I picked up a used coach gun recently that appears to have been pretty neglected. Besides being dirty as hell, there are some scratches on the barrel, a little surface rust, a bent trigger guard, and a stuck firing pin. The wood looks decent in that there are no cracks but, the previous owner apparently tried to refinished it and did a less than professional job (at least it he didn't do any permanent damage). It looks better in the pics then it does in person. The bright lights actually make the stock look pretty nice. I thought it would make for a good project.

The first order of business is to give her a good scrubbing and see what I'm actually working with.

I'll be interested to see what you do with this. The hole in the trigger guard...is that factory? I've never seen that before and wonder what purpose it serves.

EDIT: Never mind about the hole...looking closer at it, I guess it's for tightening/removing that screw in the trigger guard.

It gives access to the front trigger guard screw. Otherwise you have to use an offset and come in from the side.

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I always take precautions

The hole is a there to give you access to the screw that holds the guard in place. It doesn't line up on this one at all though since the previous owner seems to have dropped the gun.

(Guess I'm too slow, Alpo beat me to it.)

I actually got started on this last night, since I have no idea what issues this gun may have, besides the obvious, I decided to just pull the whole thing apart.

I was reading up on the Stoeger and apparently a sticky firing pin is a common issue. The steel is too soft and starts to bulge, which causes it to get stuck. As a result, after firing, the pin sticks in the primer which prohibits the gun from opening. I'm guessing this may be one of the reasons the previous owner dumped the gun.

In any case, I had trouble removing the firing pin, so I made myself a little homemade spanner wrench. I placed a piece of paper over the firing pin and rubbed with a pencil to trace the layout of the holes, then placed the paper on a small piece of Maple stock from the shop and drilled a few holes part way into it. I then hammered three finish nails into it, cut them to length, and filed them to make the ends even. Worked like a charm.


Most of what I read said it tends to be the side of the pin struck by the hammers that bulges but, in this case it was the side that strikes the primer. I plan to order some SS firing pins but, in the mean time, my fix was to place the pin in a drill and run it along a piece of 1000 grit sand paper on the edge of my gun bench until it fit smoothly. I oiled it up and re-assembled. All is well now.

I sanded and sprayed the wood. I put on 6 thin coats, it should look a lot better then whatever the previous guy did to it. I'll let it dry over night and then buff it out with some steel wool and wax.

Keep us posted,looks like you have the project moving right along

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Hue 68 noli me tangere

Very nice start

Are you leaving the barrels that long?

I just trimmed these down on my coach gun last month. With the shorter tubes it swings great for house use.

Nice looking but the barrels don't appear to be 18" long.

That is because I cut them back to 11"

I have a Stoeger double, sits beside my honeys nightstand. I trimmed the LOP to 12 inches, brought the barrels to a happy 18.5". It ain't purty but works just fine. It will print a side by side group with 1 oz slugs about an inch low at 50 yards.

Low velocity loads are just plain soft shooting in it. This might motivate me to make Iit look nicer. Great job on that little one Colt!

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Even older, even crankier....

It's ok. He's in Florida. gun lovers paradise.

I JUST LOVE THESE COACH GUNS. I HAVE BEEN DROOLING OVER THEM SINCE THEY FIRST APPEARED IN THE ANNUAL "SHOOTERS BIBLE" MANY YEARS AGO. NOT REALLY HAVING A NEED FOR ONE (AS IF WE PURCHASE FIREARMS BECAUSE WE "NEED" THEM) I RESISTED ORDERING A NEW ONE. AS LUCK WOULD HAVE IT, I HAVE NEVER RUN ACROSS AN INEXPENSIVE BEATER TO FOOL WITH. Colt saw's IS A BEAUTY. I AM A BIG FAN OF BUDASAC'S, AFTER HIS MILSURP RIFLE PROJECT--ADMIRING BOTH THIS YOUNG MAN'S TALENT AND INITIATIVE. (HE IS NOT A BUBBA) I WILL BE FOLLOWING THIS THREAD CLOSELY, AS I EXPECT THIS COACH GUN OF HIS WILL BE SOMETHING TO BE PROUD OF …...

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'Nam 1968-69.DAV,VFW,NRA Inst.

I thought that was more of a federal issue.
Is there such a thing as SBS class?

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“Look life in its iron face”

I don't really want this to turn into a discussion on SBS's but.......
Short barreled Shotguns (less then 18") are legal as long as they are approved and registered by the ATF. After applying and receiving the permit you're supposed to engrave your name and address on the firearm.

Here's a link to a description of how to apply for anyone who's interested - http://www.shotgunworld.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?t=80131

Joe,
Thank you for the compliment and support, it's much appreciated. The rifle is shooting great. I just picked up a 440 round can of ammo for it and plan on shooting the **** out of it next time out.
(BTW, my father was also a SSG and in Vietnam in '68-'69. He was with the 1st Cav.)

So, I cold blued a few spots on the barrel that were bare and had formed some rust. I did it twice. Some spots came out better then others. Even the most noticeable spot you would have to look for to find. It stands out in the picture but only because I'm zoomed in on it. When it's wiped with oil it looks pretty good.

The stock turned out pretty nice. I got most of the marks out of it. There were a couple of deep scratches that I tried to steam out but they can still be seen if you look close. I didn't want to sand too much off it.

I torched and re-bent the trigger guard, then I cold blued it. It came out OK. I'm not crazy about it. It was difficult to get the proper curve in it. It's better then it was though. I may contact Stoeger and see if I can purchase a new one.

All back in one piece!

Looking real good

ITS ONLY THE TRUTH, SON. I'M ANXIOUS TO SEE A RANGE REPORT, WITH SOME TARGETS, FROM THAT BAAAD RIFLE ! ! ! GIVE MY BROTHER, YOUR DAD, A "WELCOME HOME" FROM ME, Budasac….

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'Nam 1968-69.DAV,VFW,NRA Inst.

Great idea about the finishing nails in the oak trick to remove the bushing for the firing pin. Haven't seen that one before. For the rust along the rib, get some popsicle sticks from a craft store and cut the round part off and file a bevel like a knife blade stick a patch on it with some kroil and run it back and forth. Will take that lite rust away. Neccesity is the mother of invention. Frank

Will do sir. I'll be sure to post some targets in my other thread when I get out there.

Thanks, gotta work with what ya got I guess. I was looking around the shop and that's what I came up with. Worked well enough that I threw it in the tool box for the next time. I plan on ordering a few SS firing pins to completely eliminate the problem.

take an OLD copper penny & with a drop or three of Breakfree CLP rub gently but thoroughly along the rib on the rust..... only the rust will be removed. Again make sure it's one of the old pure copper & not copper clad zinc pennies they issue now.

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be safe,enjoylife,journey well

Thanks, I already got it rust free. I used Nevr-Dull to remove all the surface rust and hit the bad spots with steel wool and then cold-blued them.
I'm basically done with it now except for replacing the firing pins with SS and working the action a bit so it opens easier but I want to get out and shoot it a little first. Someone suggested I get it threaded for chokes but I looked up the specs and it appears that it has fixed chokes.(some measuring with calipers confirmed it). One barrel is Modified and the other is Improved Cylinder. I need to get it to the range and see how well the two barrels shoot to p.o.a. and what the spread is like. I'd like to try shooting some clays with it if possible, we'll see how it goes.

Way back in the seventies I did a coach gun conversion on an old Stevens 16ga. When I started to refinish the stock I liked the way it looked stripped so kept it blonde (Birch??) and used a Birchwood Casey brown on the barrels. Cute little booger, wish I still had it...

My Rossi Overland will do for now...