Hands on HELP! Rem 11-87 Trouble with Re-Assembly

[bruss01]

Well it's pretty rare I take something apart and can't get it back together, but this 11-87 has me stumped.

I've got the manual, and I actually bought a video thinking it would show the details. I've disassembled and reassembled my Mossberg 590 many times and I don't typically have any problem doing so.

But this 11-87 has me at a standstill.

I got the bolt back in, and the barrel on, but the gun won't cycle. I'm sure I've done something wrong with the way I've got the bolt in there... but I'm not sure what. The manual and the video seem to gloss over this part... or I'm simply not catching some subtlety of how they're doing that particular operation.

I could really use some advice to make it clearer, or even better, a few minutes of someone's time, hands-on, in the Sacramento area, to show me what I've got wrong.

Any tips appreciated.

[ucsdryder]

YouTube

[bruss01]

Been there, done that...

It looks like the guy just slipped the bolt back in the receiver, put the barrel and other stuff back on, and it works. From what they're showing (that I can see) there doesn't seem to be a "wrong" way to do it.

My bolt is back in, the barrel is on... and everything's locked up tight as a drum.

[bruss01]

I now have the barrel off again looking at things.

The bolt itself has about 1/2-3/4" of play where it easily slides back and forth. The charging handle is completely immobile like it is welded in place - the bolt slides back and forth on it.

I am looking behind the bolt, it appears there is something there, down low... that is holding up the works. I can't pull the charging handle out of the bolt.


ETA: CORRECTION! I have got the charging handle removed from the bolt. I had to slide the bolt around a lot to get it to come loose, finally I seemed to hit the random place where it let go.

Bolt still doesn't want to come out of the receiver though.

ETA 2: Ok, have the bolt out now... forgot how I did that before. NOW.... let's try this again!

[bruss01]

Still having trouble putting the bolt back... it seems to not want to go in...

Grrrrr !!

DRIVING ME NUTS!!!!

The bolt slide in... just far enough for the barrel to be placed on. But something is preventing it from being pulled back further, such as when the gun is cycled.

It doesn't look hard like this in the video... in the video it just slides right in....

Going BONKERS trying to work this out. Manual is NO HELP AT ALL. Or I'm just dense as a post and not "getting it".

[ysr_racer]

There's a little detent on the side you has to press in to put the bolt back in.

Make sure the part that fits into the spring tube is in the right place.

[bruss01]

There's a little detent on the side you has to press in to put the bolt back in.

Make sure the part that fits into the spring tube is in the right place.

Right, I got that, I am pressing it in and can get past that part with some dilligence.

The thing that seems to be holding me up now is there is a shiny part that looks like a pair of tweezers with a T-handle on top. Here's what my shotgun is doing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUhSo9hZlJ8

I'm trying to figure out what to do with the T-tweezers. The manual isn't very helpful in this regard. It's like they wrote it for someone who's done it many times, and just needs a prompt to remember which ORDER the steps go in. Not helpful if you're delving into it the first time.

[ysr_racer]

Yep, that's the part I was talking about. It fits into the spring tube.

[bruss01]

Ok, I think I got it.

It looks like the little t-tweezers thing has to be in EXACTLY the right position in order for this to go back together right. Which is understandable... except that there are 100 different ways for it to go in there, the instructions only show a line drawing in profile, and no appreciable detail in the text. Oh, and it can fall out of it's precise little place while you're wrestling the bolt around, trying to get it in.

Now the bolt can be cycled. That's a relief. I've still got to replace an O-ring. Hopefully that'll be the last I have to futz with it for a while.

[BigDogatPlay]

Just seeing this thread, and sorry you were having such frustration.

The part that looks like tweezers is called the link. As you've discovered it fits on the back of the bolt carrier and the pinched end has to fit inside the mainspring tube which goes back into the stock. This is what the bolt recoils against when the gun fires and the gas system does it's job. If one of both of the ends of the link are not properly put into the mainspring tube, the gun will do exactly what you experienced.... nothing.

Once you've done it a time or two, it won't be so frustrating. The good thing is you probably only need to take the gun down to that level only once every five or ten thousand rounds, or unless the gun gets wet.

O-rings... keep several on hand. They have a tendency to break when you least expect them to. You can order them in quantity from Midway or Brownell's. Just in case you haven't been told, run the mag tube and the gas system dry... little to no lube. If it's run even slightly wet it'll just attract that much more fouling quicker.

[ysr_racer]

See, and I used to run mine wet. It made it easier to clean.