I bought an L4S Grey Hunter about a year ago now and instantly loved the gun. Broke it in on the local clays course with pheasant loads and for the most part afterwards it did a good job of cycling clays shells. Over the summer I put about 1500 rounds through it on the clays and trap courses and it was my constant companion during pheasant season. The last few times I took it out on the clays course though I couldn't get it to reliably cycle any target loads - even 1 1/8 1300fps, although it had zero issues cycling pheasant loads. When I emailed their gunsmith he mentioned it will have a harder time cycling when it's very cold out and I should follow the video for cleaning. I always had followed the video instructions and have been using Hornaday One Shot for all my guns.
After the pheasant season at local game farms ended I emailed their gunshop to let them know I was sending it in for a once over. They let me know when it arrived and mentioned they were running with less folks than usual due to the current circumstances so it may take longer than usual. I was happy when I got a call a couple days later, well ahead of what I'd expected. They tried a series of target shells and it failed to cycle 90% of the time. They took it in and gave it a good cleaning after which they tried the same series of target shells, 1oz and 1 1/8oz loads, various speeds and it cycled 100% of them with no issue.
Now, this surprised me because I thought I'd been doing a very good job of keeping it clean and lubed which I told them. He did mention using Remoil or other good gun oil is preferred over dry lube like One Shot. When I got it back I opened it up right away to take a look at how they'd oiled it and it was much "wetter" than what I'd been doing or how it appears it would be based on the video cleaning.
I had a chance to get out and shoot clays yesterday afternoon and I brought a variety of shells. 1oz 1300fps, 1 1/8oz 1300 fps, 1 1/8 1185fps and one or two others. The gun cycled all of them and was throwing them out a good 10+ feet easily. I was reminded how much I love that gun! It had been relegated to hunting use only since I was having trouble cycling clays shells so I haven't done much "bulk" shooting in a while. Firing through 3 boxes of shells on the course was such a joy! It certainly helps that I shoot it well but this is a great gun, it shoots where you point it and it's quick to target.
So, if anyone is having trouble with an L4S Hunter cycling target loads, give this a try and see if it helps, it sure did for me! Also, as expected based on what I'd heard their gunshop is top notch when it comes to communication, professionalism and turn around time.
Brian
After the pheasant season at local game farms ended I emailed their gunshop to let them know I was sending it in for a once over. They let me know when it arrived and mentioned they were running with less folks than usual due to the current circumstances so it may take longer than usual. I was happy when I got a call a couple days later, well ahead of what I'd expected. They tried a series of target shells and it failed to cycle 90% of the time. They took it in and gave it a good cleaning after which they tried the same series of target shells, 1oz and 1 1/8oz loads, various speeds and it cycled 100% of them with no issue.
Now, this surprised me because I thought I'd been doing a very good job of keeping it clean and lubed which I told them. He did mention using Remoil or other good gun oil is preferred over dry lube like One Shot. When I got it back I opened it up right away to take a look at how they'd oiled it and it was much "wetter" than what I'd been doing or how it appears it would be based on the video cleaning.
I had a chance to get out and shoot clays yesterday afternoon and I brought a variety of shells. 1oz 1300fps, 1 1/8oz 1300 fps, 1 1/8 1185fps and one or two others. The gun cycled all of them and was throwing them out a good 10+ feet easily. I was reminded how much I love that gun! It had been relegated to hunting use only since I was having trouble cycling clays shells so I haven't done much "bulk" shooting in a while. Firing through 3 boxes of shells on the course was such a joy! It certainly helps that I shoot it well but this is a great gun, it shoots where you point it and it's quick to target.
So, if anyone is having trouble with an L4S Hunter cycling target loads, give this a try and see if it helps, it sure did for me! Also, as expected based on what I'd heard their gunshop is top notch when it comes to communication, professionalism and turn around time.
Brian
