Model 12- side of action dented in...

A

Andy Griffith

New member
Well, this is one that has me stumped.

A friend of mine brought and showed me a gun he was given...

A nearly new model 12 heavy duck gun- nearly a 100% gun...except the side opposite the ejection port has about a 1" diameter dent in the side of the receiver, about a 1/10" deep. I would say it was dropped onto a small, hard object in the distant past. The action works about 2/3 of the way open.

I'm going to try to get it apart, which I think I can do...buy any idea on how to get the dent out of an action like this?

Take it to the local body shop? :p
 
Can you reach the dent through the ejection port? If so, a thick brass rod can be inserted to drive the dent back out. If not, then it will be necessary to make a dent remover using a wedge or screw to apply pressure from the inside. I have never seen damage of that type, and AFAIK there is no specific tool for the job. But don't use a tool that will bear on the right side of the receiver; you might just end up with both sides bent. And don't use heat.

If you are able to iron out the dent, and get the action working, then you can draw file or mill the receiver side and reblue it for appearances, or just leave it be if it doesn't bother you.

Jim
 
There is a possibility of getting that out with heat, once you strip the receiver. However, I don't know if the receiver was heat treated on the newer guns, as steel changed during the years, but one should figure, it probably was. The steel in the inside top, where the bolt bites, is what would be damaged, if the temper was taken out. If you can keep that from happening, then it may save it.

Look up flame straightening.

Last, you might be able to get the spot red hot, and use an L shaped punch, etc, to drive it back out. However, you still need to observe the above, about not getting the top of the frame hot. Try what Jim says first, as if you can cold work it, you're better off.
 
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Thank you gentlemen!

I had thought about heat, but I don't want t mess with the temper if at all possible.

I have an idea of what to do now.

Come to think of it, I believe I have an 1897 that hanging around in my closet for decades with a similar problem...I had almost forgotten about it! I believe I picked it up off old man H.L. Adams' gunshop in Helen GA years ago for parts!
 
Another way, I thought of, would be to make a miniature jack. Take a small block of steel, say about 2" wide, and narrow enough to center under the dent. Then have it thick enough, that a 1/2" bolt head, screwed down, would allow it to fit inside. Us a grade 7 0r 8, 1/2" fine thread bolt, and tap the block for it. Center it under the dent, and using a wrench, jack the bump out, using the bolt head under the dent.

You may have to put some C clamps across the bottom, to keep it from trying to spread the two sides out. That, or mount it in a vise, bottom up, so the vise will keep it from spreading.
 
From the description, it kind of sounds like quite a lot of material has been displaced.
And can that mean the receiver might have been weakened, or will be when it's bent back??
Just thinking of where the shooter's body parts will be when the gun is mounted and the trigger pulled.
 
Model 12 receivers are darned expensive and pretty hard to come by, plus they are not all the same, but obviously if an identical one can be obtained, that would be the answer.

I thought a bit about this, and that receiver wall is pretty thin (as evidenced by the fact that it dented in the first place). I think a heavy C clamp might do the trick with brass or aluminum blocks to fit the receiver. The top of the C would go inside, with the screw on the outside. If you can get it in (maybe have to cut some off), and have a sturdy pin or wrench to turn the screw, I think the dent will come out. (You will still have to grind/file the receiver flat and reblue if appearance is important.)

Jim
 
Jim, that would be better, as you wouldn't take the chance of spreading the sides out, since you'd be working off the one side. Just put a strong back, (a steel or bass bar), straddling the dent, on the outside, for the screw of the clamp to ride on, and place the top of the clamp on the dent, inside. I'd say the side isn't but about 1/8" thick, so one could easily bend that.
 
I think it would work, but would suggest brass bars on both sides of the sidewall to squeeze the dent between them. I am pretty sure that would get the gun working; I don't think it would fully remove the dent. Based on my experience in removing barrel dents, there is usually some part of the dent remaining that has to be draw filed out, then polished and blued for a neat job.

Jim
 
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