Browning Citori Barrels Are Stuck

[hrearden]

Hi everybody! I had a Browning Citori come across my bench in the last couple weeks that had a problem where the barrels would not come out of the thing. I took off the buttstock and examined the internals and was able to pull the hammers back a hair more with my fingers to allow the cocking lever to travel a little more upward and release the barrels. While I am a gunsmith, Browning Citoris are not my specialty. I was wondering if anyone had ever run into this problem before and how they corrected it. Are there any lighter mainsprings available that wont interfere with reliability? I have some spare spring stock here but would rather buy something pre cut as its much less of a pain in the @ss.

 

[t-squared]

Back when I used to shoot my Citori a bunch , I tried to keep up with any common issues they might have. I remember 2 things that are the main causes of this...a "dry" locking lug and firing pins that didn't retract all the way. Using grease on the lug prevents any sticking or galling with the monoblock assembly. If a non-retracted firing pin is the issue, cleaning the hole will usually fix the issue.

 

[hrearden]

Thanks man, Ill rip into the receiver. This would make sense as the guy said it didnt always do it but the appears to be nothing glaringly wrong with the gun.

 

[indiucky]

Back when I used to shoot my Citori a bunch , I tried to keep up with any common issues they might have. I remember 2 things that are the main causes of this...a "dry" locking lug and firing pins that didn't retract all the way. Using grease on the lug prevents any sticking or galling with the monoblock assembly. If a non-retracted firing pin is the issue, cleaning the hole will usually fix the issue.

My brother had the same thing happening with his upland special citori...A smith cleaned the firing pin hole and all was well...It had just gotten dirty and the oil had dried up with some gunk and locked everything up...I have a superlight with the English stock that I have put about 10,000 rounds through since my mid twenties...I just keep her clean and have never had an issue....

 

[hrearden]

Sounds like theres a general consensus. Ill definitely clean the receiver top to bottom when I get back into the shop.

 

[hrearden]

So I pulled the thing apart and thoroughly cleaned every little piece from in the receiver. I re-assembled the receiver and the cocking lever is still not functioning properly. Itslike the mainsprings have too much tension as when I pull back on the hammers, I can move the cocking lever into the position it needs to be in. I find this really odd because I highly doubt the guy who brought it in messed with it in any way.I did take off a couple burrs on the inside that were making the locking block stick a little in its travel but there were no large burrs or spots that were a dead giveaway. Anybody got anything else?

 

[hrearden]

Update for anyone paying attention, it ended up being the cocking lever lifter on the bottom of the barrel. It was bent.

 

[SSGSAD]

Update for anyone paying attention, it ended up being the cocking lever lifter on the bottom of the barrel. It was bent.

GOOD JOB !!!!!

 

[t-squared]

Nice