Difficult extraction -- too difficult for my wife

stuck

take the barrel off and examine the chamber, it may be coated with plastic.
if so get a new SS brush and electric drill use the end of rod to connect the two.clean chamber if chamber is rough coat brush with valve grinder compound and run the drill til polished.I have had a number of barrels loaded
with plastic.:rolleyes::eek::D
 
Thanks for the great ideas

Thanks for all of your helpful ideas.
First, here are some answers to questions you all have asked me:
  1. The shotgun is a:
    (on left): "J.C.HIGGINS MODEL20-12 GA.
    SEARS, ROEBUCK AND CO. 583.58"
    (on right): "PROOF TESTED 12 GA.
    2 3/4" CHAMBER"
    The forums seem to suggest this may have been manufactured for Sears by High Standard and be roughly equivalent to their Model 200.
  2. I'm quite certain it is not a problem of the size/strength of my wife; I also found it difficult to cycle after firing a shell. My wife is taller than average with arms etc. suitable to this shotgun. If anything, the stock is a bit on the short side not too long.
  3. The problem is right at the start of the pump cycle, as if it may be a "stick friction" problem. It is not a failure to eject the cartridge or sticking halfway into the cycle.
  4. The gun cycles very easily empty, or with unfired shells.
  5. The chamber seems real clean, as does the barrel. I cannot feel any roughness whatsoever in the chamber.
  6. The shells I was using are Sellier & Bellot, SB Buck Shot, 12 x 2 3/4 in, with 12 pcs. of shot, 00 Buck. The shell hulls are a clear plastic of some kind.
  7. I'm not in the market to buy another shotgun. This is what I have; and the one I have is, by definition, the one I can afford to own.

I will try to follow the suggestions of Buzzcook, mwar410 and olddrum1 on trying three different kinds of shells and also cleaning/polishing what I can get to. I'm short funds right now so the gunsmith idea is not a good option for me.

The suggestion of mp25ds4 to have my wife "put the butt of the gun on her knee and pull down on the slide with both hands" is a good one. Difficult to practice at the range however (recall, they "stick" only after firing) as the range proprietor wants the barrel pointing down range, of course.

cwf250 and zippy13's suggestions are interesting; but I wouldn't know how to oil the innards on this gun (see gunsmith comment above).

Last question: Has anyone ever had success with putting a little graphite or talcum powder on the outside of the shells? It seems this would significantly reduce ejection friction. Importantly, since these four "dirty" shells would only be used in the event of emergency home defense, I could care less if they would leave something undesirable in the chamber over long-term use. And I could remove those shells and put in "clean" ones if/when going to the range.
 
Try buying el cheapo winchester 00 buck from walmart in 15 round box. I understand the SB shells are a bit longer which may be the issue. The shells I suggest have 9 pellets of 00. They run just south of 10 bucks at my wally world.
Brent
 
nemo,

The old J C Higgins Model 20s are good guns. They were indeed manufactured by High Standard- Sears owned a lot of High Standard stock back then, and sort of coerced the manufacture and private labeling of the Model 20. They are the nechanical equivalent of the High Standard Flite King pump shotgun.

The design is a tilting bolt repeater, with the rear of the bolt locking into a recess in the top of the forged steel receiver. It is similar to the Winchester Model 12 in that regard. The design is a fixed barrel on all the JC Higgins guns as far as I know, some of the later Flite King guns had take-down barrels but all the Model 20s I have seen were fixed barrel. That means it will be a bit more difficult to clean the chamber, but it shouldn't be a huge handicap.

Cleaning the recess in the top of the receiver where the bolt locks up might help some, but I suspect a change in ammo and/or a good chamber cleaning will be more likely to solve your problems with it.

Hope it works out successfully,

lpl
 
That old High Standard is an excellent shotgun and it sounds like a good cleaning is in order.

I would safe the gun, get some cloth rags and a couple of brass 12 ga.

cleaning brushes and really scrub the bore, chamber, and the reciever

internal surfaces.

Don't get too happy about taking it all apart as in removing small springs and such, just a good cleaning.

After getting that done, shoot a few rounds out of the gun and if it still

binds, check the brass portion of the spent hulls and see if it has scratch

marks and if that is the case, you may need to lightly polish your chamber. I

doubt that would be nescessary as a good cleaning might do the trick.

High Standards were well made shotguns and I never heard of

any issues with them, new or old.
 
Mr. Lapin is correct when he stated that the barrel is fixed on the Model 20.

I had a "Field King" pump gun that was slick as ice and I foolishly let it go to a friend that hunted birds. it had a modified choke and I wanted a removable barrel and screw in chokes so I let it go.:(

I kinda wished I had kept that gun due to the fact that the action was slick as ice and felt recoil was minimal.

I know a guy at work who has the Model 20 and he loves the gun and has killed a few deer with it.

Getting back to the fixed barrel:

You have a little bit of work to clean the chamber but it can be done and I feel confident that it will clear up your problem.:D
 
Thanks hogdogs, Lee Lapin and jlv08 for the additional advice, and for the good report on the basic weapon I have in this Higgins model 20. I'll see what I can get it to do in the next couple of trips to the range.
 
When I mentioned polishing the chamber I was thinking you had a shotgun with a removable barrel. The others probably did, too.

I've owned only one fixed barrel pump, and keeping the chamber clean was a big bother compared to a removable barrel gun. A muzzle-fed bore brush just doesn't do a good job on the chamber. And, with a fixed barrel it's often tricky to get a chamber brush in from the breech. Consequently, fixed barrel guns have a tendency to have dirtier chambers.

Now that you're aware of the problem, I'm sure you'll find a solution. Hopefully the action will ease up.
 
Slightly off topic but I've have a similar problem with my Baikal Single Barrel.
Best I could figure it was the brass head expanding. I just used to flick them out with my knife. It solved itself on mine but I'd say polish the chamber.
 
I had the same problem in my Winchester 120 with one box of Fiocci #4 Buck. At first, I thought my gun just disliked Fiocci, as every other ammo ran as smooth as silk. Further experimentation indicated that it was only that one box of ammo that caused the problem. It seems strange, but maybe that was a hot lot or something. I dunno. If it was mine, I would do what others have suggested and try a different ammunition.

--Michael
 
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