Savage-Stevens 311

[44man]

Got this one in to get nicks out of the wood and refinish. Gun is like new inside and out but I sprayed it clean in the action and put a bare amount of lube on all points. The gun it hard to open to extract if not fired, just the last small amount to clear shells.
Once fired it is very tight, almost an over the knee point. Top snap opens fine.
Only thing I can figure is compressing the strong springs.
Anyone have one?

[Hickory]

If it is in new condition it probably hasn't been used much.
Most hinge actions will loosen up the more it is used.
I have owned a lot a of double shotguns when I was younger the 311 was a tough one to break in.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

I have 3, one each in 12, 16, and 20 Ga. All lock up tightly, but none as tight as you describe. If the gun is almost new as you've described it then I doubt if the springs have been replaced. Maybe just removing the fore end stock, breaking it open and removing the barrels will let you get some lube into the locking mechanism without further disassembly.

[44man]

If I remove the fore end, it opens very easy. This gun must not have been used much at all. I did get some lube in but darn is it tight. I put STP on the pivot and fore end iron.

[Hardcast416taylor]

I recall a model 311 that a friend had about 30 years back. It had an irritating nasty habit of every now and then of firing both barrels together! Had a notable gun shop look it over and fire a full box of low base shells thru it with no problems. That Fall my friend was pheasant hunting and `SURPRISE`!! it did it again and nearly knocked my friend down with the recoil of the 12 gauge 1 1/4 oz. loads. He retired it never to use it again. After his death I lost track of where it went. Savage did look at the gun while in the gun shop, according them, and pronounced it free of any such problem.Robert

[Blackwater]

44man, that's what I started out with long ago. Mine was a 16 ga., but every 311 I've handled has been a bit hard to open. I've guessed they make them that way just so they'll be able to loosen up over time? That's just a guess. They're very solid, dependable guns, though. The barrels are silver soldered, so you can hot blue them - one of the few SxS's that you can hot blue without big problems of the solder coming undone.

All I ever did to work on mine was to completely detail strip it and put it back together. Cleaned it all pristine clen, lightly oiled, and got it all back together. Only problem was, every time I pulled either trigger, BOTH barrels would fire! My first foray into gunsmithing put a hurt on my shoulder! Redid it and it worked just right, but I never found what I'd done wrong the first time. At least SOME of my gunsmithing has gone better than that since then. But I think they're all stiff? Every one I've ever handled, and there have been a good number of them, has been the same. I suspect if it wasn't stiff, it'd shoot loose? Never really got into the design to figure it all out. Just determined to never again detail strip it. Wish I could help more.

[Calamity Jake]

Put reduced power hammer springs and latch spring in it, problem solved.
To get it to open far enough to extract easy will take some welding and refitting of the hammers.

[fryboy]

The 315's ,while similar, are notorious for not quite opening enough to easily extract the empties ( or loaded rounds for that matter )
The fact that it does ok with the forearm off leads me to think the problem lies there ( somewhere )

[pietro]

Got this one in to get nicks out of the wood and refinish. Gun is like new inside and out but I sprayed it clean in the action and put a bare amount of lube on all points. The gun it hard to open to extract if not fired, just the last small amount to clear shells.
Once fired it is very tight, almost an over the knee point. Top snap opens fine.
Only thing I can figure is compressing the strong springs.
Anyone have one?

It sounds like the firing pin(s) may be staying in the extended/fired position, making the breech difficult to open.

I would suggest first try flushing out the firing pin holes from the breech face with an aerosol crud blaster, in case it's only a build-up of crud in there that's causing your issue.

If the flushing doesn't work, then the action will need disassembling to access the firing pin(s) that's most likely causing your issue - there may be a kinked/crushed FP retracting spring in one or both FP tunnels, that's effecting the action of the FP's.


.

[bob208]

the 311's were made to not come fully open.i beleive it is a throw back when dubbles were carried open over the arm. you have to give them that little extra push. it is a safety thing. there was an artical in one of the cowboy actions shooting mags. they told how to remove the spring that caused this.

[44man]

Not firing pins but Bob has a good point. There are no pin marks on brass.

[richhodg66]

Nothing really to add on the problem, but those are good old guns. I wish I still had the one I traded off for something else several years ago. Why can't someone in America make a good, serviceable and affordable double shotgun now?

[quack1]

Been a long time since I had one of those apart, and going from memory. Take the forend off and look at the part that butts up against the action. There should be a curved piece that pivots up and down in the center. That's what cocks the hammers when you break the gun. It is held on with a screw that goes in from the opposite side, under the wood. Remove the wood and see if the screw is loose. If it's loose, the part won't pivot smoothly and could cause the hard cocking you are experiencing.
Stevens 311's, 5100's and Savage Fox model B's weren't known for their smooth working actions.