Remington 20 Gauge Sportsman 58 ejection problems ...

Gordon ... thank you very very much. I would have never thought of that but it makes sense. This shotgun is pristin for the most part. I bought it to replace one my grandfather gave me forty years ago that was stolen from me when Hirricane Hugo passed over the Island we lived on at the time.

This one is pristin outside and the barrel ... but I have been taking it down as far as I remembered to go and it was sort of nasty around the trigger assembly. But everything that could be reached otherwise was clean as a whistle. I had to put a brass brush on the top of the trigger assembly to even get the trigger to pull and I had to work hard to get the safety to release ... but it is slick in that area now. So what you are telling me about the piston makes a ton of sense and I probably would have never thought of that.

Thanks again Gordon. It is very much appreciated.

Russ

GordonWood421 said:

You are going to have to remove the action components that are inside the mag-tube . Most likely , the condition of the piston and the inner surface of the tube are either allowing too much gas to pass the piston and not get ample force to extract and move the spent case far enough for the ejector to do its job ; or, there is a build up of combustion products that is dragging on the piston too much .

Because the removal of the piston is so much more agravating than on the external types , the maintenance gets less than required over the long haul

Click to expand...

Gordon ... I have the action components removed. That is, the action spring and piston assembly. The piston assembly appears to be remarkably clean ... but then there is the piston ring, which is a little loose and the ring itself is a little pitted and rough. Not rusty mind you, but definitely not slick. The ring has a split in it that appears to be intentional for removing and replacing the ring ... but the ring is extremely loose. It probably tightens up a great deal when I put it back in the tube I guess.

The inside of the tube itself is slick.

Now, there are shiney, permanent ring type surfaces both above and below the actual ring itself where I assume they both make contact with the inner tube surface. I'm assuming that because they are both so shiney and slick. And neither of those "ring looking" surfaces appear to be worn or pitted. And in sticking the piston back into the tube they appear to fight snuggly, but not tight by any means.

Does this sound like I need to replace the piston ring? Or what do you think?

Russ

Russ, from your description , your parts "sound" sound .

Does the piston-ring have any or many places where the gas can get through from the high pressure side to the other ? Also,
is the condition of the mag-tube above the "slot" as clean as your desrciption of the general mag-tube ? That , obviously, is the section of the tube where the work is really done .

Try this : http://e-gunparts.com/productschem.asp? ... 0zSPT%2058

You might see how much "slack" is in the mag-cap --- as to how much lealage is occurring there .

I think if the working part of the mag-tube is clean , after a good cleaning , I'd shoot it a bit more ; initially with what you hope to use as a steady diet for your gun . If it almost cycles ,
I'd increase the load a bit to see if it'll cycle with just a bit more uuuumph . If it does , I'd order a piston-ring --- you may want to do that up front ---- surely won;t hurt and shouldn't be very expensive .

If it almost cycles , you might get a piece of gasket material ( or use an 870 mag-cap ) to see thta effect --- but that would be last --- and with, at first, the lightest load you can find .

David Snoap is an M-58 maven , does work on them and sells parts . His address is : David Snoap
824 Emerand Ave
Grand Rapids , MI 49503

SOMEWHERE , I have his phone number -- just not at my finger tips --- and my white pages search was ineffective . Maybe
ROGMATT has his number 'cause he , I believe, has personal experience with David .

Good luck , 421

Thanks Gordon,

Wouldn't you know it ... Numrich is out of both the piston and piston ring. I'll call tomorrow and see if they can get their hands on one.

The piston and the ring both seem to be fine. I played with it once I had it re-seated and there was not much play. Plus I rotated the gap in the ring to the back of the tube once I put it back in place .... and it was tight enough for me to feel fairly sure there is a good seal. Particularly after it heats up and expands a bit.

The mag cap is probably not the issue ... at least I don't think it is. One of the first things I did last week was run a swab up there to see if any residue was apparent - and the mag tube was as clean as a debutante on prom night.

I found David Snoaps' phone number I think ... (616) 235-0295. It's listed at exactly the address you gave and I am going to give him a call. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate the tip Gordon. I owe you.

Russ

Wow! Spoke with David Snoap this morning. Great guy. He has a new address as listed below.

811 Spring Avenue
Grand Rapids , MI 49503

The phone number I found above is good.

Anyway, I am sending him a check and he is sending me three parts for my shotgun. Seems I might have the original oldest model out there and there were some modifications made in subsequent years. Two parts are completely missing, one part he is sending is a replacement part ... all for under twenty bucks.

He seemed very familiar with my problem. We're hoping this corrects the issue but if it does not I will not hesitate to send the shotgun to him.

... and I cannot thank you enough Gordon.

Russ