off-center firing pin strike - PICS ON LAST REPLY

[gcrank1]

Is there room below to drill and tap for a set type screw to let you fine tune that height adjustment to the underlug?
I checked my old 12ga. it looks as if there is good thickness on it to D/T for a 1/4 x 28 setscrew. Id file the contact end nicely smooth and flat and adjust from the outside IF this really is a solution to your problem. See the headspace comments further on.......that has to be corrected first.

[nanuk-O-dah-Nort]

Is there room below to drill and tap for a set type screw to let you fine tune that height adjustment to the underlug?

Now THAT is an excellent idea!

[watkibe]

With my new feeler gauges and some more practice using them,the unshimmed barrel will close on a 0.011" gauge; a shimmed one, on 0.009". A tiny difference, don't know if it is significant. These were measured across the top of the barrel.
 I took a picture of a shimmed case and a  unshimmed case, and posted it here. The shimmed case is a W-W, and is on the right. It's hard to measure, but by eye, the shimmed case looks like the firing pin strike is more central than the other case.

[nanuk-O-dah-Nort]

is it even all the way down or is the bottom more tight/loose?

[gcrank1]

Thats quite a bit, sounds like too much headspace, which will make the barrel breech tip back into the action deeper, thus the off center f-pin impact.
I suggest about a .009" shim in the pivot and recheck your headspace, then see where the f-pin strikes. FWIW, beverage can stock runs about .003ish, cut a strip, pivot wide and long enough to get a tri-fold into the pivot. Work it in there good, then afix the barrel and see if it will close & latch.

[watkibe]

I intend to replace the hammer spring with a single coil EP Wolff spring. I have received the double coil that I ordered first, in error; I am just waiting for the right single coil one to show up. My plan is to change the spring first to see if it will eliminate misfires. I would really rather not shim anything, so I'm definitely trying the spring first.
I will search the FAQs for help on this; I already have Perklo's AFM post on doing trigger jobs. He gives a thorough rundown on getting to the hammer spring.

[gcrank1]

It is sooo easy to shim that underlug to try this out, and excessive headspace is never good for a number of reasons, safety being the big one, longevity of your rifle is another.
BTW, PM me with the pertinent info if you want to get rid of the dbl. leg spring.

[watkibe]

Thinkin' about this, the barrel never comes down parallel to the breech, it comes down on the arc of a circle with the pivot as the center. The trick is for the radius (distance from pivot to breech) to be just long enough that the majority of the barrel face is very close to the breech face. My "shim on the bottom idea" will stop the barrel sooner and higher in the arc, and won't be as close. The real problem may be that the distance from pivot to breech is too long, and so shimming the pivot on the  barrel may be the best thing to do.
Actually it was the first thing I tried. I bought an energy drink, poured it down the drain, and cleaned the can and cut it up for shim stock. It seems to be about 0.005" thick. I tried shimming the pivot, but my basic lack of mechanical aptitude and manual dexterity made it seem really hard to do right. Tim, I hate sending my rifle on it's 5th cross country trip to NY. I haven't been there that many times ! But it's a rainy and cold day, so maybe I will heat up the shop and give it another go. Thanks all !   BTW NANUK: at first I didn't understand your question. I measured at the top; with the ejector at the bottom I will need 3 hands or help to measure the bottom.

[gcrank1]

The 'stop' at the bottom, fine tuned to your assmebly, may not be a bad idea either, but you are correct now visualizing the arc of the circle for closure. With the stop you may actually have better luck getting the pivot shim correct for headspace/standing breech.

[watkibe]

Thanks for your suggestions, gcrank, I appreciate them. It does occur to me that if the barrel's breech face is perpendicular to the center line of the barrel (the radius), then at one exact place only, the barrel face will be parallel to the standing breech face. I'm gaining more appreciation for the design and workmanship that make these rifles shoot. Tomorrow I will try the pivot shim, measure the gap, and see what my flat shims on the bottom do.

[nanuk-O-dah-Nort]

think I'll just sit back and read....

[watkibe]

A few posts back, Tim suggested sending my 35 rem back to H&R. I wanted to fix it myself, but had to admit that I probably wasn't going to be successful; besides, Tim, the oldest...sorry, most senior and most knowledgeable member on the board said if it was his gun he would send it back. Who am I to think I can do better ?
I PM'd Brian56, he felt that the barrel lug may not have been heat treated adequately. It's still under warranty, so he said he would probably just fit a new barrel on the frame. I called CS at H&R and got the Service Request, and am preparing the gun to be shipped. The CS guy promised a UPS shipping label in a separate email, still waiting for that.
I am always sooo nervous when one of my guns is traveling around the country, hoping to come home in better shape than it left... Brian said he would fit it himself, so I'm really paranoid about all the shipping company drivers and package handlers.

[gcrank1]

Oh Man! A handfit gun by Brian! WAY COOL (dont you ever let it go..... to anybody but me  ).

[quickdtoo]

[watkibe]

After all of our amateur guesses about the misfiring problem my 35 Rem was having, Brian56, the professional at Remington, ended up replacing the barrel, striker/lifter, hammer spring, and adjusting the timing.
Good call Tim, thanks for suggesting it was time to send it to Ilion. Brian obviously has resources, equipment/tools, capabilities, and knowledge that are far beyond mine. If it makes it through proof and test firing, then it's all good and it will be on the way home.
I can hardly wait !

[nanuk-O-dah-Nort]

I wonder if they do that same work up here?

last time I contacted the Canadian Repair Depot, the answer sounded like if the barrel was bad, they would be sending it back unrepaired.

the short answer was, H&R doesn't ship barrels to Canada.

[PineyCreek22]

It seems to me that unless the face of the barrel locks up parallel to and with 0.000" clearance off the receiver breach face creating proper headspace by cutting the chamber correctly you are fighting a loosing battle.  Having said that would it be possible to drill and tap the bottom of the receiver and install an adjusting screw against the barrel lug to properly position the barrel off the receiver face and adjust the lock against the pressure of the adjusting screw.  Regards Piney Creek

[watkibe]

I sent in my 35 Rem handi on Dec 11 and it just got home today, January 9th ! Less than a month, a month containing Christmas, wow !
Great service, thanks again Brian. It looks and feels really good. When I get a scope on it and some bullets downrange we'll see how it does.

[watkibe]

Yesterday I put the scope back on, and did the "manual" boresighting trick: you put the gun on bags with the action open and look through the barrel. Pick a small object. Then, look through the scope and see where the small object is, correcting if needed. Well, no correction was needed !
Today I fine tuned it at a longer range. 1 shot, 10 clicks right, and then 3 shots in one hole at the point of aim. Yeah ! This is better than I ever got with the old barrel. They may have given me a more accurate barrel.
 Job done, it's all good. Thanks to you, Tim for the initial prompt, and of course to Brian56. I hope that H&R customers who don't know about this board still get the same great service we do, even though we know an inside man !

[quickdtoo]

A barrel that's well fitted is always a good thing! 

Tim