will find nothing in there worth cleaning anyway, except new factory gun oil that doesn't need to be messed with.

These aren't 500 Mossberg's here!

The first thing to do is go shooting again, and find out if you are actually letting the trigger reset between shots, or not.


rcmodel

 

[Pete409]

You might be surprised what you find inside the action of new O/U shotguns. Wood shavings, metal shavings, loose screws, heavy rust protectant, etc are some of the more likely findings.

If it's not safe to take the stock off a brand new O/U, then how long must a person wait before it is safe to do so? How is it somehow safer after the gun is several years old?

Removing the buttstock is simple maintenace for any O/U owner. Of course, if you have trouble changing a light bulb, then perhaps you are better off to take it to a gunsmith.

 

[rcmodel]

then perhaps you are better off to take it to a gunsmith.

Been one off & on for 45 years now.
And I have seen more double guns damaged by amateur attempts to take the stock off then I have ever seen damaged by not taking the stock off.

I'm just saying that porsche apparently is so new to guns, and especially O/U shotguns, that he isn't sure if he is opening it far enough to re-cock the hammers, or if he is letting the trigger re-set between barrels.

The very last thing he needs to do right now is try to take the stock off of a new O/U shotgun he just got!


rcmodel

 

[porsche]

RCmodel and all. i am totally new to o/u shotguns. am certified to instruct handguns, however. change a light bulb? this weekend i replaced 2 light switches in my house and shut down the oil furnace. Needed a service call. i agree with the advice to leave the works alone although i suspect i might find inside some Lire, shavings and a half empty bottle of Chianti. i am probably screwing up trigger release. again, thanks for the very helpful advice. if you could now teach me to hit something with it... .

 

[Grey54956]

Might be the ammunition.

I took a new Ruger out the other week for skeet. I was shooting Federal, and I had two FTFs with the top barrel. Just a coincidence perhaps.

I am not sure if the pins are striking with the same amount of force for the top and bottom barrels, but it could be the hammer mechanism couples with hard primers on the Federal ammunition.

Since then, I have put about 200 rounds of Remington STS and Winchester AA through the top barrel, no problem.

 

[porsche]

interesting. i was shotting Federal, also.

 

[Grey54956]

I am not saying that Federal ammunition is bad, but maybe they had a run of hard primers of late.

I would try some other brands of ammunition before I open up the internals for cleaning.

 

[porsche]

i would not attempt to open and clean. hoping is failure to release trigger fully after first shot (shooting bottem barrel first like you). if dosent work, will return to marlin.

 

[porsche]

final scene: did not fire, took to dealer and its gunsmith took apart and cleaned. has not misfired since. cleaning was the answer. thanks to all.

 

[Pete409]

rcmodel wrote: "I wouldn't recommend cleaning the inside of the action on any brand new O/U!"

porsche wrote: "did not fire, took to dealer and its gunsmith took apart and cleaned. has not misfired since. cleaning was the answer."


As suggested by me and Oldnamvet, sometimes new O/U's DO need cleaning.

 

[porsche]

THIS gun has stopped shooting again. after a box the top barrel stopped shooting. seems like something to do with saftey because if you re set saftey and disengage, the top will fire. stinko gun. i am sending it back. very disapointed and would not recommend.

 

[Pete409]

Porsche,

Are you now fully releasing the trigger after the first shot and before attempting the second shot? If so, and the gun still fails to fire when you pull the trigger for the second barrel, then the problem is likely one of two things.

Either the safey is coming on in between shots (which it should not do), or else the inertia block is not setting the selector to the top barrel. If it is the latter, it MIGHT be the way you are holding the gun when shooting it. Ideally you should hold the gun firmly against your shoulder and lean forward into the gun. Do NOT attempt to absorb some of the recoil with your hands. Pull the gun into your shoulder and lean forward into the gun when pulling the trigger. Then fully release the trigger and pull it again to fire the second barrel.

 

[porsche]

i dropped this Marlin LC Smith off at the dealer's last nite. don't want it back in the house. unreliable is dangerous. kids and wife shoot this gun. likely a problem with saftey as when saftey re set it fires. same problem with dry fire. is a new gunand not cheap. it's Marlin's problem now.

 

[porsche]

the gun came back from marlin. marlin said it was fine. swaped this marlin with the dealer for a benelli 20 montefero.