Semi-auto lockups
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NoSecondBest
New member
I'm pretty old and I shoot a LOT of shotgun. I own, and have owned quite a few semi automatics, and don't know what "lock up" means. What are you talking about?
the rifleer
New member
About as often as unicorns play pranks of elves.
jaguarxk120
New member
Usually most auto loaders do not have a cover on the ejection port.
Are you talking about some sort of AR platform?
Are you talking about some sort of AR platform?
When the bolt of a semi-auto shotgun goes forward to load a shell, the ejection port will be closed, blocked, etc by the bolt.It sounds to me ..../ when the gun jams like this, it is often ammo related / shell is out of round - or wasn't sized or resized properly.
Semi-autos - made by anyone are finicky on ammo / ....but using better shells usually stops the problem.
Some of the bulk pak shells from Wal-Mart have been an issue for quite a while ....but it pops up from time to time on the inexpensive shells from Rio, Estate, etc...vs the better shells from Wichester or Remington.
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Sometimes there can be mechanical issues in the action ( Mossbergs guns - are not high end shotguns / not picking on them - just saying they are on the lower end with mixed reviews on their semi-autos // Winchester is a subsidiary of Browning and FN now ...and their newer guns are pretty good // most of the market on gas operated semi-autos is controlled by Beretta with a variety of models ...and in the Inertia market Benelli dominates ( Benelli is a subsidiary of Beretta / and for the most part all they do is Inertia actions vs gas operated) -- although there are indications the lines will blur between Beretta and Benelli to some extent on new models....
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With the gun that is jammed ...or has jammed / get some help getting the action open ....then make sure it is cleaned and properly lubed...and see if the problem persists. And change shells...( learning how to do this - is part of shotgunning / and its not often that you'd need a gunsmith to do it ).
Semi-autos - made by anyone are finicky on ammo / ....but using better shells usually stops the problem.
Some of the bulk pak shells from Wal-Mart have been an issue for quite a while ....but it pops up from time to time on the inexpensive shells from Rio, Estate, etc...vs the better shells from Wichester or Remington.
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Sometimes there can be mechanical issues in the action ( Mossbergs guns - are not high end shotguns / not picking on them - just saying they are on the lower end with mixed reviews on their semi-autos // Winchester is a subsidiary of Browning and FN now ...and their newer guns are pretty good // most of the market on gas operated semi-autos is controlled by Beretta with a variety of models ...and in the Inertia market Benelli dominates ( Benelli is a subsidiary of Beretta / and for the most part all they do is Inertia actions vs gas operated) -- although there are indications the lines will blur between Beretta and Benelli to some extent on new models....
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With the gun that is jammed ...or has jammed / get some help getting the action open ....then make sure it is cleaned and properly lubed...and see if the problem persists. And change shells...( learning how to do this - is part of shotgunning / and its not often that you'd need a gunsmith to do it ).
I have owned about 40 semi autos, and I used to sell them, and work on them. I have seen two. One was an 1100 with a shell on top of the carrier. I do not know how the owner managed to do that, as I have owned 13 of them with no problems. I pushed the round back in the magazine, but I could have dropped the trigger group to clear it. The other was a Winchester 1400. Something was busted; I forget what, and it went back to Winchester.
EDIT- Remembered another one. Another 1100. Owner didn't get the link properly in the action spring follower on re assembly. He almost decided to fire it to try to clear it; fortunately he did not.
EDIT- Remembered another one. Another 1100. Owner didn't get the link properly in the action spring follower on re assembly. He almost decided to fire it to try to clear it; fortunately he did not.
Scubasimmons
New member
Never. If something weird happens you can pop the pins for the trigger group and pretty much fix anything. I do have an 870 that was very stiff and had issues short stroking that led to all kinds of problems, but I scotch bright padded some problem surfaces and it now works flawlessly.
g.willikers
New member
About as often as you can expect the engine in your car to lock up while cruising down the highway.
Or get bit by a rattlesnake in downtown New York City.
What motivated you to ask this question?
Or get bit by a rattlesnake in downtown New York City.
