BPS Disassembly (shotgun, pistol, rifle, carry)

[jimboburnsy]

Just wanted to relate a little story...

I took my BPS 10 gauge turkey hunting last weekend and noticed that the action was a little sticky. I decided that it would be a good idea to take it down to give it a thorough cleaning. It seemed to me that this was, afterall, a pump action shotgun and couldn't be that different from a Mossberg, a Benelli or a Remington pump action.

My first hint that I may have a problem was when the (making up words) ejector arm hinge/retaining pin didn't want to come out. The trigger retaining pin was easy enough... I fought the urge to put a pair of pliers on it and started trying to wiggle the trigger assembly to loosen the pin. Much to my surprise, the trigger assembly came out completely. Hmmm...

At this point I referred to the manual. The manual states "Disassembly is not recommended for routine maintenance". Well, thanks for nothing Browning.

I removed the barrell without incident and had to fiddle with the action arms a bit to get the slide off. The process is similar to the slide removal in an 870, where the action arms must be depressed to disengage the slide from the carrier. Not exactly the same, but if you've taken down an 870 you can figure it out from that hint.

At this point both action arms decided to explode out of the receiver. I got a little nervous about getting them mixed up but they are not interchangeable and can't be put in backwards; i.e. they will only go in the right way.

I probably did this in the wrong order or just plain wrong, but I had to fiddle with the bolt, carrier and ejector arms to get everything in the right position for the bolt and carrier to drop out of the bottom of the receiver.

At this point I began to appreciate just how FILTHY the gun actually was. It appeared as though the previous owner had obeyed the manual's recommendations since there was at least 1/8" of gummed powder residue on any surface that didn't slide against another. I wasn't sure if it was the right thing to do, but after about 30 minutes of just pushing this thick layer of gunk around with powder solvent, I boiled the trigger assembly, bolt and bolt carrier in a 75/25 mixture of rubbing alcohol and water (idea being that the nucleation of the boiling water would carry away large debris and the heat in concert with the alcohol would help all the water evaporate from the metal). It worked quite well. All the components now just looked like regular dirty gun components. While that was drying I attacked the receiver with some powder solvent and my pistol swabs. Fast forward about an hour or a little more and I am sitting in front of a nice, clean exploded BPS.

First, I fiddled with the bolt, carrier and ejector arms until I had them in position. Then I replaced the action arms. Then I took a few months off of my life trying to get the trigger assembly back in. I don't know if this is always how it works, but that thing refused to go back together with the trigger in the energized position. Accidentally pulled the trigger and it slipped right into position. Put the pins back in, farted with the slide and barrel for a while and, voila, re-assembled BPS. I worked the slide to check the action. Aw sh*t. The "wings" on the carrier have to lay in the "rabbetts" on the slide arms.

Take the barrel off, take the slide off, take the pins out, take the trigger assembly out, swear fluently, rub temples, start over.

Twenty minutes later, the gun is back together and has beautiful, slick action that I have never known it to have. It will be pretty easy next time, but I can see why Browning doesn't exactly encourage everyone to take the gun apart at the drop of a hat. That was actually a pretty big bear to eat for a pump shotgun...

[North Beach Person]

I would laugh but it's happened to me, too.
You may know this but you should check out www.shotgunworld.com. Decent site for all manner of shotgun/shooting issues.

[catman]

That was a big pain in the posterior! Stuff like that has happened to me too.

[Mac_Muz]

Want some real fun, take a WW-2 vintage Japanese Nambu apart, and see how long it takes you to think 'eastern' enough to get a gun back out of the parts. That took some pondering..

[jimboburnsy]

Originally Posted by Mac_Muz

Want some real fun, take a WW-2 vintage Japanese Nambu apart, and see how long it takes you to think 'eastern' enough to get a gun back out of the parts. That took some pondering..

http://www.mek-schuetzen.de/Blueprints/Nambu_14.gif

Is the Nambu the pistol that can be consistently fired by hard, inward pressure on the safety switch?

I've often wondered how many deployed Japanese soldiers became casualties to that little glitch...

[North Beach Person]

I inherited a Japanese rifle from my father in law. Have no idea about the safety except it's done with a bolt twist. That's a wall hanger now.

[jimboburnsy]

Originally Posted by North Beach Person

I inherited a Japanese rifle from my father in law. Have no idea about the safety except it's done with a bolt twist. That's a wall hanger now.

Ah - I thought you were talking about the Nambu pistol...

[Mac_Muz]

I was... So far as I know the Nambu is a pistol, in a few varients. i never fired it for lack of ammo, and it is long gone now, so i can't answer. That gun gave me one bad time trying to get it back together, but I did it, and with no force. I had to work to think and figure it out.

I am pretty good at that, to the point I have been paind sometimes to put guns back together another man at another time took apart. Sometimes in boxes with other gun parts which gets real interesting.

The only like thing made in the USa is a far cry and it is mid 80's vintage auto hubs of 4x4 chevy... I just might be the last guy with oem stock and orgininal working auto hubs. There is a grease in there that turns to boiled oak tan leather about, and 2 plastic fingers, that break. You can't see what you are doing with that leather grease in there, so it is a wild guess to put one back together, for the first time anyway. So far I have done 2 sets, but the other truck belonged to a friend and that truck is probably a toy auto by now.

My truck is ready for total over haul 6

So I wasn't aware that the nambu had tricks. I am aware the 1911 does have some though. If ya got real big gonads the knowing could save your life, but my gonads ain't that big.

[jimboburnsy]

Originally Posted by Mac_Muz

I was... So far as I know the Nambu is a pistol, in a few varients.

I jumped the gun and thought that you and North Beach Person were the same guy...