Reassembly problem

[MikeRuby]

I am a newbie to the forum and hope someone can assist me with a problem reassembling my Fox shotgun. For the sake of clarity, I have a Grade A Ansley H. Fox S x S double triggered 12ga. with ejectors, barrels roll stamped “MADE BY A.H. FOX GUN CO. PHILA.P.A. USA” and “CHROMOX FLUID COMPRESSED STEEL”. It has what appears to be the Savage era safety slide but the latest patent date stamped on the receiver is Aug. 18, 1904. The serial or production number, 26444, appears on all three sub-assemblies.

My problem is that having broken the gun down into its three major sub-assemblies for cleaning, i.e., fore end, stock and barrels, I cannot get the gun reassembled although I have done so in the past. Specifically, after assembling the stock and locks to the barrels, the fore end will not fully latch onto the barrels with the action closed. When I break open and close the gun (without the fore end) it feels like the gun cocks but I cannot get the firing pins to release when I pull the trigger. The triggers move freely when the gun is not safed.

I suspect I have set something in the wrong position that is preventing completion of assembly. Any help would be sincerely appreciated.

MikeRuby

[spyder]

The hammers will not reset without the forend attached. That would explain the free play of the triggers because the sears aren't yet engaged. When attaching the forend, are you making sure that the metal tang on the rear of the forend is engaging the cocking slide on the barrel?

[MikeRuby]

Thanks for the quick response Spyder. To answer your question, yes. It takes some pressure to push the fore end aft, but not what I'd call unusual. The latch on the fore end will not engage the lug on the barrels with the barrels and stock/lock assembly combined. However, with the barrels removed, the latch on the fore end mates up and works properly so I don't think it's a latch problem.

[MARSHFELLOW]

Open the gun a TEENY bit when trying to slide the forend in place....just a teeny, enough so it's not locked up. See if that works...my meat in the pot 20ga S/W has had that little snafu for years. (cocking slide wont move rearward when the gun is closed with the FE off)... f.w.i.w.

tjw

[Twice Barrel]

Sounds as if the cocking slide attached to the bottom of the barrels is not traveling to the rear far enough to allow the forend to align with the forend hook attached to the barrels. Try putting a bit of lubrication in the grooves that guide the cocking slide and work it back and forth a few times and see if this is not your problem. If that doesn't solve the problem try cocking the hammers with a screwdriver, reassemble and see if that doesn't solve the problem.

[MikeRuby]

Marshfellow and Twice Barrel - Thanks for the input. Opening the action a teeny bit allowed me to mount the fore arm and latch it however it was clear there was some interference when I tried to close the action. Turned out I had released the springs in the forearm which drive the ejectors. After resetting the ejector springs by hand and reassembling I was able to get everything to come together and the action nearly close but not quite. The resistance was at the point the ejectors contacted the face of the action alongside the firing pins. A wee bit of oil on the ejector and latch mechanisms and a little more pressure closing and I was able to fully close the action. Cycling once then allowed me to fully cock the gun.

Many thanks for the help. Now I can finish cleaning the baby and get on with my new year's cleaning process. I am clearly going to have to get the Fox into the field this Spring.

[MikeRuby]

Here we are nearly 5 years later and your instructions just came in handy again. Many thanks again for a great site and helpful Fox owners.