What motivated you to ask this question?
g.willikers said:
Many years ago, I think during skeet shooting, I remember a semi-auto shotgun locking up to where it wouldn't fire. I may have exaggerated about the need for a gunsmith but the gun definitely needed some work before it would fire properly again. Currently I was thinking about the purchase of a shotgun and wanted to know about some reliability issues of semi-autos.
Most issues like that are ammo related ...not usually the gun malfunctioning....or the gun was not maintained properly.
In shotguns, in my opinion - you get what you pay for !
Beretta is one of the leaders in the semi-auto gas gun market ...and they sell models starting at about $ 800 - $ 2,000 with a number of very good guns .... / Browning - Winchester have some good models Browning Maxus, Browning Silver, etc... $1,000 - $ 1250 or so / and Benelli has a number of inertia operated guns ....$1,000 - $2,000 .......and I'm not saying there are no other guns you should look at ....but if someone is selling a new semi-auto for $ 500 ...you may not be able to tell much by looking at it / but you have to wonder about the metallurgy and the quality of the internals.
I'll tell you a story about a buddy who bought and shot a Beretta semi-auto -- decent gun / low end model but still ....one day it quit cycling ...he asked me to look at it / when we took it apart the action was a solid block of "carbon" gunk because he had not cleaned it in over a year..and he was shooting 300 boxes a year...so he was flat out abusing the gun. It was not the gun or the designs fault ( and I still pick on him - for being an idiot / and the fact that it took me an hour to get the gunk out from under my fingernails ! ).
Personally I clean every gun I shoot - at the end of my range day --- but I am especially fussy with any semi-auto I choose to shoot / and it doesn't matter if I shot 3 boxes or 10 boxes..../ in a tournament situation - I'd clean the semi-auto between morning and afternoon sessions ( just so I don't have to think about equipment issues). Over Unders ...way less moving parts / I still clean them, but I wouldn't fuss with them between morning and afternoon sessions.
And partly because of that ...I've never had a gun fail in a tournament ( but any gun can break ).
In shotguns, in my opinion - you get what you pay for !
Beretta is one of the leaders in the semi-auto gas gun market ...and they sell models starting at about $ 800 - $ 2,000 with a number of very good guns .... / Browning - Winchester have some good models Browning Maxus, Browning Silver, etc... $1,000 - $ 1250 or so / and Benelli has a number of inertia operated guns ....$1,000 - $2,000 .......and I'm not saying there are no other guns you should look at ....but if someone is selling a new semi-auto for $ 500 ...you may not be able to tell much by looking at it / but you have to wonder about the metallurgy and the quality of the internals.
I'll tell you a story about a buddy who bought and shot a Beretta semi-auto -- decent gun / low end model but still ....one day it quit cycling ...he asked me to look at it / when we took it apart the action was a solid block of "carbon" gunk because he had not cleaned it in over a year..and he was shooting 300 boxes a year...so he was flat out abusing the gun. It was not the gun or the designs fault ( and I still pick on him - for being an idiot / and the fact that it took me an hour to get the gunk out from under my fingernails ! ).
Personally I clean every gun I shoot - at the end of my range day --- but I am especially fussy with any semi-auto I choose to shoot / and it doesn't matter if I shot 3 boxes or 10 boxes..../ in a tournament situation - I'd clean the semi-auto between morning and afternoon sessions ( just so I don't have to think about equipment issues). Over Unders ...way less moving parts / I still clean them, but I wouldn't fuss with them between morning and afternoon sessions.
And partly because of that ...I've never had a gun fail in a tournament ( but any gun can break ).
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I have an FNH 18" SLP and it has never locked up. I fired 900 rounds of 2 3/4" and 50 rounds of 3" slugs. The only time a had an issue is when I was firing low recoil 00 buckshot rounds. I use the SLP for HD and had to cycle the gun by hand since the low recoil buckshot was not powerful enough to cycle the action.
I just load 00 buckshot the fires 1325 FPS or higher and the SLP cycles fine.
I just load 00 buckshot the fires 1325 FPS or higher and the SLP cycles fine.
Well I've seen it happen on a friend's Remington Sportsman semi-auto a few times but as people have noted here it was an ammunition problem. After firing the action was jammed shut and couldn't be opened by hand. The owner put the butt of the gun on the ground, put his foot on the operating handle and pushed down. The fired bad shell ejected and he was good to go again.