worn out?

[Jack Pine Savage]

I finally located and bought a new 12gauge Turkey Gun, 24" barrel with screw-in choke and black wood at a nearby gun dealer. After much searching, I had given up trying to find a 12 or 20 guage NOS or used Tracker 1. Of course, two days later I found three (older?) model H&R 24" smooth bore 12 gauge models with rifle sights at a distant dealer I just happened upon. One model had a receiver peep sight on it (factory I presume as it had a "P" at the end of it's serial number) and two with rudimentary rifle sights but NOT like a recent model Tracker 1. They all seemed to have quite a bit of wiggle at the barrel/receiver joint when open. They seemed to lock up tight enough, but I was wondering if they were worn out.  I haven't shot any of my H&R's enough to know if this looseness is normal. My new ones sure don't exhibit any wiggle when open. I need to hear from the experienced and helpful forum members on this one.

Jack Pine Savage

[Cookiemann]

If they lock up tight, with no wiggle, and you can't see daylight between the breech and the barrel when they are locked up, then I would say go for it.  If ya have an extra one, there are plenty of guys who would gladly take them off your hands.  As far as the wiggle goes, you could always shim between the forend and the spacer to take out some of that wiggle, if it really bothers you.  The measurement for headspace on the barrel is MAX. .002.  You can check that with a plain old auto style feeler gauge.  You should not be able to pull the .002 gauge out if you lay it across the open breech and latch the barrel.

cookiemann