winchester model 24 cocking problem

[Sheepdog69]

any suggestions or advice to help me repair this shotgun.... winchester model 24 SxS 12G

breaking open is.... okish... not smooth. but cocking to lock up is a bear. should just snap closed and it wont, takes an abnormal pressure to do so.

any ideas before I take it all apart and look for bent parts, burrs? deformations etc....

please send me an email or post here

Thank you

 

[MacAR]

Before you begin, all me to give you a word of advice: be very careful taking the gun apart. Note where each and every piece goes. The M24 is one of the most complicated actions I've ever seen, and if re-assembled incorrectly can cause more damage than what you started with. Numrich has a good diagram showing how the parts go together. Just go slow, be patient, and don't force anything together.

Now, without having the gun in my hands I'm only guessing as to whats wrong. But, sounds to me like the extractors are full of gunk and causing the gun to be hard to close. My personal 24 was hard to close sometimes, but after trimming a couple coils from the extractor springs that went away. I'd check that first, since it's easiest. After that, take the stock of and just look for anything out of the ordinary. Pay special attention to the cocking slide and cocking levers. After you've done that, check back in and let us know what you've found. Again, go slow, and good luck!

Mac

 

[eastbank]

take the butt stock and use a good degreaser-gun scrubber ect, it may help and I would take it to a good gunsmith. they are a bear to work on, don,t ask me how I know.

 

[Sheepdog69]

well i took it apart, i do gunsmithing and am pretty savy on mechanical things...found a plate installed incorrectly but that didnt fix the issue. ill try the springs next and give it a good cleaning and lub....stay tuned.

and yes its a complicated one but not too bad. Thanks for the advice and warnings all. I do appreciate everything

 

[Sheepdog69]

the odd thing i found is with out the forearm it cocks easy... maybe it is the springs..... hmmmmm

 

[MacAR]

How do you cock it without the forend iron on? If I'm not totally losing it, the forend iron has a tab on it that pushes the cocking levers back to cock the strikers. Correct me if I'm wrong, though.

Mac

 

[Sheepdog69]

sorry ive been busy lately, let me rephrase this, without the forearm it closes easily , not cocking. so far i have taken it completely apart, cleaned and stoned all the parts. trimmed 2 coils off and still is a mother to cock. everything looks fine, nothing appears bent internally. finding a real good assembly drawing is impossible... numerich and brownells all have the same crappy drawing... my question is on the extractor lever part number 15. how do they sit in the barrel? this one is sitting vertical.... and the drawing has them referenced horizontal with the finger pointing up

 

[Sheepdog69]

also does anyone have a good drawing of the cocking assembly ?

 

[cdb1]

I’m hope you get it fixed. Don’t own one but have always been weirdly attracted to the Model 24 because to me they have an unusual shape.

 

[DESTRUCTICORE]

Hello from DESTRUCTICORE on september 2020, i purchased a hand me down model 24 well worn condition about 4 months ago, i made a very eager purchase without asking many questions, bad mistake, after countless time researching, my cocking slide IS THE PROBLEM it doesent look so significant but that is what makes The 24 close so badly, it was a beast to close in the shop but the old fart sold it to me anyways, i never got to fire the gun, and now my path is to contact custom fabricators for a new cocking slide, everything else on the gun is avaiable online but these things are sold out everywhere!! There is a website that offers custom fab slides and i will be in contact with them shortly, very long painstaking road for this gun, but such is life. When i gave this to a smith, they reassembled the backend for me amd charged me $58 then continued to tell me a “part” is irreplaceable (cocking slide) and depressed tf out of me at that time. Very bad news, very bad smith. Everyone try your hardest to find a custom maker of this part, i tried to clean up my old one with a file to no avail, Dont take your old guns to forehead new age smiths, they will take your money for nothing :/ and waste a while lot of time, (corona szn who knows).

 

[PapaG]

I've had three. Basically a couple 37s cobbled together. Mine were all stiff. Never make it with the cowboy shooters. Got rid of mine and got a custom AYA and an Ithaca 100. Both head and shoulders above the 24.
That said, I wish I'd kept mine. Prices are insane now.

 

[LoonWulf]

I'm messing with a model 24 right now, what I'm finding is that the parts are really soft. Mine will cock properly now, but the strikers slip right past the sears on release. Parts are fairly worn, and the gun hasn't been used that much from what I was told.

I'm still figuring out the difficult closing. Honestly the gun frustrated me so it's in a million (ok like 10 pieces) right now waiting for curiosity to overcome frustration....oh and I need a stock.

 

[J-Framer]

I am getting to understand you guys' frustration... Just over a month ago, I was "gifted" an old Winchester Model 24 that looks overall pretty nice. Of course, the rub here is that it won't close. From this thread, it definitely appears that is a quite common problem with this model. Just after I got it, I put in a query to Gun Values Board, giving them the serial number (it's only 4 digits). They told me with this model, only 15 guns were initially made in December 1938, the first year of manufacture. And went on to tell me my gun was made in June of 1939... wow. I haven't (yet) tried any disassembly or any of that fun stuff. But I've been steadily working Rem Oil in around the extractors, since that's where the hold-up seems to be. Today, I almost got it closed, but like y'all said, it's a real bear. Guess I'm also gonna do like others suggested, and get myself a schematic from Numrich's. Any advice would be appreciated, and I wish every one of you that's still wrestling with this problem the best of luck. I'll gladly "share with the class" if I make any headway.

