lash in gun

[Austin W Hogan]

Before doing anything that moves metal around, remove the barrels and forend. There is one small screw that retains the extractor/ejectors. Remove the screw and the extractor/ejectors ( no need to touch anything in the ejector mechanism, just the lifters recessed into the chamber). Clean the lifters and the passage with Hoppes on a Q tip. Clean the backs of the lifters, and the recesses in the barrels thoroughly.
Clean the locking bite in the locking lug and the barrel flats; look for a grain of powder or a shot swaged into the bite, or onto the flats or onto the water table.
Clean the breech face and the water table of the frame. Use a Hoppes Q tip and a brush to clean the recess in the frame and all the moving parts. Trip the lock release with a dowel or pencil eraser; does it release quickly? does the bolt respond rapidly? Does the bolt extend to the end of the radius in the frame that blends the breech to the water table?
Reassemble the gun and see if the looseness is gone. If not ask someone who knows their business to check the forend iron fit before doing any work on the hinge pin / hook fit. The hinge pin and hook do occassionally cause looseness but pressing the hinge pin out is a very major job; try everything else first.

Best, Austin

[Old and Reliable]

Words of wisdom indeed, and thanks Austin. Removal of a hinge pin is not a task for the unskilled- Parker pins have a reversed thread I believe. Off Topic (only as it concerns LC Smiths) but re: hinge pins- The recent Brophy books of LC Smith Specifications and Prints I purchased from fellow PGCA member and friend Angel Cruz- shows the Smith pin to have a slight taper- a press fit, but it also shows a blind dowell pin- does anyone know where on the front of a Smith receiver (R frame or FW, either one) that pin is set- also, the print in the Brophy book does not show the through drilled hole in the hinge pin to take that blind pin?

Just curious, the great thing about our love of doubles, whether they were made in Meriden, Fulton, Ithaca or Syracuse- we never stop learning about them, do we??