Smith Carbine: How much play is too much play?

[Hal]

I have a well worn original Smith Carbine that has some play in the action. It's enough you can feel it and even see it move, but in all reality the gap appears pretty small. I'll try to remember to put a feeler gauge in it tonight and measure. The problem is that it seems to hit differently when shot off hand than it does when put in a rest on the bench. It almost has be due to the play in the action.

[BobbyHannula8450v]

The difference in impact is most likely do to a difference in sight picture plus follow they shooting offhand. When I sight a gun in I only use the bench to confirm grouping of the shot.

[Lou Lou Lou]

both sights are on the front half of the barrel. If you hold it in tight it will shoot.

[jonk]

Well the more rigid the receiver to barrel fit, the more accurate it can be in principle; which is why a bolt action is king, along with a few others like falling block designs, as compared to everything else. That said, as it was pointed out, the sights and such are on the barrel so for what we do some play isn't going to hurt anything.

To answer the question, if the gun breaks open without being toggled, it's too much. If gas is leaking out excessively or the wobble is enough that you CAN'T hold it tight, it's too much.

The question being: the fix is fairly easy, why not just tighten it up?

[Michael Bodner]

They make different sized hinge bolts (in diameter) to account for wear and tear on the hole. Of course, you need to try different sizes to see which tightens up the action. Lodgewood generally has multiple bolts (screws, actually).

Recall, once you insert the cartridge, the action should be tight. That's because the case is sorta jammed in there when you close the action...

-Mike

[Hal]

Thanks for the replies. I used a feeler gauge to check the gap when closed and was able to push a .007" feeler gauge between the upper halves of the receiver just under the 'latch spring' or 'top strap'. There doesn't appear to be near as much slop at the pivot, but I had recently ordered a screw just for good measure and found it was smaller than the original that is in there. I wasn't aware that Lodgewood carried oversized pivot screws. I will check that out. Perhaps I shouldn't admit this here in public, but I "moved" a little metal of the rear locking lug toward the rear to fill up the hole in the top strap. Like I said above, the gun is well worn and pretty beat, so I didn't feel REAL bad about doing it. It did tighten it up pretty well. This was last night, so I haven't shot it yet.

I realize my method was probably akin to duct tape to some. What would a gun smith do to tighten up a Smith?

[Michael Bodner]

Trust me: Peening out the top lug will not work. After about 5-10 shots (or less) it will move right back where it was...

[jonk]

You might try some 2f as well. My gun prefers it. Lower pressure, less chance of moving stuff around once it's tightened up.

[Don Branch 12592]

Is the play still there when you place a tube in? I have an original that has a small amount of play, but once a load is inserted it tightens up perfect.

[Hal]

Yes, the play was still there with a cartridge inserted. Maybe not as bad, but still there.

I'm using 30gr of 1.5F Swiss behind the Lee .518 bullet. Forget the weight. Maybe 360?

Yes, it did seem to loosen back up after a few shots. Not as bad, but I didn't fire many rounds either.