Shotgun servicing

[nicknsd1978]

Hi, beretta Silver pigeon, approx 8 years old. Not shot an awful lot and not used much in the last 12 months. Do people recommend gun servicing if starting to shoot it again. Live in Nottingham/Newark. Any recomendations?

[BobbyH]

I get my guns serviced every year regardless how much or little it’s been used 

[scarecrow243]

nope unless it develops a fault

[enfieldspares]

Yes and no. In one way if it isn't broken don't fix it. So I'd ask this. Have you ever had pierced primers when shooting it, have you had light strikes where it has failed to fire. Have you had double discharges or failures to eject fired cartridges? Or times when you have fired one cartridge and both cartridges including the unfired one have ejected? Have you had times when the "gape" has meant that the fired cartridge from the bottom barrel hasn't cleared the breech when it has ejected. If yes to any then consider a service. If yes to none then a service would be nice but maybe isn't immediately required. Take it out, put, say one hundred cartridges through it and if it works without a stutter or a trip or a fall then a service maybe can wait.

[PeterHenry]

It's worth getting it checked over - I have an AYA I took in for service and I was completely unaware the safety was faulty. That was enough to convince me to get things serviced regularly.

[nicknsd1978]

Hi never had any problems with it. Was purchased new in June 2015 so coming up to 9 years. Never stripped it any further than taking the ejectors out. Just wondered what people normally did.

[TOPGUN749]

Had my Beretta 687Mc since 1989, never been near a gunsmith.shoots as well as the first day.

[mossy835]

never only if it wont work.

[old'un]

question is, why?

[Wylye]

If it fires and ejects without fault I would leave it alone. I don’t see the need to spend a couple of hundred quid on a perfectly functioning gun.

[nicknsd1978]

These answers are great…combined with the fact Iv just been quoted £240, I don’t think I’ll bother. Thank you all, think I’ll spend it on some cartridges and a lesson instead with the great Joe Neville

[HantsRob]

For me, I have a few guns I rarely use. I typically clean them for storage and over grease for storage, and then clean them off when I shoot them if it's been a while.

In your situation I'd say give it a nice full clean, use snapcaps or whatever you are happy with to test the trigger and safety, and if it all ejects and works, you probably do not need to worry about a service, not with an 8 year old SP. 

I have a DT, and I have been advised by gunsmiths and GMK that maybe consider at 10,000 rounds, but realistically if it works and it's not been mistreated, to just enjoy shooting it and do the basic user serviceable clean/maintenance.

I do hear what PeterHenry said and on older guns I'd be more cautious. But, for an 8 year old SP then you are probably ok.

Caveat: only you know what the gun has been through, if in doubt, get it checked.

[nicknsd1978]

Thank you that’s extremely helpful. Thank you for all the advice.

[London Best]

It’s a shotgun, not a car!
Of course it doesn’t need a service if it’s working as it should.

[JohnfromUK]

35 minutes ago, London Best said:

Of course it doesn’t need a service if it’s working as it should.

As a general rule, I agree with this - BUT it does a bit depend on how much you do yourself.

For example, most of us (well I do anyway) do a little 'maintenance' as part of cleaning - a wipe clean and a little fresh oil/grease to the moving parts where metal moves on metal.  That keeps things in good order and minimises wear on the moving parts.

However there are moving parts that are not so easily accessible (inside the locks/lockwork).  In my view - occasionally these should be serviced (i.e. cleaned off and re oiled/greased) because oil and grease do dry out and degrade over time.  However, this could be as infrequent as once every many years.

[Fil]

Some of the comments on here make me cringe. You have something blowing up 3 1/2 tons of pressure 6 inches from your face and you refuse to have it looked at unless it's faulty. Go for it.

As Beretta's go, probably one of the guns that needs the the least servicing. However, the biggest problem I see with o/u's in general that never have regular servicing is stocks coming loose and cracking or breaking at the hand. Then when you show the customer they say "oh, I never noticed that." No, but I would have done when servicing your gun and tightened it up when putting it back together and avoiding a cracked stock. £240.00 for an o/u service does seem excessive I must say but different businesses have different overheads. On the flip side avoid anyone that claims they can "service" your gun for £49.00. All they actually do is what you can do in your kitchen or someone I certainly wouldn't want tinkering with my gun.

I also had a Beretta in that didn't work properly. When stripped the oil/grease had gone hard from never being serviced. I serviced it and it worked fine after that. When the customer asked what the problem was I said "needed a service." "But I haven't used it!" was his reply. "Precisely." was my reply.

In reality I would say with modern o/u's a service every couple to 3 years with normal use. That's my professional opinion. And that's if your someone that is is savvy to doing some of the maintenance yourself as John from UK & HantsRob says. Sometimes I would say just a minor safety check/grease every now and then if it works with no problems. For that piece of mind.  

[nicknsd1978]

Fil - Thankyou

[London Best]

3 hours ago, JohnfromUK said:

As a general rule, I agree with this - BUT it does a bit depend on how much you do yourself.

For example, most of us (well I do anyway) do a little 'maintenance' as part of cleaning - a wipe clean and a little fresh oil/grease to the moving parts where metal moves on metal.  That keeps things in good order and minimises wear on the moving parts.

However there are moving parts that are not so easily accessible (inside the locks/lockwork).  In my view - occasionally these should be serviced (i.e. cleaned off and re oiled/greased) because oil and grease do dry out and degrade over time.  However, this could be as infrequent as once every many years.

