does your shotgun do this?

[mazzgolf]

Here's something that I think is weird on my Beretta A300 Outlander (maybe the cause of my F2F I talked about in this thread?). But I dunno - maybe this is the way shotguns work. I only have one semi-auto SG so I can't compare.

Take a look at this - tell me if your semis (any make/model) do this.

First, in these pictures and video, I'm holding the bolt back. It is not locked back. Consider this is where the bolt is in the middle of a cycle:

Now, take a look at the carrier (the lever that pushes the next shell up into the chamber after the shell is pushed out of the magazine). Here's what it looks normally - when the bolt is all the way back, the carrier is all the way up - the carrier has pushed up the next shell:

 

OK, fine. Now I did something - I put my finger inside the chamber and pushed the carrier back down. If I do it just right (it isn't hard), I can get the carrier to "stick" in the down position (or close to it). Like this:

This seems weird to me.  Shouldn't the carrier snap back up? When I push down on the carrier, it is "spongy" (don't know the right word - "sticky?") and making the carrier slow to spring back (or not spring back at all, as you see there).

Here's a couple videos to show you what I'm talking about.

Here's a video where the carrier was pushed down by my finger - it didn't snap back up into position until the 5 second mark - then, all by itself, it snapped back. Should it be able to "stick" in that position, or shouldn't it snap back immediately in the up position?

Here's the second video. This time, the carrier was "stuck" in the down position - I had to ever-so-gently push on it with the tip of my finger, then it snapped back in the up position (that's at the 4 second mark):

I may be totally wrong about this being a problem - this may be how the action works. But it seems to me if the carrier is this "sticky" won't it possibly be slow to push up the next round into the chamber? The bolt might get pushed forward before the "sticky" carrier snaps up and the next round could get stuck under the bolt on top of the carrier (rather than pushed into the chamber by the bolt).

I'm wondering if anyone else's semi-autos do the same thing - can you hold the bolt back (don't lock it back) and push your carrier and have it "stick" in the down (or close to the down) position? And have it not snap back (like my second video), or snap back on its own after sitting there for a while (like my first video)?

 

Edited September 16, 2020 by mazzgolf

[archer36]

I wouldn't "mess" around with the gun's operation. Go out and shoot it. If it performs properly,  that's all that matters. 

[mazzgolf]

11 minutes ago, archer36 said:

I wouldn't "mess" around with the gun's operation. Go out and shoot it. If it performs properly,  that's all that matters. 

That's the whole point - it DOESN'T perform properly. I've been having failure-to-feed problems and it seems like either the round gets stuck in the magazine or it fails to get loaded in the chamber. I'm trying to figure out possible problems.

[Merkel]

Contact Beretta Customer Service if the gun is not functioning properly. 

[mazzgolf]

2 minutes ago, Merkel said:

Contact Beretta Customer Service if the gun is not functioning properly. 

I did when it first happened last year - you can guess their answer, "Send it to us and we can look at it. Turn around time - 3 months" :-/

[Deerslayer21]

does your gun have that lever on the side that keeps the breach open ?  

[mazzgolf]

4 minutes ago, Deerslayer21 said:

does your gun have that lever on the side that keeps the breach open ?  

There is the bolt-release button on the outside - on the inside, that bolt release button does move a lever or metal bar that releases the bolt. When I lock the bolt back (what you mean when you say "keeps the breach open", I think) that lever moves further into the chamber to lock things.

So, if I think I know what you are talking about, yes, it has something inside the chamber.

And I actually looked at that, because that level SEEMS like it just barely touches the carrier (even when its not locking the bolt back). I thought maybe that could be causing the sticking. Is that what you are thinking of?

This is what I'm talking about - look at the 2m57s mark - this guy removes what I'm talking about:

 

[Batsto]

Don’t drive yourself crazy. Take it to Winters and he may tell you what is causing problem and you can order part or have him fix it. Those A300s are super guns! My son in law has one. 

[mazzgolf]

Just now, Batsto said:

Don’t drive yourself crazy. Take it to Winters and he may tell you what is causing problem and you can order part or have him fix it. Those A300s are super guns! My son in law has one. 

I actually called yesterday and talked to Mr. Winters. Nice guy, and answered some of my questions, but he was upfront telling me that he can easily fix things that are broken, but for problems like this (where they only occur sometimes, randomly) he can't guarantee he'll be able to do anything. And I understand where he's coming from. We agreed if I find anything more definitive, I'll bring it over to him.

[Merkel]

9 hours ago, mazzgolf said:

I did when it first happened last year - you can guess their answer, "Send it to us and we can look at it. Turn around time - 3 months" :-/

Yeah, that’s frustrating especially as we approach the season.  Best of luck. 

[mazzgolf]

Just went to the range to shoot some trap - shot a box and a half of trap loads, and even a couple 3" rounds that failed on me before... gun never skipped a beat. Not a single problem. Only happens to me when I'm not expecting it. 

I took a look at someone's Beretta A400 while there - obviously different gun, but close enough that I thought I should compare... its carrier did NOT behave like mine. It was not "sticky" and snapped back cleanly every time I pushed down on it. I think this is something I'm going to key on - it is possible there is some gunk in the trigger group where the carrier's hinges are that is hanging it up. Just a theory for now...

[MGHunter66]

Strip it down and clean it thoroughly. May have some preservative left on parts. Berettas are simple to strip down. Never ever over lubricate a semi, especially the gas system portion. I have shot thousands of rounds through Baretta semi’s without a hick up. The only guns that had issues were friends that all over oiled their gun, once cleaned operated flawlessly. Btw you can’t simulate what the action and follower do during operation manually without pulling the trigger and dropping the firing pin, it’s just how it is

[smungung]

from your video it looks like a friction related issue. seeing that you said you havent fully stripped and cleaned it i would recomend you clean it real well and lightly relube.

[bushden]

On 9/16/2020 at 8:33 AM, mazzgolf said:

That's the whole point - it DOESN'T perform properly. I've been having failure-to-feed problems and it seems like either the round gets stuck in the magazine or it fails to get loaded in the chamber. I'm trying to figure out possible problems.

Bring it in for service !!

[Deerslayer21]

call baretta their customer service is great !!!!!!!!!!!  I have 2 beretta's  a 309 and a A 300  and never had a problem with the guns.  I take  mine apart regularly and use my compressor to clean out all the gunk and re lube it often.  Its a little scary first time  breaking the gun down but, thats what youtube is for.