[green-hntr]

Just thought I would share to make sure this doesnt happen to anyone the night before a big hunt or dream hunt. So there I was cleaning the SPR 453 last night and ended up losing that little tiny spring that assists in locking the chamber open. It is a spring that sits inside the trigger assembly. Anyways it popped out of there and my guess is the mysterious spring monster leaped up from the floor and ate it.

I guess I will have to order a couple of them. I cant believe that without that little spring the gun becomes a single shot semi-auto. :evil:

3.50 to replace. Probably cost me more in Shipping and Handling that the actual part. Is that spring suppose to come out?? Its called a carrier latch spring.

 

[quack fiend]

That's why i never take out a trigger assembly unless something's broken, a good blast of gunscrubber in the receiver on all my shotguns seems to work fine.

 

[FullandFuller]

Sorry to hear it, and good points. You definitely have to be careful with disassembly. I am not averse to it - perhaps I should be - but I don't mind taking stuff apart before hunts. Heck, I changed the gas adjustment on my 453 in the dark last week on a morning dove hunt. I remembered I had it set for goose loads so I changed it quick a few minutes before shooting time. My dad used to freak out if I started to tear down a gun during hunting season, lest I break or lose something. I have never felt that way.

I agree though that the 453 trigger group is a not the most solid piece of machinery I have seen. The rear pin can drop parts off it if you tilt it the wrong way. I'm not sure which spring you are referring to, but I believe I knocked a spring off the first time I took it apart, and had to put it back on where i figured it belonged. Luckily no monster ate it. It was put back correctly..but I have never had any issues like that with the 1100s and 1187s I take care of.

Did you try a ball point pen spring, cut to length? Or is it much smaller? I have a small collection of odds and end springs now; I strip them from all kinds of things before throwing them away.

Jeremiah

 

[green-hntr]

Thanks for the tip about the ball point pen. I would say that just might be the right size. I have plenty of back-up guns. The ole trusty 870 Super express pump gun

 

[FullandFuller]

I checked out my gun just now. That is indeed the spring that popped out when I first disassembled it. I tried a couple of pen springs here, but they are a little too wide. The spring you need is .147 OD, .450 extended length, and relatively stiff (wire diameter is .016" and steel). These pen springs are slightly wider, longer, and less stiff (brass). The length and the stiffness would be adequate I believe, by cutting the spring down but leaving it longer than the original steel spring to give it more spring force. However, the width of these pen springs is a bit too fat to fit into the hole intended to retain the spring.

You may be able to find a replacement at a hardware store that would work, though, before the new one comes in the mail. The original is as listed above, with 2 tight seating coils on each end, and 6 coils in the middle. Like this:
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Good luck

Jeremiah