I agree 100% with your post, John, but what you are calling “a little maintenance” is to me also just part of the clean every gun gets after every outing. As you are saying, lock removal/inside clean and re-lube is as infrequent as every many years. And, as simple as it is, your average owner should leave it well alone.

[JohnfromUK]

2 hours ago, Fil said:

When the customer asked what the problem was I said "needed a service." "But I haven't used it!" was his reply. "Precisely." was my reply.

Yes, I am a (very much amateur) horologist and gummed up oils and 'need for a clean' in clocks that have been sitting unused make up a lot of 'horological bread and butter'!

But a true tale of slight caution.  Back in the 1990s I was invited for a week's shooting (not vast numbers, but a lovely week of walked up and flighting etc.  We were just 4 guns, two of whom were good friends and both knowledgeable gun collectors and the third was a man I hadn't met before, but very pleasant, keen shot, but self admittedly 'non mechanical'.  He had a very nice pair of Churchill best sidelocks which had been his fathers from new pre WW2 - and he was very fond of them (and shot them well).  In conversation, it came out that the Churchills were 'virtually worthless' and he couldn't really afford to have them 'repaired'.  25" guns (which I think these were) were already 'out of fashion'.

The reason was that they were almost out of proof - and had already been re-proofed once (presumably at 10 thou over original proof) - and he had been advised they were not suitable to be re-proofed again.  Not enough meat left in the walls.  The reason for this was that his father had had the guns serviced almost every year as a matter of routine, and whoever had done the work had frequently 'fine bored' the barrels, and they were now at a stage where they were 'end of life'.

I believe that in times gone by - this was not an uncommon practice.  I hope no one does it now - certainly without explaining the implications to the owner.  It was suggested that they could be sleeved, but even that - for a pair was quite expensive and I suspect he was coming to the end of his shooting career (age) anyway.

 

[JDog]

I am no gunsmith and freely admit I don't really know the full ins and outs of how they really work.

I do however maintain all of my guns to the best of my ability.

Chores all done for today so the semi auto gets the once over in the garden.

Edited June 6 by JDog

[HantsRob]

Cleaning my semi is probably my favourite thing to clean and really getting down and ensuring it's all good, including the return spring in the butt and what not. I've recently upgraded to the Taran Tactical springs for my M2.

Edited June 7 by HantsRob

[oldypigeonpopper]

Hello, For any O/U most depends on how many cartridges shot would be my thought for a service , that is buying from new, for a used O/U bought private i may consider a service after using a while , saying this i know people with O/U s made in the 1970s 1980s and never been near a Gunsmith, a Semi Auto would be a general strip and clean after each outing, saying this after trying 2 semi autos i could not get on with them 🙄

[Fil]

On 06/06/2024 at 13:15, JohnfromUK said:

  The reason for this was that his father had had the guns serviced almost every year as a matter of routine, and whoever had done the work had frequently 'fine bored' the barrels, and they were now at a stage where they were 'end of life'.

I believe that in times gone by - this was not an uncommon practice.  I hope no one does it now - certainly without explaining the implications to the owner.  It was suggested that they could be sleeved, but even that - for a pair was quite expensive and I suspect he was coming to the end of his shooting career (age) anyway.

 

Fine boring is an old term for lead lapping. Which I still do today. (I could never get to grips with modern hones) The machine hasn't changed since gun barrels were first bored except I use electricity to spin the lead lap now. 😁 It should normally only be done if there is pitting in the bores or the bores are scruffy or to bore out after a dent has been lifted. And of course, to reduce choke. Every gun  I service, the bores get polished. Not fine bored. This consists of strips of worn 360 grit emery paper on a rod used in the lead lap machine. It removes lead fouling and makes the bores look shiney. You should never lap pitting or take anything out of the bores without notifying the customer first and explaining the consequences. Agreed. 

Interesting about your heurology. I had a work neighbour who was the same. Fascinating. 

4 hours ago, HantsRob said:

Cleaning my semi is probably my favourite thing to clean and really getting down and ensuring it's all good, including the return spring in the butt and what not. I've recently upgraded to the Taran Tactical springs for my M2.

👍

[Old Boggy]

22 hours ago, HantsRob said:

Cleaning my semi is probably my favourite thing to clean and really getting down and ensuring it's all good, including the return spring in the butt and what not. I've recently upgraded to the Taran Tactical springs for my M2.

That makes me quite pleased that I have a basic side by side non ejector and a couple of fairly easy to clean O/Us. 

I’ve never handled a semi-auto and certainly wouldn’t know how to even load one.

If I took one apart as above I feel sure that I would end up with a few bits left over when it was reassembled 😂.

I do however appreciate the pleasure that those who use them get from the cleaning process.

Nice garden, by the way JDog.

OB

[Westley]

Apart from basic cleaning after each outing, every 3 or 4 months I take the stock off my Winchester 101 and Browning over and under guns, then remove the firing pins. I clean the pins with a Scotchbrite pan scourer, clean their housings and return springs, check the pin tips with a magnifying glass, then a very small drop of oil on them and refit. At the same time I will inspect the inside of the action and clean it as required, before refitting the stock. Doing this has prevented my ever having any misfires with the guns and I have NEVER replaced any firing pins either. I suspect a lot of 'worn out' firing pins have been replaced unnecessarily on guns, when a thorough cleaning would have sufficed. 

Edited June 8 by Westley