Does Anyone Know How To Remove The Bolt On An Ithaca/SKB XL900?

A

Armed_Chicagoan

New member
Thread title says it all. I've had this 12ga for nearly 30 years, bought it used for $100. It's still in fantastic shape, wood is nearly flawless, one very light scratch on the receiver game bird etchings, no rust whatsoever. I use it to shoot clays, after 200 rounds or so it starts to get dirty and will occasionally stovepipe. Removing the barrel is easy enough, but I have never been able to figure out how to remove the bolt on this thing! So I poke around behind it as best I can, but it would be a lot easier to clean if I could get the bolt out of the way. I'm sure there's nooks and crannies in there I have never been able to get to. The manual at the SKB site only shows how to remove the barrel, not the bolt. Internet searches have proved futile.

It's a gas operated, 2 3/4" only model. Not to be confused with the recoil operated 900 or the 3" version that has the screw adjustment to switch between 3" and 2 3/4" shells. Nor does it have the magazine cut-off system.

I can provide close-up pics if needed, but possibly not until Saturday as I have work tomorrow (not sure how long this job will take) and and plans for tomorrow night. In the mean time here's a pic of the shotgun, hopefully someone here has this exact model and can tell me the secret of bolt removal!

Ithaca%20xl900.jpg
 
.

A pal bought a Deerslayer version (new), many years ago - so I can only partially remember how it was done.

IIRC, he first drifted out the two trigger group retainer pins (ala Rem 1100) & dropped out the trigger group after removing the forend & bbl.

He then did something with the bolt to remove the handle and then slide it out of the front of the receiver via pulling the operating rod/slide, etc.


Sorry I couldn't be more specific, but it wasn't my gun.



.
 
Thanks Petah, I saw a post on Shotgun World (my antivirus goes nuts on that site!) about how some versions of this you had to remove the trigger group, and then you can access a hole in the bottom of the bolt. Inserting a punch into this hole releases the bolt handle, does that sound right?

I'm guessing those 2 pins above the trigger are what needs to be drifted out to remove the trigger group? I'll try that tomorrow.
 
After all those years, you might also need a new spring. Since you are planning to to a major take-down, you might want to get a new one and install it at the same time.
 
Armed Chicagoan said:
Inserting a punch into this hole releases the bolt handle, does that sound right?

I'm guessing those 2 pins above the trigger are what needs to be drifted out to remove the trigger group?
Click to expand...


Yes & Yes.

BTW - Take care not to scratch through that painted-on stock grain/finish.
I can guarantee you won't like what the wood undeneath looks like. (peanut butter)




.
 
hard drives die, if it was me, I would turn it into a paper copy or put it on some other kind of backup media
 
As I suspected there was lots of crud in there, all nice and clean now. Action is now as smooth as new, this should cure the stovepipe issue. I think I can shoot this all day now with no issues.

Thanks to all who replied!

Oh and drcook, I learned my lesson about hard drive failure long ago. I build all my computers now (I've never bought an assembled computer) with a redundant RAID array, as well as a 3rd hard drive I back up all my documents in. So long as the house doesn't burn down I'll be OK, and if that happens I'll have far worse issues!
 
me also, I probably have 10 machines running here all networked together. i copy my documents, email repositories, favorites, anything I can't stand to be without onto multiple machines

I have a couple SCSI boxes still. even those have issues. I had a couple 15K rpm drives go south on me.

it is about time I do another migration. this helps remind me (talking about it)

glad I could help out with the document
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top