Problem with a friend's old shotgun

[Atticus]

A buddy of mine has an old bolt action Savage Springfield in .410. Every once in a while the extractor pulls the brass right off the shell leaving the plastic stuck in the breech. What would be the most likely cause?

 

[Jim K]

Assuming the shells are not defective, the most likely cause is a dirty chamber. You really have to scrub shotgun chambers to get some of the plastic gunk out of them. Use a wire brush, bore cleaner, anything that helps.

Jim

 

[timuchin]

Rusty chamber...

maybe short chamber. Take a look at it, maybe take a casting of the chamber and measure it. Older guns had a shorter chamber, due to the different design of shotgun shells in past years. A paper shell or brass shell with an over shot wad didn't need room in the chamber for the petals of the crimp to open up. Stand a fired hull next to an loaded shell and see the difference in length. A paper or brass hull didn't get any longer after it was fired.

 

[Atticus]

Both good points ....thanks Gents.

 

[mnrivrat]

Clean it well (as mentioned) - then check the chamber length to the shells being used .(as mentioned) If 3 inch shells are being fired in a 2 & 1/2 inch chamber for example it will cause a problem.

If the chamber is clean and the shells are correct for the gun then the last thing to look at is headspace .