1970 model Sears Single Shot Shotgun

Question
I have a Sears model 101.10041 Single Shot Shotgun.  It's in real good condition and I use it on a daily basis. I purchased it on or around 1970. Of course Sears has nothing to give me the information,  nor who made it.

Specifically, the hard spring that holds the lower forward wood hand piece on, broke. It shoots fine, but without this piece, opening up to eject and the barrel falls off. What's the chance of finding one?

Anxiously awaiting your response!!

Dave

Answer
Hi Dave.

You are not likely to find the exact part since Sears no longer sells or supports firearms, and these shotguns are old and were inexpensive to start.  Most people would just retire the gun for display purposes or buy a new one.

I realize though you might want to keep yours running for a number of reasons.  I actually have several single-shot shotguns similar to yours and I needed a similar part for two of mine a few years ago.

In one case the retention part was not a true spring, it was more of a metal tab which protruded into the hole in the wooden forearm, then fit into the notch in the pin on the underside of the barrel to hold the forearm in place via friction alone.  In this case I was able to bend the metal tab out towards the center of the hole just a tiny bit more so that it placed increased pressure on the barrel pin and thus would keep the forearm in place.

In another case the retention part was a combination of a true metal spring which pushed on a small metal lever which pivoted out into the hole.  In this case the spring had lost some of it's strength and needed to be replaced, however I was not able to find a spring of the correct size, material, and tension to function well enough to serve as a replacement.

If you need a true metal spring then you can probably buy several to try from a local hardware store like Lowes or Home Depot.  They have huge horizontal sliding parts bins in the hardware aisle including a decent assortment of metal springs.  If you are lucky enough to find one that is the right diameter and tension then you will most likely have to trim it to the proper length.

A more likely source for the spring is Brownells which sells many gun parts and custom springs.  Search for their web site, phone number, and address on www.google.com and then contact them to see if they have a spring of the same size as yours.

Another alternative would be to visit a local gunsmith and they should be able to make you a new part easily but they might charge more than it is worth to you.

You could also purchase some "J.B. Weld" metal-based adhesive and then fill the hole in the forearm to permanently mount it to the shotgun.  The disadvantage here is that future removal would not be possible but in most cases you don't need to remove the barrel for cleaning and use anyway unless you plan to swap barrels on the same gun.

Hope this helps.

Bob