Fires on closing.

[tbmaker]

A friend has inherited a Armsport 12ga. SxS, imported from Italy, nice looking. Upon test firing both barrels went off, wicked recoil. He would like to see if I can find the problem.
I've never taken a side by side apart, plenty of other shotguns and rifles.
Any things to look out for in disassembly?
It has 2 triggers and the front one trips if I close the gun hard, hair trigger other wise, rear trigger works fine.
I've heard of this problem before, what are the common causes?
Thanks
Wayne

[Horn]

I have a savage SxS that does the same thing.  pull the front trigger and both go if I pull the rear trigger first all is well.  Worn sear?? hammer??

I took it apart years ago and talk about a PIA to get back togather.

Looking forward to reading the answers.
 
     Mike

[gunnut69]

I'd check for build up in the sear hooks keeping them from locking together. That's a best case scenario.  The sear may also simply have worn out.  Some of these SxS are built with softer steels or the part didn't get properly heat treated and they simply don't last.  It may be possible to get parts.  If so they need to be installed and perhaps fitted. It may also be that at some point a 'gunsmith' did a trigger job and altered the angle of the thrust or load bearing surfaces of the trigger/sear.  This causes them to push of from the spring pressure and the trigger pull.  This makes the weapon very dangerous. New parts are probably the best answer but sometimes the old can be recut. Watch for low hammer conditions where the hammer is not held high enough by the sear..  This leads to sear damage and depending on the weapon the safety may cease funstioning, not a good thing.. I have seen hammer sears so hard they chipped and caaused this problem..  Some boxlock doubles are erally difficult to assemble/disassemble and they are best left to a pro.  Remove the buttstock and examine the action.  Clean things a bit to get a clear view..  If you can't see how things work then I reccomend a pro.  If you disassemble the weapon keep left and right side parts seperate as these guns are sometimes a bit finicky..  You may also consider contacting the maker to check on warrentee information...  Be glad to assist if we can, although I've not dealt with an Armsport in a while..

[Hellrazor]

I had a 410 double that did that, had a gunsmith adjust the sears.