Lehigh Valley area gunsmith knowledgable and willing to work on old Stevens SxS ?

I have two Stevens SxS 12-guage shotguns.
One is a pre-war 311 and the other is a newer 5100.

They both are misfiring on the second round (left barrel ?) due to lite primer strikes.
And the 311 is also very hard to break open after firing. Need to open by smacking over my knee.

A couple months ago I took the 311 to a few local gunshops asking them to fix it.
First shop I tried; refused to even work on it. Said it isn't worth the price.
Second shop took it. But after holding it for a month; gave it back to me without doing any work. Did not even take off stock to look at it's inside. He had same attitude as first shop. ie. Not work the price.
Third shop agreed to work on it. Had it for a week. Said the entire inside was one big rust bucket. So he removed all the rust and said it now works fine.
BUT it doesn't work fine. It's the same as before he worked on it.

Since the 311 is a family heirloom. I got from my dad, who probably got from his dad.
As long as it actually gets fixed; I'm willing to pay more than the gun is worth; and what I can afford.
And since the 5100 is newer; I expect it to cost less to fix than the 311.

Anyone know of a gunsmith, somewhat local (30 mile radius ?) to the Lehigh Valley area. Who is knowledgeable of these old Stevens and willing to work on them ?

Thanks;

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ett

I have two Stevens SxS 12-guage shotguns.
One is a pre-war 311 and the other is a newer 5100.

They both are misfiring on the second round (left barrel ?) due to lite primer strikes.
And the 311 is also very hard to break open after firing. Need to open by smacking over my knee.

A couple months ago I took the 311 to a few local gunshops asking them to fix it.
First shop I tried; refused to even work on it. Said it isn't worth the price.
Second shop took it. But after holding it for a month; gave it back to me without doing any work. Did not even take off stock to look at it's inside. He had same attitude as first shop. ie. Not work the price.
Third shop agreed to work on it. Had it for a week. Said the entire inside was one big rust bucket. So he removed all the rust and said it now works fine.
BUT it doesn't work fine. It's the same as before he worked on it.

Since the 311 is a family heirloom. I got from my dad, who probably got from his dad.
As long as it actually gets fixed; I'm willing to pay more than the gun is worth; and what I can afford.
And since the 5100 is newer; I expect it to cost less to fix than the 311.

Anyone know of a gunsmith, somewhat local (30 mile radius ?) to the Lehigh Valley area. Who is knowledgeable of these old Stevens and willing to work on them ?

Thanks;

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I have fixed up several early 1900 shotguns. One I didn't fix was due to lack of parts, Cresent from about 1905.
I *am not* a full gunsmith, but do have a clue. Also on the edge of your search but I'd like to get history back on the range.
Pm if you like to do something.

Many of the hucksters masquerading as gunsmiths these days , ain't.

OTOH, lot's of low priced guns simply aren't worth the time and bill to fix. People drop them off and then balk at paying a $150 repair tab on a $200 gun. The Stevens 311 guns were good guns , but parts are getting hard to find. Most internal parts need fitting , and most parts available are used. But since they were used and already fitted , it might not be 'fittable' a second time.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by abner13

Many of the hucksters masquerading as gunsmiths these days , ain't.

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What are you trying to say?, go stack some BB's

I'm just upfront. But I seem to deal with alot of these. It's neat to see how good these are pre CNC guns are. I'm not just willing but would like to fix them. If they need more love then what I can give them, he would be only out the drive up.

OP here,

A couple weeks after I started this thread.
A member on this board had sent me a private message saying that if I had not yet found anyone, he is a licensed gunsmith and would at least be willing to take a look at the 311.

Turnsout he is very local to me, used to have his own brick-n-mortor store for gunsmithing, and I believe also use to have a manufacturer license; but now works from his home.

Well I liked how and what he was saying. And I liked his website.
So I dropped off both my my Stevens SxS 12 gauge shotguns with him.

He had them for almost exactly as long as he said he would have them. Which is one month.

He fixed both; and found out my model 311 is actually a model 315.
I may have been wrong about the model #; but was correct in that it was probably made around 1920. :)

In addition to disassembling and cleaning both the 315 + the 5100.
The fixes were as follows:

Model 315:

• Install new striker springs.
• Repair the difficulty of opening after firing.
  Turns out the lever that cocks the strikers when you open the gun. Had worn down so much; that the timing was off. Causing the firing pins to not retract soon enough when you broke open the shotgun.
  He fixed that lever by welding onto the worn part of it.
  A time consuming process of weld, file, weld, file, weld, file, etc ...

Model 5100:

• Replace hammer main springs.
  There were no exact replacement springs available.
  BUT replacement springs for older 870 were a close fit.
  If I recall correctly; they were larger in diameter but still fit. And were a little longer; so he had to cut them to proper length.
• Replace safety button.

Was the repair cost more than the value of the guns ? Perhaps.
Don't forget; the model 315 is a family heirloom. I got it from my dad; who in turn got in from his dad. So hard to put a price on that.
I will not state the exact total repair cost. But it was not at all unreasonable.
It was easily affordable, was less than a new SxS 12 gauge, and (if I recall correctly) was little less than what I paid for the 5100 used.
So basically I got two functioning SxS shotguns for less than the cost of a new one.

Both yesterday and last weekend. I took both the 315 + the 5100 to Lehigh Valley Sporting Clays for a full 100 shot round each.
Both shotguns worked flawlessly !

SO props to Precision Armaments, Inc !
http://www.precisionarmaments.com/

Oh yea, his shop was noted for great work. I didn't know he was still doing stuff. I wouldn't be able to do the welding work. Glad it worked out and got 2 old guns back on the range.

I am glad that you got your shotguns fixed and working properly! I just repaired and re-blued a Stevens 311A for a friend - it was very time-consuming and a bit difficult, but it came out very nice and works great! Since he is a friend, I didn't charge him a dime, so it worked out well for him and since I like to fix older guns, it was great for me too!!!