Winchester Defender problems

[clubsoda22]

Anyone have problems with their winchester defender (or similar) double feeding? Half the time i'll either get 2 shells trying to squeeze into the chamber or i'll cycle the action and the gun will chamber a live round and drop a live round out the bottom of the gun.

Plese tell me that this will be a $10 fix.

 

[mnrivrat]

I think Winchester likes to call the piece the "cartridge Cut Off" . Others call them the interuptors, shell latches, and shell stops . There is one on both sides of the reciever located at the opening to the magazine tube. They are operated by the action slide arms and control the feeding of the shells out of the magazine. During the stroke (cycle) of the pump action one of the cut offs is responsible for releasing a shell from the magazine and the other one is responsible for stopping the next round out of the magazine until its proper time in the cycle. You will likely have to adjust or replace one of the cartridge cut offs. ( I think it's the right side one on the Winchester giving you the problem but it is best to double check that) They are not hard to change but more like a $15 to $20 fix.

ps: I'm sure one of the next posts will remind you if I don't to make sure your gun is clean first and then see wether the problem is still there. It takes a mightly dirty gun or a piece of crude in just the right place to cause this problem but make sure cleaning is not the problem before you replace parts. If you need more info don't hesitate to e-mail or post again.

 

[clubsoda22]

no, it's not crud, it happened the first day i shot it, brand new. pissed me off, it's been sitting in my closet ever since.

When it did occasionally work for a few shots it was a great gun.

 

[wintermute76]

could still be gummed up, I had a new 870 express that did it, there was a bunch of cosmoline behind/around the shell stop. I didn't get it when I swabbed the bore and exterior of it.

Sprayed some degreaser in there, blew it out with some air and a little CLP. Haven't had a problem since.

 

[tech]

C.S. I hate to say it but I think the action is junk I had one with the same problem. Sent it back to winchester and sold it when it came back. I warned the guy I sold it to and lost 15 bucks on the shotgun. He is now having the same problems I was. I have seen lots of posts on these shotguns double feeding, like I said I think the problem is in the action design.


Mike

 

[mnrivrat]

Maybe its the sign of the times in the industry, but the fact is that a good many guns need attention new out of the box.
Having a feed problem on new and near new pump guns is not that uncommon . That includes the Benneli Nova I adjusted for the same reason a couple weeks ago. They run very simular style shell latches as the Winchester.
Several Mossbergs this fall including a number of 835's , and Dave will be happy to hear that the Remington 870's generaly have less of this problem until they are older and caused be wear.

There are times when tolerances build up in the manufacturing process and just replacing a new part with another new part may not take care of the problem, but in most cases it will .
Most shell latches I have done over the years , were adjusted and not replaced . This is not an option for many gun owners who are not familiar with the mechanics of their firearm so replacement is just easier in most cases.

Your problem should be covered under warranty if a new gun.

 

[clubsoda22]

found the problem and fixed it with a pair of needle nose pliers.

BOOYAH!