Sharps40
Buckeye
- Joined
- Apr 15, 2014
- Messages
- 1,018
Been a long while since I had a 311/Fox apart but as I recall, the mainsprings impinging on the bottom of the hammers are a deuce to reinstall.
With luck we'll be replacing two original firing pins with two NOS pins, return springs and hammer stop/retention screws.
Last time I did this job, I wound up chucking the action in a vice and using a drill press to push on the hammer base/spring installed to slide in the cross pin. It was a 3.27 handed job and lots of cussing.
Went through all the editions of Gunsmiths Kinks (I, II, III are the ones I have) and found three methods of installation besides the vice/drillpress method.
I am advised the nearest vice is in a tractor shed and the vice is covered in poo (Bird I assume/hope!) and located in a dark spot with a dirt floor.....not a good spot for launching springs.
So...........some tools and jigs will need to make the trip north soon to get this job done.
First. No vice handy so an action holding jig.
Probably will need this quick and easy holder for tear down and reassembly. With luck, there's a bench in the garage we can clamp to....if not, one of us has to sit on it while the other works.
After removing the barrels and stock, we can slip the action under the strap and get it all snugged down on the bench for workies.
If we's lucky, the simplest tool will help us line up the hammers and get the cross pin in place under spring tension.
If the tool above needs some help, a suitably modified screwdriver....the forward notch supposedly presses the spring in and the other notch allows the pin to pass over the top. We'll have to be ready for some grinding, not sure if the screwdriver is too fat. I gotta remember to take my grinder along.
Worst case, and maybe we'll just start with this fine little lever.....the sear pin go's thru the hole, the lever is gently cammed down and the hammer/spring pushed forward, the awl is used to line it up and then the factory pin is started through the hole in the action.......capture the first hammer, remove and relocate the tool, repeat for the second hammer. Done! Sounds good.....betcha its a 4 hand job!
With luck we'll be replacing two original firing pins with two NOS pins, return springs and hammer stop/retention screws.
Last time I did this job, I wound up chucking the action in a vice and using a drill press to push on the hammer base/spring installed to slide in the cross pin. It was a 3.27 handed job and lots of cussing.
Went through all the editions of Gunsmiths Kinks (I, II, III are the ones I have) and found three methods of installation besides the vice/drillpress method.
I am advised the nearest vice is in a tractor shed and the vice is covered in poo (Bird I assume/hope!) and located in a dark spot with a dirt floor.....not a good spot for launching springs.
So...........some tools and jigs will need to make the trip north soon to get this job done.
First. No vice handy so an action holding jig.
Probably will need this quick and easy holder for tear down and reassembly. With luck, there's a bench in the garage we can clamp to....if not, one of us has to sit on it while the other works.
After removing the barrels and stock, we can slip the action under the strap and get it all snugged down on the bench for workies.
If we's lucky, the simplest tool will help us line up the hammers and get the cross pin in place under spring tension.
If the tool above needs some help, a suitably modified screwdriver....the forward notch supposedly presses the spring in and the other notch allows the pin to pass over the top. We'll have to be ready for some grinding, not sure if the screwdriver is too fat. I gotta remember to take my grinder along.
Worst case, and maybe we'll just start with this fine little lever.....the sear pin go's thru the hole, the lever is gently cammed down and the hammer/spring pushed forward, the awl is used to line it up and then the factory pin is started through the hole in the action.......capture the first hammer, remove and relocate the tool, repeat for the second hammer. Done! Sounds good.....betcha its a 4 hand job!