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2 shot conversion on my 1887


Doc Coles SASS 1188

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I have one of the 1887 Chicom guns that I have been working on (it was a bit of a basket case when I got it). I took it to its first shoot on Sunday (the first time it had ever fired was on a stage!) with the Alaska 49rs and enjoyed it a great deal. It became pretty obvious though that if you were going to use it competitively, it needs the 2 shot conversion. A while back I sent a request for some information (price, time etc.) for a tuneup and the 2 shot conversion to Coyote Cap and I have never heard back from him. I would like to send him the work as he is the acknowledged master, but since I have received no info, who else does good work on the 1887?

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Actually THE MAN for the drop two mod is Fireball, he's the inventor and originator and was doing before anyone else even knew what the gun was. But since he's retired Lassiter is the man to see.

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The original '87 raises the carrier only in the last few degrees of pulling the lever forward. I will not modify my otherwise corect gun since it is not necessary. I simply run the lever to its full extent to kick out the last empty and then pull it back a few degrees to lower the carrier. Drop-two works by dropping the first shell on the carrier and dropping the second shell towards the chamber. Works every time.

This gun still works with a full magazine of five shells plus one on the carrier and one in the chamber. JM Browning is The Man!

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Actually THE MAN for the drop two mod is Fireball, he's the inventor and originator and was doing before anyone else even knew what the gun was. But since he's retired Lassiter is the man to see.

In keeping with the flow of the thread, Lassiter isn't getting back to me either? Must be a busy guy. Smithy.

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He is also a top shooter and I imagine that he travels a lot going to various matches. I was supposed to send a gun to him a year ago and spent so long searching for a suitable box that I plain fergot about it! By the way, the big building supply places will no longer let customers have boxes from the junk pile. Seems there is money to be made in old cardboard!

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I have one of the 1887 Chicom guns that I have been working on (it was a bit of a basket case when I got it). I took it to its first shoot on Sunday (the first time it had ever fired was on a stage!) with the Alaska 49rs and enjoyed it a great deal. It became pretty obvious though that if you were going to use it competitively, it needs the 2 shot conversion. A while back I sent a request for some information (price, time etc.) for a tuneup and the 2 shot conversion to Coyote Cap and I have never heard back from him. I would like to send him the work as he is the acknowledged master, but since I have received no info, who else does good work on the 1887?

 

Doc,

 

I sent you a PM. Please read.

 

Pancho

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I have one of the 1887 Chicom guns that I have been working on (it was a bit of a basket case when I got it). I took it to its first shoot on Sunday (the first time it had ever fired was on a stage!) with the Alaska 49rs and enjoyed it a great deal. It became pretty obvious though that if you were going to use it competitively, it needs the 2 shot conversion. A while back I sent a request for some information (price, time etc.) for a tuneup and the 2 shot conversion to Coyote Cap and I have never heard back from him. I would like to send him the work as he is the acknowledged master, but since I have received no info, who else does good work on the 1887?

So how did you send your request for information to CC? Did you pick up the phone and call?

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Doc, You mentioned doing the work yourself. You can make a pretty good rendition of the drop-2 by drilling a 3/8" hole in the center of the magazine follower. What that does is give the bar that sticks out of the front of the lifter a place to "catch" as you push down the lifter with the two shells. If you push a little harder the lifter will bypass the hole and drop to the full amount, allowing you to load the magazine.

 

Please note that you will be working on a cheap part in case you screw up. (Always one of my criteria.)

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Doc, You mentioned doing the work yourself. You can make a pretty good rendition of the drop-2 by drilling a 3/8" hole in the center of the magazine follower. What that does is give the bar that sticks out of the front of the lifter a place to "catch" as you push down the lifter with the two shells. If you push a little harder the lifter will bypass the hole and drop to the full amount, allowing you to load the magazine.

 

Please note that you will be working on a cheap part in case you screw up. (Always one of my criteria.)

 

That teeter-totter piece is the shell lifter that rides in the center of the carrier. For this to do the drop-two mod, the nose of it has to stand a bit proud of the front of the carrier. Some of the lifters were trimmed back in the Chinese factory because they were getting complaints from non-CAS shooters that the carrier assembly was "hanging up" on the dimple in the magazine follower.

 

If it's too short to catch the dimple or Cypress Sam's suggested 3/8" hole you can either A call IAC and see if they have any of the longer lifters in stock or B build up the lifter nose with a welder and then grind it to fit. Or the safest option, C order another lifter anyway and do the weld & grind on it. If disaster strikes, you'll have the original part to put back in and not have a crippled gun.

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Sounds simple enough. As part of solving the initial problems with this gun I made a new magazine follower for it (the original was so undersized that, on the last shot, it would tip in the mag tube an jam. I can certainly turn a dimple in the end of the follower (I made it flat like the originals) and extend the shell lifter (or order a new one). It is an interesting gun and quite a nice design. It has been fun to work on.

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Thanks Capt Woodrow, I didn't know that some of the Chinese guns were different. Mine is the only one I've worked on. It's probably not as good as one of Lassiter's because he does a lot more than I did. I am not a gunsmith, just a tinkerer. But I, too, enjoy working on these guns!

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Theres 2 ways to do the drop 2 conversion.The drill a hole in the follower home diy method,which is spotty at best(especially if you want to run one at speed)Or get ahold of Lassiter,get on his list and have a gun that will run as fast as you possibly can run it and it will be reliable.

The 87 is a good gun,it can be tricky to master but the gun is as fast as any shotgun out there.90 % of the train wrecks and bad reputation is a result of poorly tuned guns.Lassiter has done 2 originals,2 chicoms,and 1 chiappa for me.All are 100% reliable at real speed.It may take a little while before you can get your gun scheduled with him,but it will be done when he says it will(NO B.S. FALSE PROMISES)and he stands behind his work 110%,I might also add that he won't ask you to send him the gun until he is ready for it.There where some issues with the Chiappa (one of the first ones made)that where factory QC issues.He absolutely bent over backwards to make it right even though it was no fault of his.

So if you want a truly competition ready 87 then don't waste your time with home shop conversions,send the gun to Lassiter and have a gun that will be a blast to shoot and one that will compete with any 97 or SxS out there

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Howdy Sam! I talked to Marty at IAC last year and that's when I learned about the different lifters.

I do all my own tinkersmithing too, and experiment on spare parts before doing any permanent surgery ... unless I've got real clear instructions from somebody who's successfully already done whatever the mod is. Saves a lot of grief.

 

Working on a Ruger mod right now. Just need the $10 stock base pins to do a little machining on. If it works like expected, I'll post my results.

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