Jammed shotgun

C

Camoclad85

Inactive
Recently my 21 year old son bought a used Charles Daly 3 1/2" 12ga. We looked it over and cycled the action several times in the store and it seemed like a good gun. When we got home he went out to shoot it and after the first shot he had a little trouble with the cycling. We got that all straightened out and after he fired the second shot the gun jammed with the hull still in the ejector and the bolt almost all the way back. We pushed and pulled to no avail. When we came back inside I squirted a bunch of gun oil in it intending to leave it sit overnight. The more I sat there and thought about it the more I wanted to fix it. So I take out the pins that hold the trigger assembly in and take it out. I was able to get it freed and put back together. Then I went outside and put two rounds through it. Everything went fine and I figured it just needed oiled cause it was pretty dry. My son goes and shoots it the next day and he tells me that the action was smooth before he shot it but after a shot or two the action was getting tight again. So I take the gun and look it over and everything seemed well lubricated and in place. I have no idea what the problem is. He was shooting Federal Top Gun 8's- 2 3/4". The gun will still cycle but it is extremely difficult. I feel bad cause I told him to get it beings I had one myself when I was around his age and it always served me well. If anyone has any ideas as to what the cause of the problem is I would greatly appreciate any help.
 
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The gun, as you state, is a 3 1/2” chamber and it won’t cycle with 2 3/4” ammo It’s not designed to shoot the lighter/shorter ammo. The shorter shells don’t develop enough gas to cycle the gun reliably. Well oiled it will do it sometimes and not do it other times. That’s pretty much normal when you try shooting the much lighter ammo out of that gun. Quite a few 3” chambers will cycle 2 3/4” ammo, but it would be rare for a 3 1/2” chamber to do it. I’ve owned many, many shotguns over the years and have seen this happen lots of times. Sell it and get a gun made for the ammo you want to use in it. Some duck, goose, or turkey hunter will be happy to take it off your hands.
 
I owned the same model 10 or 12 years ago and regularly hunted rabbits and dove with it and never had any problems. The problem we're having with this one is not it cycling ammo but how difficult it is to work the action. There's a reason why the action jammed other than the shells. Even when the gun is empty it is extremely difficult to work the action. I'm thinking maybe something in there is bent?
 
You have an issue

It sounds to me that the gun has a problem.

Once upon a time Charles Daly were top shelf or near top shelf guns. That has been a lot of years ago now.

The more recent iterations of Charles Daly....not so much.

I know of at least one bankruptcy, life time warranties are only good for the lifetime of the company.
Depending on when it was made, you may have one heck of a time finding parts or even someone to repair it.
Any idea who actually manufactured it? The recent Charles Daly guns are Turkish I believe.
 
It was made in Turkey, as was the one I use to have. I'm almost certain it is something with the gun. When I handled it prior to my son shooting it the action was a little stiff which I attributed to the minimal use it appears to have seen. The magazine tube barely shows signs of wear and it needed oil. Bad. After I took it apart and fixed the jam I went out on my porch and fired two shots very quickly and all was well. The next day while I was away from home my son calls me to tell me that the gun's starting to get harder and harder to cycle with each shot. When I got home I looked it over and nothing seemed wrong other than the effort required to chamber a round. It is well oiled and showed no obvious reason for the malfunction.
 
I'm not familiar with that particular gun. But with some semi-auto's I've owned it is easy to assemble them incorrectly. I had a Beretta AL390 that would do that. Take the barrel off and make sure any rings, etc. that slide over the mag tube are on in the correct order and in the right direction.
 
After a complete tear down, cleaning and reassembly the gun is working. The metal shavings I found inside are tell tale signs that it hadn't ever been been done to that extent since leaving the factory. Although it's still slightly tough to cycle it is definitely performing more smoothly. At least now I know that it's safe to use. That's just one of those things that gets better with age. Thanks to all ya'll who provided me with some insight, I hope I can return the favor one day in the future.
 
Glad it is working better now after a good cleaning. That is the first thing you should do to a new firearm is a good cleaning. Alot of guns come coated in a rust/corrosion preventive, the company does not know how long their gun may sit on a shelf. It does not come lubed up ready to use, this is where a lot of gun owners run into a problem with their new gun and think the gun is broken. A good cleaning and lube solve alot of problems like this. Good luck with your new addition, hope it brings you and your son many years of happiness.


P.S. Also try different ammo types in the gun, it may like a different load or brand than the one your normally using. Some guns need a little break-in for them to smooth out. They usually get smoother with use.
 
Camoclad85 said:
Thank You jmr40, I'll let you know how I make out.
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Some of the "made over there" branded firearms need some time to settle in. Sounds like you got it figured out.

I will usually have kids on my trap team take a new shotgun apart, over-lube it, assemble, run the action a few hundred times manually. Take it down, clean and look for shavings and such, lube and assemble. We have caught a few that had shavings and such in them like yours, but so far, that method has worked on the budget guns to get them off the starting blocks with minimal issues.
 
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