WrongHanded
Member
- Joined
- Jul 6, 2017
- Messages
- 4,771
A few things first:
1) I did buy a spare magazine tube assembly in anticipation of this issue.
2) I don't want to have a debate about the safety concerns of leaving guns loaded, or in vehicles.
So, a while back I bought a Henry .357 Steel Big Boy 20". The rifle stays loaded with 10 (max capacity) in the magazine, and the chamber empty, in a padded soft case. It's in the house at night, and I put it in the vehicle every morning to go to work. The encased rifle is kept under a blanket in the vehicle but is still subject to temperature changes. It comes out of the vehicle when I get home from work, but remains in the case. I check it periodically, so maybe once a month.
A handful months have gone by, and my casual inspection this morning found that the mag tube spring just had no spring left. I'm not sure if this is a combination of the temperature fluctuations and the magazine being loaded to capacity all the time; or if temperature has nothing to do with it.
I did take the assembly apart and stretch the spring back out. That operation is not difficult, but not something I would expect everyone to be comfortable with as the mag tube assembly was obviously not designed for spring maintenance or replacement. I will try it again with only 7 rounds and see if that eliminates the spring set. The springs are quite thin in diameter. Thinner than I would have expected.
The good news, is that if the gun is held barrel up whilst cycling the action, even with a gutless spring, gravity will feed the rounds. Which is far from ideal, but possibly worth knowing.
1) I did buy a spare magazine tube assembly in anticipation of this issue.
2) I don't want to have a debate about the safety concerns of leaving guns loaded, or in vehicles.
So, a while back I bought a Henry .357 Steel Big Boy 20". The rifle stays loaded with 10 (max capacity) in the magazine, and the chamber empty, in a padded soft case. It's in the house at night, and I put it in the vehicle every morning to go to work. The encased rifle is kept under a blanket in the vehicle but is still subject to temperature changes. It comes out of the vehicle when I get home from work, but remains in the case. I check it periodically, so maybe once a month.
A handful months have gone by, and my casual inspection this morning found that the mag tube spring just had no spring left. I'm not sure if this is a combination of the temperature fluctuations and the magazine being loaded to capacity all the time; or if temperature has nothing to do with it.
I did take the assembly apart and stretch the spring back out. That operation is not difficult, but not something I would expect everyone to be comfortable with as the mag tube assembly was obviously not designed for spring maintenance or replacement. I will try it again with only 7 rounds and see if that eliminates the spring set. The springs are quite thin in diameter. Thinner than I would have expected.
The good news, is that if the gun is held barrel up whilst cycling the action, even with a gutless spring, gravity will feed the rounds. Which is far from ideal, but possibly worth knowing.