 

[MacAR]

I am getting to understand you guys' frustration... Just over a month ago, I was "gifted" an old Winchester Model 24 that looks overall pretty nice. Of course, the rub here is that it won't close. From this thread, it definitely appears that is a quite common problem with this model. Just after I got it, I put in a query to Gun Values Board, giving them the serial number (it's only 4 digits). They told me with this model, only 15 guns were initially made in December 1938, the first year of manufacture. And went on to tell me my gun was made in June of 1939... wow. I haven't (yet) tried any disassembly or any of that fun stuff. But I've been steadily working Rem Oil in around the extractors, since that's where the hold-up seems to be. Today, I almost got it closed, but like y'all said, it's a real bear. Guess I'm also gonna do like others suggested, and get myself a schematic from Numrich's. Any advice would be appreciated, and I wish every one of you that's still wrestling with this problem the best of luck. I'll gladly "share with the class" if I make any headway.

Can you depress the extractors with your thumb? If not, they are the issue. Many years of grime build up in there and can cause problems. I suggest removing the barrels, the extractors, and giving the channels a good cleaning. That, and clipping a couple coils off the springs really helped smooth mine up. Coincidentally, mine is a four digit number, 12xx, so it's an early gun as well.

Mac

 

[J-Framer]

Can you depress the extractors with your thumb? If not, they are the issue. Many years of grime build up in there and can cause problems. I suggest removing the barrels, the extractors, and giving the channels a good cleaning. That, and clipping a couple coils off the springs really helped smooth mine up. Coincidentally, mine is a four digit number, 12xx, so it's an early gun as well.

Mac

Hey, thanks for getting back to me, Mac. Yes, I can depress my extractors with thumb pressure, and somewhat freely; but not all the way in. I suspect the several applications of Rem Oil have somewhat helped the situation. Once I get my schematic from Numrich's, maybe today (they don't email same-day), I'll go ahead and do the things you recommended. I wouldn't poke around in there without a roadmap; I'm no 'smith. Wow! You really DO have an early specimen of 24, my friend! Mine was made in June of 1939 and is a serial number of 27xx. But serial 12xx... dang! I'll let you know how I make out. THANKS!

 

[MacAR]

Once I get my schematic from Numrich's... I'll go ahead and do the things you recommended.

Hopefully, that will be the culprit. I just taken mine down this morning to look again, and there are 3 pins in the lump under the barrels; these 3 pins are what hold the extractors in. I'd wager the passages are full of crud, and that's causing the closing problem. Once you get it apart, try closing it without the extractors in and see if that helps. If by chance that doesn't help, try it without the forend on. If it closes easily, the forend iron may be warped/bent/etc.

In regards to early M24's: does your forend wood have a square dimple in it on the left side, looking from the top? Mine does, it fits the thumb perfectly, and it looks factory. If possible post a picture of your gun here, or start a new thread.

Mac

 

[J-Framer]

Hey, Mac. Your observations and ideas all sound very good. Thanks for going to the effort of taking yours down again today to make more observations. I'll definitely be following-up on all your suggestions given here when I take mine apart, maybe tomorrow or Wednesday. Why the wait? - I still haven't gotten my schematic from Numrich's. Ordered it Friday afternoon at 4:00 PM, heard back from them just before 8:00 AM this morning saying it was being "shipped". (it's email delivered, you know) but it says "E-Mail Orders will follow next business day.". So looks like tomorrow (Tuesday at the earliest. As for pix of the gun, I took them on my kitchen floor under what seems like my 400 lumen overhead fluorescent duallie long-bulb fixture that vaporizes roaches and bubbles cheese on hors d'oeuvres (I'm new to THR) but here goes:

However, having looked for what you saw on the forend wood, I see no dimple of any sort, square, round or any shape, right, left, top or bottom - period. Perhaps the one on your gun was a special feature ordered by the customer, or maybe a feature that was available and just randomly put on that gun; the list of possibilities is potentially long. Maybe some in-depth research could shed some light. So please have a look at my photos, and make any observations that come to mind. Thanks!!

 

[MacAR]

Here's mine:

If you look carefully you can see what I'm talking about on the forend. The forend might be an aftermarket replacement, for all I know. I do know I've never come across another one. By the way, mine's a 16 gauge. Yours a 12?

Mac

 

[J-Framer]

Here's mine:

If you look carefully you can see what I'm talking about on the forend. The forend might be an aftermarket replacement, for all I know. I do know I've never come across another one. By the way, mine's a 16 gauge. Yours a 12?

Mac

Mac, Very nice looking gun! Thanks for sharing. Yes, I do believe I can barely make out the dimple on the left side of the forend as you described. Indeed, who knows how that came about. Ah yes, the 16 Gauge; a hugely popular gauge back in the day, then almost petered-out a few decades later. That's neat you have one in 16 Gauge. Probably a bit rarer than the 12. Yes, my gun is a 12 Gauge.

 

[MacAR]

Ah yes, the 16 Gauge; a hugely popular gauge back in the day...

Oh yes, quite popular. And still is to a degree locally. I wouldn't call a M24 in 16 rare, but "uncommon" perhaps. Mine hangs in the kitchen, loaded with high brass sixes, ready to dispatch any varmint that might walk or fly into my chicken yard or garden. So far, it has performed well; though I'm considering having the modified choke opened a bit for the flying critters.

Mac