[kb1966]

I bought a American Arms ,Luigi Franchi , Black Magic 20Ga about ten years ago. It is a fun little gun and at 4.6 lbs it is easy to hunt with it all day. Prior to this gun I had a really old 12Ga pump that felt like an anvil at the end of the day.Switching to the 20Ga was a trade off , overall weight -vs- the 12Ga killing power. Needless to say, I put a lot rounds through that gun the first year just trying to improve accuracy.After about 500 rounds I could shoot a pretty consistant 23 out of 25 and runnin bunnies were usually in deep deep trouble... Now I dont hunt much, but killin clay birds is still fun and it fits my schedule better . Since that time Ive put another 1000 rounds on . When it was new it rarley ever dropped a round and then usually that was my fault by not shouldering tight. As time passed though it started dropping more and more until recently it has stopped ejecting altogether. Cleaning has never been an issue ( I think )
The thing comes apart without tools only takes about 10 minutes to clean.
As many times as Ive had this thing apart ( especially Lately )
I cant see anything that would cause the problem.

Has Anybody else had this problem ?

Is there a link to an exploded view ?

Where is the Gas tube ?

Which way does that bushing really go ?

 

[MrBen]

You should be able to find a parts diagram and parts list for your version of the gun here http://www.e-gunparts.com/model.asp?idDept=85

What do you mean by "drop" a round? "Fail to eject" I understand, but what is "drop"?

I am not familiar with the Franchi, but I know from experience with a Beretta that failure to eject is often caused by plugged gas ports. In that case, the bolt pulls the hull out or partly out of the chamber, but doesn't throw it clear out of the ejection port. The ports need to be cleaned thoroughly using a probe that is close to the diameter of the port. For a Beretta 391, I have found that a 1/8" drill bit (held in my fingers) will ream out the carbon without cutting into the metal. Your gun may have ports of a different diameter.

If the bolt of your gun opens but doesn't pull the hull out of the chamber, that is a different problem, probably a worn or broken extractor.

 

[kb1966]

MrBen

By "drop a round " I mean fail to extract or incomplete extraction, where the empty gets pinched in the action.Usually in that case it does allow a fresh round to get into the receiver but its blocked from getting into the chamber by the empty case that wont eject.

Thanks for the link

 

[Worc]

I replied to you other post as well. This one has a little more detail. If this gun is the Long Recoil operated Black Magic it has no ports to worry about. I would start with cleaning the recoil spring and tube in the stock first.

 

[kb1966]

Yes it is a Black Magic and thank god there's no ports because I thought I was going blind. I have cleaned the recoil spring and tube and long bolt and connector pin and everything else
EXCEPT the core parts of the bolt... there are some really small roll pins that hold some rocker type latches and a couple other doo hickeys that I didnt have a diagram to put back together.

Could there be a gas port in the bolt that operates the ejector?

I soaked the bolt in alcohol and worked all the little moving parts until they felt free and not gritty , then compressed air ,
then oiled it with some stuff made for semi-autos then compressed air and a rag to remove excess. But if there are some ports in there... I guess they could still be plugged
It seemed like it came pretty clean . Heck it didnt seem very dirty to start with

 

[David Pianosi]

l. If this gun is the Long Recoil operated Black Magic it has no ports to worry about. I

I have a long action semi auto Breda 12 gauge that started doing that years ago. Only worked well with magnum loads. Then one day at the gunsmith shop I mentioned this. He pointed out one of the washers was conical in shape. This washer was just in front of the brass compression ring. When the washer is turned one way it is set for magnums but if turned the reverse way it puts less cinching on the brass compression ring and is then set for standard load. It got rid of the problem. The gun was my dads from the 50's and I'll bet that he pointed this out to me once before but I have no recollection of it.

 

[David Pianosi]

Which way does that bushing really go ?

The brass bushing can go either way, it's the thick cone shape washer in front if the bushing that makes the difference in my Breda . See my previous post.

 

[MrBen]

Sorry 'bout that. I've never used a recoil or short-recoil shotgun, so I was fooled into thinking it was gas operated when I looked at the parts diagram and saw a piston and what looked like a gas cylinder attached to the barrel.

 

[MrBen]

Wait a minute! I just found a reference that says the Franchi Black Magic is gas operated, not long-recoil!

This dates from 1990: American Arms has brought the entire Franchi line under its umbrella and is now Franchi's sole U.S. importer. In addition to the already popular Black Magic line of gas-operated, semi-automatic shotguns, American also has ...

So, which kind of gun is this????????????

 

[Worc]

There were both an AL48 "Black Magic" version and a gas operated gun that evolved in to the 612. To add to the confusion there was also an O/U "Black Magic" model.

 

[JWiley]

There were both an AL48 "Black Magic" version and a gas operated gun that evolved in to the 612. To add to the confusion there was also an O/U "Black Magic" model.

Spot on. If I recall correctly, the non-48AL Black Magic guns were variants of the Franchi 500 series.