Fox CE 20 gauge hard to load

[tracypellett]

I have 4 Foxes , a AE 12 , 2CE 20 , and a 16 SPE grade skeet & upland . When you open them to reload 3 of them stay almost wide open so its easy to load the shells but one of the 20 CE tends to creep close so it takes extra effort to load it . What is the cure for this ? The gun has been restored ,maybe by Turnbull, and has been a sporting clay gun since the restoration . It’s an early gun with the snap on forearm . Thanks for your help . Tracy

[Stan Hillis]

Tracy, I will attempt to explain this, at the risk of embarrassing myself, as I understand it. Other more knowledgeable gunners may correct me and/or expand on it. I certainly welcome that.

When the barrels partially close themselves, not allowing the newly loaded shells to seat in the chambers, it is because the mainsprings are strong enough to do so, and the cocking mechanisms are timed well. Guns that cock on opening, like the vast majority of doubleguns do, re-cock themselves when the barrels are pushed fully open. Many will re-cock just BEFORE the barrels get to the fully open point. Then, the springs are compressed further, which then want to close the barrel a bit. That's what your CE 20 is doing.

Most of my doubleguns, S X Ss and O/Us, partially close after re-cocking, like your CE 20. I shoot a Perazzi as a main sporting clays gun. It does this, too. It is not a flaw that needs to be fixed, IMHO. It is just a characteristic of a good, well adjusted, double gun. Think about it like this ......... the guns you have that fall totally open to load are just barely compressing the springs enough to fully re-cock the locks. I have had a gun that wouldn't always recock the locks after firing and opening the barrels completely. It had to go to a good gunsmith to fix the issue. He fixed it and it now wants to partially close after it re-cocks the locks.

I hope I didn't confuse you, or others, but that is just how I understand it. Best wishes, Stan

[tracypellett]

Stan , thanks for your reply . I’ll quit worrying about it and keep shooting it . Tracy

[Foxnut]

Tracy,
We’d love to see some pics of your 20 CE as well as the others. Sounds like nice guns!!