[Harley Lekvold]

A friend brought me his Browning 12 Ga. Dbl. Auto to fix. I cleaned and oiled it but it will not function properly.
It will fire the first shell but not eject the fired one enough so the second one will feed properly.

I cleaned the chamber with a 20 mil brass brush.

It is called a Twelvette, made between 55-71 and approx. 67,000 were made.

I tried both target loads and field loads.

Any help or suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Barry C. Roach]

We have a resident B. Double expert that should be along any time now.

 

[ou.3200]

The problem is likely too much lubrication. The manuals that came with them stated they were lubricated at the factory and not to add lubrication. Too much lubrication makes the action work too fast jamming the first shell before it clears the port. Remove the excess lubrication from inside receiver/tube under the spring, lube VERY SPARINGLY and try again. One word of caution, if it is one with an alloy receiver rather than steel, the anodizing is covered with a coating, possibly lacquer. The coating will be damaged by cleaners like carb spray or brake cleaner. It would be best to disassemble to remove the excess oil rather than spray with the parts inside the receiver to avoid damage to the coating.

 

[Harley Lekvold]

ou.3200 Thanks for your info, but I don't thimk I put too much oil on it. I just put it on a q-tip and barely put any oil on any part of it.

 

[Dbl Auto]

Harley, I have some suggestions. View the above link that I did on shotgunworld.com to fully disassemble the Browning Double Auto. I have bought many DA's that I needed a deep clean to function. My Grandfather's DA was stored bolt open for about 30 years from 1970 something to about 2000. It did exactly what you describe, first shell fires and the second won't load. I took it apart using the method in my link. It still had issues with target loads. We ran about a box of heavy field loads through it and repeated the complete cleaning process. I was amazed at how much gunk that was shook loose again. It functions well with all loads now. You said that you cleaned the chamber. I polish my DA chambers with Kroil, locking the barrel in gun vise. I use a cleaning rod that I bought from Rod's Custom gunstocks and an oversized chamber brush. The rod is designed to fit in a drill. If this doesn't fix your problem, I would consult www.artsgunshop.com. I have not personally used Art's, but I know many who have and he is said to be top notch with old Brownings.

I'll send you a pm after work with my info so that I can send you a scan copy of the Browning DA owner's manual. Too much oil can also be a bad thing in these hand fitted actions which the owner's manual addresses.

Let me know if you have any luck!

Doug Allison

 

[Dbl Auto]

Good words of advise from ou.3200 on the clear coat on the colored guns. I found out the hard way NOT to use Kroil or other aggressive cleaners on the colored receiver. Still makes me sick. I had to sell that DA as I could not stand to look at what I let happen. It was a boxed trap stocked DA.
Good luck!
Doug Allison

 

[ou.3200]

I had two that had the same problem and were cured by removing excess oil. The manual states:

"Your gun has been properly oiled at the factory and should NOT be lubricated further UNLESS the gun should be slightly tight and fail to remain open with the loads you are using in which case place two or three drops of light gun oil on the recoil spring tube to facilitate wearing in the mechanism. After that recoil mechanism should NOT be oiled further." (The capitalized words were underlined)

"Occasionally, a small drop of oil may be placed on breechblock and barrel extension guides, etc., to relieve the effects of friction."

It is worth a try. You might clean the oil from the recoil mechanism under the spring first to try that.

 

[hera200]

Then of course there is the obvious. These guns are mechanical- recoil operated and require a good tight hold to the shoulder to get that SHORT bbl action to operate reliably. The pad has to be against something solid to operate the action properly......BUD

 

[Dbl Auto]

Here is how dirty one can be with field use over the years.
Doug Allison

 

[Bob Butler]

I have my dads with the steel receiver. A lot of memories with that. Found a solid rib barrel a few years back in Mod choke. Both original barrels we had before had modifications from back in the day. Cutts and Simmons rib on one and another compensator of some type with the same Simons rib.
Cleaning the action spring and tube in the stock were required. Cycles even light target loads like butter.
Hope you find the solution.
My trigger group is early and the newer full length stock I found at Numrich is not an exact fit. They must have changed the inlet as production went along. The original prince of wales from my dads was cut down for a younger shooter and a recoil pad. Still looking for and early original length stock.

 

[Dbl Auto]

doggai, sent you a pm.
Doug Allison

 

[Harley Lekvold]

Thank You to all who offered information etc. We took it apart, cleaned a very dirty gun's action, and it was evident that someone had taken it apart before. Put it back together and still not chambering the second round. We tried both target loads and field loads. It will go to a professional to be fixed. Thank You again for the info. Harley