And....another '87 question

[hhughh]

To be clear, I have an '87 repro, which I understand to be something of a hybrid between the 87 and 1901 models.  The gun has the two-piece lever.  Two questions:  Why did Winchester/Browning decided the two-piece was necessary?  2) Can the repro be altered to a one-piece?
Thanks,
Hugh

[Black River Smith]

Winchester redesigned the Browning lever because the lever would open on recoil.  That is why the 1901 had the locking lever.  Can't imagine the full recoil of a full 10GA.

The answer to your second question is Yes if you want.  See attached youtube at about 2:40.


Watch his other vidoes on all the repairs [fixes] he does to 1887.  Ten in all.

Hope this helps you.

[hhughh]

So, if I weld it into one piece, does the locking mechanism have to be removed or something? Or will it function as is with a one-piece lever?

[Black River Smith]

What I see is the locking stud would be removed.  Then lever pressure holds the bolt closed.

[Pettifogger]

The locking stud has to be removed.  I just take a piece of drill rod and make spacer that results a tight fit between the two lever halves and then pound in a tight fitting pin.  It makes the whole level rigid if you don't have a welder.  The pin that is in the lever looks like a screw.  It is not.  It is a split pin.  If you want to remove it you have to drive it out from the split end.

[Black River Smith]

One suggestion for this shotgun.  If you do nothing else to it do this one fix suggested by Coyote Caps.  At least check it out before doing any other cleaning or changes to the internal parts.  Check for a slightly curved/radiused right lifter arm if the problem exists on your firearm.  Lifter arm needs to be straight.

9.  The right carrier pivot screw hole, is sometimes countersunk too far. Tightening the right screw down, will lock-up the action, or at least cause the cycling of the action to become very stiff. The reason is because the screw threads go through the frame and contact the pivot hole of the carrier. Tightening the screw down, causes the threads to push the carrier inward and will make the action very stiff to cycle.

Cure: take out the right side carrier and countersink the pivot hole in the carrier to compensate for the factory countersinking the frame hole too far. I saw the cause at the factory, when the person doing the hole drilling into the frame, (using a jig), would first drill the left hole and countersink it, then not blow out the shavings. The frame was then turned over to drill and countersink the right side hole, and the metal shavings would fall under the frame, and raise it up on the jig, thus causing the countersink hole to become too deep and when putting the screw into the gun and tightening them down, the threads would contact the carrier and lock it. Because so many of the frames were countersunk too far, the latest models (should) have the carriers already countersunk properly, so those of you with later models should not experience this problem.

PS:  Checked the Winchester Shotgun book and it stated that they went to the locking lever for more secure closure because of the new 'smokeless powder' in the 10GA.