Issues you encountered

[Alan]

From jams to breakdowns, what major issues have you dealt with, and what solutions did you implement?

 

[Brucer41]

The worst I have had to deal with was with a (and don't laugh here) was a 380 Bryco Jennings. The gun itself was/is in almost new shape and I bought it for a ridiculous price figuring to offload it and make a few bucks. In testing, I found that it jammed constantly, stove piped, failed to extract, and pretty much everything else you can imagine. I was so mad and wanted to use it as a fishing weight but remembered I was the ******* that bought it. So I looked it over a lot closer and took it apart and with a high power magnifier checked it over completely. I found that there was a minute crack in the extractor that expanded when it got hot. It caused the jamming and failure to eject. It also did the stove piping. You could barely see the rack when cold, and not at all without a magnifier. Made me a bit crazy until I asked a friend to magnaflux most of the parts in the firing circuit. I replaced that along with grinding and polishing the feed ramp plus polished everything inside of it and that thing shoots and cycles like a champ. With the new extractor I hardened it before installing it as I wanted to make sure it wasn't going to go through that again. I know it's a cheapie small caliber, but it is a nice little gun, good shooter and worth about 20 times what I paid for it.

 

[Magus]

The only real trouble I ever had was a worn-out 1100 Remington. Turns out the recoil tube was broken off.

 

[Brucer41]

The only real trouble I ever had was a worn-out 1100 Remington. Turns out the recoil tube was broken off.

That should have been an easy fix there. The only PITA is the staking and sealant. If it is older, then the sealant may be easy enough to clean out. Watching the heat on the staking is the one thing to watch for. I have done a few replacement tubes and while fairly easy you just have to be very careful of the alignment of the new one and ensure you get enough sealant in when you install the new one.

 

[Magus]

Should have been, the former owner tried to braise it, then water cool it, the metal was ruined, couldn't even be TIG welded. sold it as scrap.

 

[Brucer41]

Should have been, the former owner tried to braise it, then water cool it, the metal was ruined, couldn't even be TIG welded. sold it as scrap.

That sucks! I always have to see a firearm get destroyed. I watch a lot of the "restored" video's on YouTube and some of them I want to scream at them.

 

[Magus]

Restoring Bubba guns used to be a hobby of mine. You haven't cried until you've seen an otherwise pristine 03-A3 turned into a "deer gun" and crowned with a hacksaw. But the most horrible one I ever encountered was the one I dubbed the "Gay pride Garand." I have never seen more thought and effort put into destroying history in my life! I bought it to build a BM-59, but an actually pristine M1 drifted along that had been in a collector's safe since the 60's, and I turned it, and an AR-10 build into that Garand and 300 rounds of -06 in clips. This thing is ALMOST its twin, mine had the rear sight milled off and a Remington 700 barrel and no handguard...

 

[Brucer41]

It's a shame to see any military piece chopped up. I've not seen one yet that looked good after a chop job. I guess I am a purist.

 

[Magus]

Or a historian.