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Slicking up a Stoeger at home


Jgbeerman

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Evening Yall-

 

I am purchasing a stoeger coach gun next weekend and have heard that sometimes they are great off the bat and other times they need a bit of work. I was looking for some step by step instructions on how to smooth up the barrels a bit to the shells slide right out and some other stuff that will make it great to shoot if its not great when I get it.

 

Have heard some stuff about a better spring so you don't have to break it over your knee.

 

I am by no means a gun smith nor do I have tons of experience working with guns, but I am good with my hands and can follow instructions really well.

 

Any information would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

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I have tuned a few and they are not that hard to work on if you have the tools and know how. I would have to say that I have seen some that have become wall hangers in the wrong hands.

 

To keep your self out of trouble when funneling and polishing chambers, you need to have a good understanding of head spacing. The number one problem I have seen in bad home jobs is bad headspacing. They won't reliably fire if you get it wrong.

 

That being said, marauder's website has some very good information.

 

KQ

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I have tuned a few and they are not that hard to work on if you have the tools and know how. I would have to say that I have seen some that have become wall hangers in the wrong hands.

 

To keep your self out of trouble when funneling and polishing chambers, you need to have a good understanding of head spacing. The number one problem I have seen in bad home jobs is bad headspacing. They won't reliably fire if you get it wrong.

 

That being said, marauder's website has some very good information.

 

KQ

 

Yup - KQ is the pard who gonna be touchin' my Stoeger...saw an example of his work - nice!

 

GG ~ :FlagAm:

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I've got an easy and much less expensive answer. Forget the gunsmithing for now. The following can be started tomorrow without threatening the workings of the gun.

Buy at least four 12-gage snap caps and practise shooting the scattergun portion of the stage (load-shoot-dump-load-shoot-dump). My opinion is that slicking up the shotgun is not the issue to making it work. It is the process of getting four rounds downrange smoothly and quickly.

The very top shooters can get the most out of a slicked SxS, but I see most shooters (including myself) fumbling rounds in and out of the gun and doing a less than great job of mounting the gun and transitions.

I did replace my stock sight bead with a 'golf ball' but that was the extent of my work on the gun. My safety still is automatic, but I am so used to knocking it off after closing the barrel that it does not seem to slow me down.

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I've a number of Stoegers; my last two required NO work to the chambers to get slick ejection. I didn't even bother cutting the lever springs and I've never bothered with putting in light hammer springs. Don't need'em. Gun(s) works just fine as they is. But then again, I am a big bucket-head and stiff springs don't really bother me! :rolleyes:

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I am just really excited, and was trying to get some ideas, but hopefully mine will work great and wont need anything to get them shells to fall right out!

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I will have to disagree that shooting them as is, is the best way to go. It's just too easy to slick things up a little and the difference in operation is very noticeable. Best part is it can be done at home, by anyone with a little mechanical ability.

 

Lightening the opening lever spring, (Just a little), makes opening the gun much easier and faster, and removing the auto safety is simply a no-brainer. Sanding and stoneing the burrs off the action is easily done and smooths the opening and closing of the gun very noticeably. Lightly honeing and then polishing the chambers till they are slick as glass is easily done, and ensures the ejection of the empties will be positive, and again, is easily done. Quite often the extractor is sloppily fit and doesn't work freely. Again, slicking it up and getting it's alinement correct is easily done, and helps in both the ease of opening and closing, as well as aiding in the ejection of the spent hulls when it's aligned properly.

 

One thing I will state is not to fool with the hammer springs or the sears. Best to leave them alone as is. The rest of this work will make a noticeable difference in the operation of the gun, and I highly recommend it.

 

Go to Mauraders web site and read or print out his file on "Slicking up the Stoeger and similar SXS shotguns". It's all explained in that file and is easily followed by anyone with moderate mechanical skills.

 

RBK

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There are a lot of simple things that you can do to make it easier to shoot.

 

Chambers: My Stoeger didn't have sticky chambers, but I polished them anyways. It certainly won't hurt anything.

 

Safety: Unless you are used to taking off the safety as second nature, disable the auto feature by shortening the rod. You will still be able to engage the safety manually if need be. I also filed the nub down and rounded the edges of the safety lever. It keeps my thumb from rubbing it everytime I open the lever.

 

Lever Spring: I filed one coil off of the spring. If I had it to do over again, I would have just purchased the lighter spring from Longhunter for $5. This spring also keeps the gun locked, so if it gets to where the gun isn't locking properly, you can always put the stock spring back in if you haven't modified it.

 

Deburring/Polishing: Let's face it- Stoegers aren't exactly finished very well internally. A little bit of work polishing the rough surfaces with 400 grit sand paper goes a long way. Concentrate mainly on where the barrels pivot on the receiver. Also, make sure that there is adequate clearance cut into the wood stock for the hammers. One of mine had some interference.

 

Buttstock: I cut mine about 1" shorter and changed the angle to better point at ground targets. For me it handles quicker with the shorter stock, but this is personal preference.

 

There are certainly more modifications that can be made to turn the Stoeger into a race gun. Once you start messing with the hammer springs and timing though, you are trading some reliability for speed. The above list will make the Stoeger usable in competition without sacrificing any reliability (with the possible exception being the lighter lever spring which can be changed back to stock if necessary).

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