A customer brought in a Browning Gold Hunter 3 1/2 inch 12 gauge with a cycling or feed issue with low base ammunition. The problem might or might not occur with 3 or 3 1/2 inch cartridges as well (my guess is not). When the bolt is manually retracted gently, the next 2 3/4 inch round out of the magazine will nearly always stop its rearward motion before the carrier release is fully activated to allow the bolt to run forward and chamber the shell. Once in a while, even when the bolt is operated manually with authority or when the gun is fired, the same thing will occur. Apparently, this problem has begun happening as the gun experiences more use and wear. I believe it is a pre-2000 shotgun. Items noted: (1) there is cartridge rim wear on the inner left wall of the receiver; (2) the front tip of the carrier latch catches on the front edge of the magazine spring follower; when it finally overcomes the edge, it retracts the follower slightly; (3) the shell stoppage appears to be related to the carrier latch hanging up on the follower. Thus far, I have beveled the plastic follower (tried a new one without much difference) and beveled and polished the tip of the latch. It’s a bit better but still occurs. Suggestions? Thanks much – Don
Removed undulating wear pattern on left inner receiver wall and polished area to no effect. Inspected case rim contact surfaces on carrier and carrier latch. Found them hard and smooth without burrs or roughness. Made sure magazine spring has substantial tension. Noted that at the instant the cartridge stop on the underside of the bolt carrier disengages from the head of the shotshell case as they are moving rearward, the magazine follower contacts the flange in the receiver or mag tube that limits its rearward travel, and the cartridge ceases further movement. This all happens if the bolt is being cycled relatively slowly by hand. It can also happen occasionally when cycling by hand more rapidly. And, as I experienced, it can happen during a firing cycle. I have found nothing in the Gold 12 (not necessarily Gold Hunter) owner’s manual indicating any need to pull the operating handle with great vigor when cycling cartridges through the gun, as when loading the chamber manually from the magazine or emptying the gun by cycling all rounds in the magazine out of the gun via the chamber. The quick load feature, in which you put a shell into the magazine with the bolt locked open, works very slick without failure. So I guess I need to find out from Browning if feeding is supposed to work correctly without stoppage no matter with what strength one moves the bolt.
Sounds like the rounds sometimes hang up in the mag, so that the first round doesn’t get pushed out and hit the carrier latch. The 1-round quick load always works. That’s a key piece of information. How about when there are 2 rounds in the mag? How about 3 rounds? It is possible that the follower hangs up in the tube when there are enough number of shells in the mag, but not so when there is only one or two shells in the mag. Perhaps there is a kink in the spring, or the follower cocks sideways, or there is a dent in the mag tube. Hope it helps. -TL
Question Follow Up
Thanks TL for info from your experience with the Gold Hunter. After sleeping on my findings for a night or two, I realized that the problem is quite possibly a minimum cartridge length issue. All of the points of investigation you mentioned appear not to apply to this particular gun. The mag spring, tube and follower are all fine. The symptoms occur with one, two or more rounds in the magazine. 3 inch and 3-1/2 inch both cycle fine even when operating the bolt leisurely. The mag spring and follower cease pushing on the cartridge the instant the follower meets its stop shoulder. At that point, the rim of the case is not rearward enough to have fully turned off the carrier latch.
Now, most of the time, the momentum of the round coming out of the magazine when the gun is fired or the op handle is manually pulled energetically will carry it far enough rearward to trip the carrier latch and allow the feed cycle to complete. Sometimes, though, that will not even do it. My guess is a slight design deficiency in the inclined plane surface that the cartridge rim rides up on the inner aspect of the carrier latch. Just talked with a very courteous customer support guy at Browning and explained my findings. At first he indicated that it was probably an ammunition too low pressure problem (1-1/8 oz, 3-1/4 dram equivalent). As I explained the manual operation and minimum cartridge aspects of my investigation, he agreed that it could very well be. Anyway, of course, all he could recommend is sending the gun in for service.
This problem is kinda sorta like one I diagnosed on a Henry Big Boy rifle (H006M) chambered for 357 Mag. A cowboy action shooter could not get his 38 Spl reloads to feed. I quickly verified that the gun would jam even before a single opening stroke of the finger lever could complete. It was the second round out of the magazine causing the jam condition because the first round on the carrier was shorter than some minimum spec and would allow the second round to protrude out of the mag tube enough to block the carrier’s rise. He had me ship the gun to Henry for repairs, and the problem still remained upon return of the gun from Henry to the shop. So that’s what I know at this point. Thanks again. Don
Answer
That makes sense. Thanks for the update. I will bear your finding in mind when I get to work on another one of those. Neat gun.
My client bought his a while ago and never got to shoot it. He was quite distraught when he noticed the first round sticking out a little from the mag, not knowing the primary shell stop being the little nub under the bolt. He was happy again when I explained to him that Browning designed it that way. The gun works superbly in the field. The only remaining complaint was that plastic piston sleeve. He thought it was out-of-place in such a nice gun. -TL
Answer
Since the issue occurs with multiple rounds in the magazine it shouldn’t be the mag follower as it isn’t pushing on the first shell out to the magazine only the last. The length may be an issue as you have described, you have done what I normally do with smoothing out the receivers burred side etc. Stretch or get a stronger magazine spring and you could also weaken the carrier latch spring…..slightly, very slightly. Also make sure there isn’t anything else the case could be catching on…carrier etc. Ken
