Norinco 1897 action stiff

[Larsen E. Whipsnade]

I bought a used Norinco 1897 from a fellow who said he had used it in Cowboy Action shooting. I wanted to install a handguard on it to replicate the trench gun. I didn't look it over as closely as I should have, I guess. Once I got it home & started playing with it, I found, among other things, that I couldn't manually lower the hammer from the cocked position without a lot of manipulation. Not being familiar with the '97, I wasn't sure if this wasn't just an idiosyncrasy of the design. The action wasn't too bad but I felt it could be better. I took it to a gunsmith mainly to have the handguard installed, since I'm not very handy & didn't trust myself to cut the necessary grooves in the barrel, but asked him to also slick up the action while he had it. After he got into the guts of it, he called me to tell me someone had really butchered the innards, the gun wasn't safe, and a lot of parts had to be replaced. I was looking at a bill of almost what I paid for the gun, and he asked if I wanted him to proceed. Well, I wasn't going to pass it on and stick someone else as had been done to me, and I saw no point in having a non-functional gun taking up space in my safe, so I told him to go ahead. When I got it back, the hammer functioned properly, and the rearward pump was improved, but going forward was VERY stiff. He said that was because with the bolt to the rear, the hammer pressed up against it, cocking it upward, and it took effort to move it forward. I do find that if I press the back of the bolt down with my thumb, it moves forward easily, so I believe his description is correct, but I have to wonder if there isn't someway to correct this problem. Also, I wonder if using it like this won't cause undue wear on the bolt and/or where it rides in the receiver. Does anyone have any ideas on this?

[AJMD429]

I'm not familiar with that model, but it sounds similar to the hammer-binding-against-bolt issue you have with some new leverguns. Careful filing/shaping/polishing of the engaging surfaces (being careful to not lessen the amount of hammer-travel so as to prevent reliable full-cocking) resolves it in just a few minutes with leverguns like Rossi 92's and Marlin 94's.

Someone more familiar with the pump-guns could tell you if that might be the type solution for you.

[M. M. Wright]

Polishing the top of the hammer, the bottom of the bolt where it contacts the hammer and mostly just lessening the tension on the hammer spring will greatly improve this problem. A good man on 97s can make it feel like hot butter. Our own NKJ can probably do it for you.

[octagon]

I've only shot mine, which is an old original. It stiff as well, my guess is that this type of action is supposed to be stiff, it is just plain tight and has been shot a lot, a whole lot.