Parts Therapy

Took the 11-48 out on Sunday; bad news as it wouldn't cycle properly from round one. Bolt kept hanging up about 1/3 of the way through return travel. I could help it along manually, but sure threw me off. Many clays lived to fly another day.

After a long day/evening at work, I decided some tear-down was in order to figure out what's what. Somehow assembly and disassembly of guns, particularly shotguns, is super relaxing. Unless you've done it a bunch, you have to be slow and methodical. Otherwise springs go flying, parts get lost, or some other mishap.

Semi-autos like my 11-48 are particularly fascinating. As soon as you get it apart, you can see an intrinsic logic. Lots of "Oh, that's right, this connects to that to provide that action..." moments. The 11-48 is inertia-driven, so lots of connectors and springs.

After stripping it down and cycling 8,347 times I figure out the carriers that connect the bolt to the main recoil spring are rubbing against a hole they feed into.

Tonight's project? Figure out how to correct that. I think the gunsmith at Williams may have re-assembled incorrectly. And with guns, not right is wrong.

-Sean-