forearm loosening when shooting

[dnj21]

I have a 12ga Sterlingworth 30" barrel, with ejectors. When I am shooting the forearm comes loose, not quite off. This is with light 2 1/2" RST loads. Barrels on face, locks up tight, no other issues I can see with it. Any easy fix I can look at? Planned on using for the Missouri Pheasant opener next week, hate to ship it off at this time of the year.

Thank you!

[Sporrns]

Could be a worn forend (barrel) lug, weak forend latch release spring (leaf or flat spring), or weak/worn cocking slide spring (coiled). I have an HE that the forend would NOT stay latched on (like yours, it didn't pop off but the latch lever dropped at every shot - most annoying and a great glove destroyer!). Dan Rossiter fixed the problem by making me a new forend release lever spring from scratch, tempering it so that the problem went away and I didn't need to use a pry bar to lift the forend lever to get it off.

[bbman3]

You can wrap black electrical tape around forend and barrels until you get a proper repair. Bobby

[Stan Hillis]

Or, if you don't want to use electrical tape, a section cut from a bicycle inner tube.

SRH

[kgb]

Word of warning, electrical tape won't hold up so well in the rain. Duct tape will work though, this all proven by a gunner at our club's Hunt Test who has tried both on his non-Fox Stevens.

[Silvers]

Some of the mech tech advice offered here might be hard to follow since it doesn't relate to common Sterlingworths. No flat/leaf springs were used in Sterly forends, extractor or ejector, and the cocking slide or its teensy coil spring have nothing to do with retaining the forend. Is your gun factory original with original numbered forend on the same numbered frame and barrel? If so, inspect the latch mechanism on the barrel to see if it's been modified to make the forend easier to remove. Look for filing or grinding. If not, your problem is likely a weak/rusty/jammed spring in the latch. It's a small but very strong coil spring and you can probably get an exact NOS replacement from Jason at Pumpkin Mountain. Be sure to wear safety glasses if you try to replace it yourself.

dnj, you might consider joining up as a paid member.

frank

[Brian Dudley]

Other than a gunked up or weak/btoken spring, there is nothing else that could be causing this issue. Assuming the gun is unmolested and original.

[dnj21]

Thank you to all that chimed in, I will rig it up to get me through one hunt then send it off for some tlc. I am 3-4 hours from Pheasants here, so my old 20ga Ithaca Flues is my go to for the Gentleman Bob.

Only week until our opener here in Missouri, the final countdown has begun......