Beretta AL391 Synthetic.

[ernyha]

Many of you will have noticed over the past few years that I own and am a big fan of the AL391.

 

:*) Well I have a confession to make as this year I have had nothing but trouble with it. :*)

 

I put it away last September after the stubble season and on the few occasions I went shooting in the winter and spring, I used my O/U. When I took the 391 out for the first time in July on some barley stubble, it jammed more often than not but I put it down to the fact that as it hadn't been out of the cabinet for such a long time that it had probably dried out and needed a good clean and lubrication.

At home I stripped it down completely and washed all the parts in a clean solvent.

I then dried everything off and lubricated all the moving parts (except the gas piston) with gun oil and then wiped off any excess oil.

I re-assembled the gun and put it away, confident that the next time out it would perform as good as it ever did, which was nigh on perfect.

 

:< No! Although a lot better, the gun still has a habit of trying to load two cartridges at once thereby stopping the first one loading.

I am using my normal cartridges and have even tried putting heavier loads in as the first shot but it still jams now and then and I am fast loosing faith in the gun.

Anyone any tips or ideas as I am an impatient person at the best of times and if I can't find a quick fix then the gun has to go! :blink:

 

Still love it to death but if it doesn't do its job then it is time to part company.

[highdowns hunter]

I Did hear that it is sometimes wise to leave a bit carbon in the gas Chamber

Dont know itf its true or not

[barrie0]

Ern , Have a browse through the Beretta section of shotgun world , there's loads of info/problem solving on the 391 .

 

http://www.shotgunworld.com/bbs/viewforum.php?f=57

 

 

 

Have a closer look at the "bent carrier" threads as this seems to be the main problem for jams on the 391's .Heres one of them .

 

http://www.shotgunworld.com/bbs/viewtopic....ht=bent+carrier

 

Also have you ever taken out the "recoil spring" and relubed it . It's the one that runs from the back of the receiver down into the stock and pushes the bolt forward . I took mine out a little while ago and it was covered in gunked up sh£"$y grease . If you do a search on the above forum you will find out how to take it out .

[ernyha]

Have a closer look at the "bent carrier" threads as this seems to be the main problem for jams on the 391's .Heres one of them .

 

http://www.shotgunworld.com/bbs/viewtopic....ht=bent+carrier

 

Also have you ever taken out the "recoil spring" and relubed it . It's the one that runs from the back of the receiver down into the stock and pushes the bolt forward . I took mine out a little while ago and it was covered in gunked up sh£"$y grease . If you do a search on the above forum you will find out how to take it out .

barrieO, thanks for those links and I certainly like your idea of the "recoil spring" being gummed up.

 

I can't see how the trap door can be bent or out of line from new as the gun has performed faultlessly up until I put it away for nine months or so which suggests to me that something has dried out or is "gummed up".

 

When I return home I will certainly do this extra strip down of the parts that the manual suggests are behond the capabilities of us mere mortals. :blink:

 

Thanks again for the help lads. :(

[barrie0]

A couple of tips for the recoil spring Ern . You probably know that you take the stock bolt off and it is in this threaded(at the end) tube that the spring goes in . There is a small hole just above the threaded bit where you stick something small through (to take the tension off the spring)it will make sense when you see it . Then there are two flats on the threaded part which you use to undo to the threaded part which the stock bolt screws onto . You have to be very carefull not to damage the thread while using a spanner/pliers etc on the flats so I used some cloth and locking pliers to make sure .

 

Also it can be very tight to undo as it normally has thread locking compound on it ,so I used a hair dryer on it to get it nice and hot as suggested on shotgun world so it unscrews easier . Sounds worse than it is to do .

:(

 

 

Edit - Put down plenty of newspaper Ern as you will get black S!*T off the spring for sure .