Win. 1300 Defender problem

[andy]

I'm new to shotguns so please excuse the dumb question. I've got a new Winchester1300 Defender and cannot remove the magazine spring retainer. The owners manual says to pry the thing out with a screw driver but I cannot see how to do this without mangling things. I've played with it quite a bit using a screw driver and other tools but its a no go. From looking at other posts there seems to be a lot of Defender owners on this board so could you guys tell me how you do it? Have any other Defender owners experienced this problem? I would really like to clean the magazine tube and this is proving to be a very frustrating experience.

 

[oscar]

Mine on a 1200 looks like a circle with about 10% missing on the bottom. Pry gently with a screwdriver on the exposed ends and it should come out easily.

 

[Hardtarget]

Oscar is right...just go gently. As with most things, it'll be easier to do after you've done it a few times. I don't have much trouble with mine anymore. I put a little lube on it before puting it back together,
Mark. lots of help, wasn't I?

 

[andy]

Thanks for responding guys. My shotgun is laying in pieces on the floor and I've spent the afternoon cussing at it while trying to pry this thing out. There is a narrow slot cut into the side of the retainer and thats where I've been prying. Maybe I'm being too gentle with it. Hardtarget, I noticed you said you don't have trouble with yours "anymore". That implies that you've had trouble getting it off in the past. Did it almost seem frozen on like mine does? BTW, your post is helpful, the tip about putting lube on it before reassembling sounds like a good idea.

 

[TarpleyG]

I'd say unless you are having a magazine/feed issue, leave it alone until you do. Since you most likely won't use it for hunting, you don't need to plug it and it really doesn't get that dirty to bother with cleaning until you shoot it a while.

Now, if you're hell bent on removing it "just because", put some muscle into it. It will come out.

GT

 

[andy]

I would really like to just forget about doing it Tarpley, the problem is that it is a new shotgun and it had this anti rust goop applied to its inards at the factory. I've been able to disassemble the rest of the gun and clean it off but this stuff is still in the mag tube. I don't think it would be safe to shoot with this goop getting on the shells. I guess its time to get out the muscles .