Double Barrel Shotgun: Loose Forearm fix?

The Government

The Government

Joined
Aug 21, 2009
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Just yesterday I was able to pick up an Ithaca scattergun (and a couple pre-1964 CASE XX knives:D), but the shotgun has a forearm that seems a bit loose. It does not rattle or anything, but nevertheless it does not seem as flush as it should be with the barrles.

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I was curious if anyone knew a trick to fix the forearm from being so loose. As you can see in the picture, when the forearm is attached there is a pretty big gap between it and the barrels. I can push it flush, but it settles itself back outward.

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I took the forearm off and noticed that the little doohickey under the barrels that holds the forearm in place is a bit loose. Could that be the source of the play? It pivots a millimeter or two in line with the barrels (not perpendicular to them).

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Is it simply a matter of full disassembly, cleaning, and reassembly, or will this be a JB weld/ electrical tape fix?

Feel free to post gratuitous double barrel shotgun pictures at will.:D:thumbup:

Thanks for any help you all can give me!

Best Regards,


-Max
 
The locking lug [pictured/welded to the barrels] looks about fine but there should not be "wiggle". Also - Check the pivoting engagement arm attached to the inside of the forearm itself and the leaf spring that gives it 'force'. See if the end of the engagement arm is bent, curled over [like a burr] or simply worn down...and see if the spring has lost it's curvature.

Either way, a good gunsmith should be able to tighten that up...there's really not much you can [or more to the point, SHOULD] do without proper gunsmith training.
 
EDITED TO ADD PICTURES

Thanks for the quick reply! I'll upload another picture showing the inside of the forearm...

Please forgive me if I use the incorrect nomenclature... The locking lug does wiggle. I noticed that the bar of metal (to its right in the photo) also has a little play in it... I tried tightening that screw on the right, but it did not seem to tighten up, and I didn't want it to drop into a gap that I would not be able to get it out of.

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On the forearm, the engagement arm does have a slight bend, but otherwise seems in good shape, as well as the leaf spring.

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Thanks again for all the help!
 
Last edited:
Needs some gunsmith work ! The metal is fairly soft and wear and peening is showing.
 
yep, it's going to need to go to the 'smith. There's no safe way to "user-fix" it.

The bend in the engagement arm is normal and yes, the leaf spring looks ok to me [from the pics]....but I'm not a 'smith and it still should be looked at by one.

I would caution you not to shoot it until looked at and deemed safe. Break it down into its 3 pieces and bag it for a road trip :)
 
Beautiful old Ithaca! Like said above (and admitting to not be a gunsmith too) I'd definitely recommend taking it in to a pro. My grandfather left me an old H&R single shot with a loose forestock. It stayed on for the first 5 or 6 shots, then let go. Fortunately it was a single shot. When I took it apart I found he ad shimmed the catch (not sure what else to call it) on the forestock with some old news print from ca. 1950's...it was kind of cool in a way, I just put it back in and made it a wall hanger!
 
The "locking lug" on the barrels should have no play / wiggle. Need gunsmith to resolder. The "bar" on the right in the photo looks fine, should have a slight amount of movement. The hw on the forearm looks okay, but the smith will let you know if it needs work. Looks like a fun shooter to me! Congrats.
 
Good luck. She is a beauty! Make sure you post some pics after the work.

I feel obligated to say "duct tape" to answer your initial question btw.
 
Proper repair of old double guns is not usually inexpensive. An Ithaca is certainly worth the trip.
 
Before you do anything else, have a gunsmith check those barrels to see if they can handle modern loads.

n2s
 
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