I was shooting my light twenty with the mag tube dry and would not eject light trap loads with the rings set for heavy loads. So then I put a light bit of engine oil just a little and it slammed them shells 12 ft. I then cleaned the mag tube of all oil and put a smear of light grease on the tube and tried again with the same trap loads and it would eject them only 5 ft, so I was wondering witch is the best for the gun. I have read that use the heavy setting with enough oil to get it to eject, getting it to eject 12 ft or 5 ft. I only used a light smear of oil and grease I did not glob it on. Steve!
The best for the gun is to use the most friction it will cycle with. The problem is, it may take less than a box of shells for it to start to jam when you do that. Then you have to apply more oil or switch to the light setting. You should be able to find a compromise.
Yes I have tried light setting dry and would not eject but with a very little oil it slammed them out. that is why I went to the heavy load setting with light oil. The gun is a 1979 Japan model and has not been used to much. Thanks for your response. Steve!
What is light trap loads to you? The mag tube should have 30 weight oil, light amount then wiped with rag lightly, you don't want to remove it all. Then set up for heavy load and see what it does. If it doesn't cycle, then switch to light setting. I just did this with some steel loads. It cycled fine on heavy setting with steel. Switched to factory loads and it would not cycle. Changed to light setting and she cycled just fine. Do away with the grease and go to 30 weight oil.
One other thing. You said the gun is practically new, the bronze friction piece may not be broken in yet. It will get more effective as it wears in.
Steve , you can try this trick if you like. Get the bronze ring and clean with brake cleaner first and dry off. Put in clean tin can and submerse till it’s covered in new 30 oil let sit on shelf in sun for couple of days and wipe clean. This helps season the bronze pores and gives slight self lube properties. Might give you that little bit less friction your looking for .
This is very interesting, and I may try it. But I’m not sure it’s right for the OP’s gun just yet. He reports a huge difference in friction between a dry tube and one with a very light coating of oil. Since it’s supposed to work with a little oil, I think the problem is too little friction, not too much. I think he should shoot it for a while to break it in. Then go on from there.
Yes I agree. Just posted as it’s sometimes a way of fine tuning a bronze bush to have less tendancy to grab and gall . You do this trick with sintered bronze bushes in air ram actuators to stop them grabbing the chrome rod so hard till they bed in and establish their own running clearance. Depends on bronze used and how hard and porous.
Thank you, gentlemen, for your help, I think I will just put some 30 weight oil on it just a smear with my finger and shoot it for a while As Rudolph says and let it break in a bit and see what happens. I took it out to the farm the other day and shot 7 nice mallards with it it is a sweetheart to shoot. I wish I could post pictures. Steve!
Art says two drops of 30 weight oil, on our thumb and first finger, wiped on the tube. The A5 relies on a specific amount of lubrication to allow the BFR to do its job properly. Sintered bronze will "absorb" oil, but in the decades of being a machinist, I have never heard of oil being absorbed by plain ol" bronze. Could be, I've just never heard of it. The only time I deviated from Art's advise was when I was trying to get one of my 3" magnums to cycle "trap/light" loads. I finally got it to work reliably, but it took a whopping THREE drops. ( and some experimentation with the friction rings/collars.)
If you would like your pictures posted you can send them to me and I will post them. Or I can walk you through posting with Imgur.
Tried something this morning, I took an accurate scale and zeroed it out with the barrel resting on the scale bolt open and the light setting on the mag tube. I then pushed down on the gun until the barrel moved and it broke at 30 lbs. then I put the heavy setting on the mag tube and did the same and to my surprise, it broke at 41 lbs much difference, I did it several times and all came out the same. Now I know it's not very scientific but it did tell me something, Now whether the sudden movement of a shot would make a difference I don't know something for me to think about. Anyway, I have put the heavy setting back on the tube and used a thin layer of 30-weight oil on the mag tube and going to shoot it that way for a while. I am having lots of fun with a 20-gauge shotgun. Thanks Steve!
