219C safe to shoot?

[garthgus]

Greetings, I bought a 219C on gunbroker and upon inspection, with the action closed and the gun held up to light I can see daylight between the standing breech and the rear of the barrel. The gap is wide enough to pass 2 sheets of copy paper (0.08") completely through this gap (even with a round in the chamber).

I've never seen this on any of my break open shotguns. Is this something you've seen on 219s and is the rifle safe to shoot? Thanks for your comments,
Garth

[Garnett]

I have not seen a gap like this on any of the M219/220’s that I have examined.  I purchased 44 different guns of these two models when researching for my book.  I feel certain it never left the factory like this.  I believe someone has put a different barrel on this action after it left the factory.  Check the assembly numbers on the top left inside rail of the frame to see if they match the assembly numbers under the barrel.  If they don’t match, then the barrel did not come with this action.  I wonder if the seller showed a picture of this gap when it was on GB?  Maybe someone else on the forum has an opinion as to safety. 

[garthgus]

Thanks Garnett, the 219C frame shows  " 7 XM" stamping along the left edge.

The stamping on the underside of the barrel front to back shows:
 
C
7
XM

Another observation I make on this rifle concerns a small folded square of aluminum foil which fell off the inside of the hinge knuckle when I removed the barrel for inspection. It would appear this was done to compensate for wear on the hinge and might have been done in an attempt to close the gap. I appreciate your comments.
Garth

[garthgus]

The piece of aluminum foil that fell off the inside of the knuckle

[Garnett]

Garth, In my opinion, that barrel did come on that frame.  However, I don’t believe it left the factory with that gap.  Does the pin that the barrel lug pivots on appear to have excessive wear, or maybe “out of round”?  Also, look closely at the barrel lug where it contacts the pivot pin to see if someone maybe removed some of the metal, thinking it might make the action easier to open.  These actions are very tight when new, and difficult to open sometimes.  I had one I built for my daughter and it was so hard to open, I carried it to my machinist/gunsmith friend, and he took just a little off the locking lug where it contacts the barrel lug, and now it is easy to open, but no gap between barrel and action.  Maybe some of the other forum members might have an idea.

[garthgus]

The hinge pin looks normal, it's smooth and round and doesn't show any unusual wear. Now the lug, where it closes on the hinge pin is much rougher so it's possible someone removed some metal from the hook. The attached photo is 5x mag and you can see the milling lines.

The action on this gun is very tight.

.

[Garnett]

I am at a loss for an explanation.  I am not a machinist, but it seems to me, removing metal from the front of the barrel lug, would make the barrel move forward, and increase the head space, not shorten it.  Why does anyone do the strange things to perfectly good guns?  I purchased a Model 52 Winchester,”International” model from an estate years ago.  For those of you who are not familiar with this model, it is the top of the line of Winchester bolt action .22’s.  Someone had drilled a hole in the forearm tip, just under the barrel and inserted a 3/8 inch threaded rod and had various nuts screwed on to it, for balance purposes, I suppose.  Anyway, back to your barrel, I would think a temporary fix would be to put a shim in the curve of the lug to move it to the rear.  A permanent fix might be to weld up part of the curve with a Heli arc welder, and recut.  Hopefully, someone else will have an idea.

[garthgus]

Thanks for your comments Garnett. I agree, removing metal from the hook just opens up the gap, not closes it.  And the folded piece aluminum foil that fell off the pin was most likely a bandaid solution to correct the problem. Too bad this nice rifle was messed with. I'm going to return it to the GB seller and keep looking for one in better shape. If anyone has a nice example in 22 Hornet that hasn't been drilled & tapped for a scope that they want to part with, please let me know. Thanks.

[Garnett]

I think returning it to the seller is the best solution.  Depending on an hourly rate, you could pay more for proper repairs that the value of the rifle.  Good luck in finding another one.