Do Not Oil This Rifle

M

munk

Joined
Mar 22, 2002
Messages
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I've had my little Steven's Single Shot .22 mag sitting on the writing desk for several days. Each afternoon I've treated the wood to Watco's Danish Finishing Oil. As the walnut has darkened, the look of the rifle has improved markedly.

Today I thought it might be time to shoot it. I'd take the car with the kids to the Dump, and fill a few old washingmachines full of lead. As it was snowing, I thought some oil might be appropriate for the reciever. I oiled the pin holding the hammer, the lever action areas, and wiped the reciever clean.

I was looking forward to this. The rifle holds well, balances just forward of the lever, is light, and the sights come up perfectly as the weapon is cradled.

It is made in Canada, I saw from the reciever, and not in the US. That's probably why it cost 200 bucks instead of 139.00 But I was willing to pay, I love single shot arms, especially falling or rolling blocks.

I levered the action and pulled the hammer back to work the oil in. The hammer fell forward. I tried again. The hammer would no longer engage.

I called the factory and told them the problem.

"Did you oil it?"
"Yes, I'd just oiled it, it was snowing and I thought that would be good."
"You must have put too much oil, you'll have to dry it out."
"Too much oil?'
"Yes."
"So, it's OK?"
"Yes, just dry it out and if you have any other problems call us back."

I called my gunsmith. He was amazed. "Maybe there's something sliding in there, and it's caught with too much oil."

"I've never heard of too much oil. You mean too much oil on the bearing surface of this gun, and it will fire without you? What happens when it gets wet?" I asked him.
We laughed.
"I was going to teach my son to shoot with this one, but you can forget it now. What the hell kind of rifle is this? It's from Canada, you think it works best rusted and iced over? Should it lay under the seat of a PickUp for a couple seasons before firing?"

I'm stumped. I'm going to dry it out, but this thing scares me. You can bet this is one rifle where the hammer will never be pulled back until a second before the shot.

Whatever you do, don't oil it.


munk
 
:eek: :eek: :eek:

I see product liability all over this one. If oil can cause this problem, the design SUCKS.

Steve
 
I just wonder what will happen when it gets out into a rainstorm. Water is a lubricant.


munk
 
you are pretty harsh there Munk, we just discovered smokeless powder.

still got a few kinks to get out.
 
Yeah, I was thinking, "By God, a proper rifle should be rusted over and laying in a pool of beer on the rubber mat of your PickUp trucks floor. The bore should hold a couple trapdoor spiders and stick any old bullets you got into the breech if they'll stick."

What's next? "Warning, putting a cartridge in the chamber of this gun is inherently dangerous."

Not to Worry Dave. Canada is our friend when the chips are down, and I've always liked Savage. I got my son a Savage bolt single shot .22 You're allowed to oil it.

Still, this world gets stranger by the minute.


munk
 
I'm sending it back to the factory. My Christmas present- or- as the wife promised me, if I'd finish the novel I could get the little .22.

That hammer does not want to stay back. It goes forward. I've dried it and tried it and it's not secure.


munk
 
Huh...my wife has a Steven/Savage Favorite that she got about twenty something years ago. I just doused it with WD-40...no problems. I think it might have reduced the trigger pull from 22 pounds to about 16 though...

Hope it works out for ya'! I always thought those were neat little rifles.

.22 single shots are awesome, especially if they're rolling or falling block!:D
 
Replace it. It's defective, judging from your description.

You know this but others may not - excessive oil attracts dust, dirt, and firing residue. It gets gummy with time. Some guns don't mind, some do. Likewise, some guns don't mind being dry or nearly dry, some won't tolerate it. Some are finicky until broken in. Some arrive broken in. Some never break in. Some are just broken.

Some guns work better with very little lube. The owner's manual should be the guiding document, as it was written by the same folks who are going to honor the warranty. (Surprisingly, 90% of the problems that I was having with "problematic" weapons went away when I read the owner's manuals. How does that work?)

Let us know how the manufacturer handles this, Munk.
 
You are so right, Dave, in all the aspects you mentioned. The owner's manual only says 'use a light layer of oil'

I've Cue-tipped the gun, put alcohol in it, wiped it clean, and it still slips. I'm thinking this is actually a God Send- another choice intervention. Why? Because if I'd gone out with that rifle, I very easily could have shot someone or myself by accident. We practise safe muzzle control here, but there are usually a few times when the muzzle passes briefly by someone. You've seen this while hunting when you're walking single file in a group. If I'd parked the Honda, I easily might have swung the muzzle against the lower panels of the car in passing, and a discharge at the time would have jeapordized a child. (well, I'll admit it is unlikely since I don't swing a cocked and ready to fire weapon by a car or anything else.)

So, I'm glad I over-oiled it. BTW, I don't over-oil firearms. Not in barrels, not anywhere. When they're new I usually go over them as I did here and make sure all the moving parts are at ease with one another. I wipe away any excess lubricant.

There's a goofy safety system with this rifle; the trigger has a stop right before engaging the hammer, and there are actually two releases as the trigger is pulled. I'm wondering if this is a new feature, because of today's litigious society, and if so it is ironic that the gun is unsafe because of it.


munk
 
The problem with oo much is very common in things like open-bolt semi-auto paintball guns. What happens is that an overly lubricated bolt will cause it to slide right over the sear without it being able to catch the bolt from moving forward. It usually results in multiple shots for one trigger pull, but without time for next paintball to fully seat in the chamber. The result is a paint blender after the first shot.

So either it is a freak condition where all your oil servoired in a very bad spot, or it is a very big design flaw.
 
munk said:
There's a goofy safety system with this rifle; the trigger has a stop right before engaging the hammer, and there are actually two releases as the trigger is pulled. I'm wondering if this is a new feature, because of today's litigious society, and if so it is ironic that the gun is unsafe because of it.


munk
Click to expand...

Karie's doesn't have that. Hers is a simple rebounding hammer. Hope it works out well for y'all.
 
Good that you found the problem now, munk. Could have been catastrophic.

I have a friend who took a 357 revolver from another friend, opened the cylinder, dumped the cartridges out, closed the cylinder and proceeded to dry fire the weapon. The first trigger pull went "Click", the second trigger pull went "Boom". Apparently one shell did not fall out in the unloading procedure. The shot went through the window and narrowly missed some parked cars. Hopefully it ended up in some trees across the road. The moral of the story is "excrement happens". Glad it didn't happen to you or your son.

Semp
 
Evidently, the ATF has prosecuted some cases of possessing an automatic weapon...that the ATF caused by over-lubrication.

Sorry it didn't work right off, munk, but maybe whatever comes next will be even better. :)
 
Hollowdweller, the Number #1 RSI is a looker, but the one I had in .270 shot patterns, not groups. I have Ruger #1's in .270, 45/70, and 375 H&H with Alexander Henry forends. 270 and 375 shoot very well, the 45/70 acceptably (1 1/2 - 1 3/4 inch groups for the 45/70). the long, wood to the muzzle RSI #1 must have been applying uneven pressure somewhere, anyhow I got rid of that one. Now my pet rifle is a Ruger 77 RSI in 270; go figure......it never does better or worse than 1 1/4" all day long, but everything I point it at dies. My sons are doing a credible job of making a lot of my rifles disappear, but THAT one stays.
 
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