Diagnosing chamber issues in problem shotguns and a head scratcher.

by Doug Kelsay

We have been seeing a rash of shotguns at KELTEC Systems over the last year or two wherein the spent shell sticks in the chamber. We suspect you have seen similar symptoms, based on the quantity we’ve seen. We wanted to provide an update on that symptom and what we’ve done so far. And as you’ll see, it’s still a bit of a mystery.

The basic symptoms are, after firing the gun, either the slide will not open (in the case of pump), the gun will not cycle (in the case of an auto) or the shell won’t extract or eject (in the case of break type guns.) In all cases, the spent shell is still stuck in the chamber. It is my expectation that the gun “naturally” eject the shell – that is, to do it without the aid of a ramrod, prybar or a swift rap on the chamber.

Read more in our February 2015 issue. Back issues are available.

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