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Opening up the loading port on a Stoeger M3K 3Gun


Huch

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Has anyone opened up the loading port on the Stoeger M3K 3Gun (NOT the M3000) I just got one (love it btw) and was going to open the loading port up even more, but need a bit of advice before I break out the files and Dremel. There is a pin (the pivot point for the bolt release I believe) that sits vertically next to the loading port (see pics). In the regular M3000, the pin is recessed so when you open the loading port you're just grinding on a hole (no big deal).

On the M3K 3Gun, the pin is flush with the bottom of the loading port, so to open it up you'll gave to grind the pin down as well. I would normally be OK with taking a little off the pin, but the retaining wire for the pin is right near the base of the loading port as well, so I'd only be able to take off about .2" max before I hit the wire (no bueno). Is it worth the hassle to remove so little material or should I just take a little off the side without the pin and call it done? It's odd that they would make the effort to move the serial # to facilitate loading port work, but then stick pin in there that makes it impossible. Any help would be appreciated and big thanks in advance!

H

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Im in the same boat. Im definitly going to be opening mine up becasue ive already ran into problems. The side with the pin probably wont be messed with much, but the other side and near the follower need some help. I find that on the first shell in an empty magazine its getting stuck almost every time right on the lip. Sometimes you can force the shell past that spot, sometimes not, and thats a big problem for a blind reload on a course of fire.

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Yup, I have shells hang up there too. I have to get my thumb in there and push the shell down and then it will pop in; annoying to say the least. In addition to just grinding down the non-pin side, I'm also considering grinding down the pin side after the pin (towards the muzzle). I'm guessing it would feel a little weird since the loading port would be straight and then dip down at the end, but it would allow my thumb to get lower and hopefully help with that shell hangup. I'll probably wait a bit though and see if anyone has any better ideas before I turn my loading port into a playground slide.

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That looks great, solid work. I ground mine down too but did a quick and dirty job since I was shooting a match the next morning. Going to clean it up today and take a bit more off the top (above the follower). I didn't take anything off behind the pin, but probably will now. Any way you can post a close up pic of the area around the follower? My shells still get hung up a bit and I want to take more out there, but don't want to accidentally cut the part that holds the keeps the follower from shooting into the loading port. Thanks,

H

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I attempted to take a picture of it but it’s so shiny that it doesn’t work so well. The shelf is gone and the grind goes right to the follower. It’s hard to see in the pic but it’s basically a butter knife edge right to the opening and I used emery cloth to round and smooth that edge. The rim of the shot shell is perfectly flush with the edge (minus the minute curve of the smoothed edge)

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I have a question. What is the purpose of opening the front of the magwell (above the follower)? I opened my port up on my regular M3000 and funneled the front just a little. It seems now that every once in awhile the lip of the crimp will hang up on the rim of the shell in front of it while stuffing them in.

I apologize if I'm running this off topic.

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Not a prob; Ill do my best to explain. My issue with the stock system was twofold really. I’d have the crimp edge of the second shell hitting the ledge between the follower and the factory ramp and jamming up my nice smooth reload and I also had issues with the shell wedging in the magazine tube about half way in.

The wedging issue was mainly because I had a hard time keeping the lifter depressed during the whole reload and removing material from the side of the port allowed me to get the shells in deeper through the stroke of the reload.

Opening the front of the port really isn’t opening so much as modifying the ramp. I removed that shelf the best I could to prevent the hang-up on the crimp of the shell. You have to be careful not to cut too deep into the magazine as to mess up the retention of the follower or too far forward as to weaken the connection of the magazine tube and the receiver. What I really did was change the angle cut that was there to more of a curved ramping that went deeper. Combine these changes with a high polish and the slight funnel cut in the front of the trigger guard and two shells just lay in perfectly and slide right in with the loading hand sweeping across the bottom of the gun and right out of the loading port. The front ramp just lets the hand exit without hanging up on things.

D

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Ditto to what D4 said. I also ground out a small chute above the follower because the second set of shells was hanging up there when I inserted the first 2. The chute channels the second set smoothly over the receiver and keeps them in line. A few other things I did:
Ground out a chute along the trigger guard to help line the shells up as I'm inserting them
Cut 2 coils from the lifter spring so it's easier to depress
Cut 2 coils off the carrier latch extractor spring (that's the thing that keeps the shells in the mag tube and what the shell has to push out of the way to be inserted in the tube, makes the click sound) to make it easier to push the shells past it

I would also caution about cutting too far up in the direction of the mag tube because you'll start cutting into the treads on the tube that hold it into the receiver. You can see in the last one of my pics that a tiny slice of the mag tube started to show through on mine (the screwdriver is pointing to the spot) because I went too far.

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One other thing I'd recommend is the trigger and hammer springs from Taran Tactical (they're listed as benelli springs but they fit perfectly). I think I paid less than $20 for the pair and they dropped my trigger pull from just under 9lbs to 5.5lbs with less creep. HUGE difference.

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I like the pin side!

Going to have to get the springs as well. As far as the grinding into the tube - I think as long as you dont grind the follower keepers away, a little wont hurt as long as you stop when you get there and dont go further. As long as the follower still functions Id be ok with it.

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Yeah I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. The dip at the end on the pin side doesn't feel weird at all, which is what I was worried about.

I'm not too fussed about hitting the mag tube since it's just a tiny slice.

One last thing I did was get the HiViz Competition front sight and that made a big difference. The light pipe is an inch can long so it's much brighter and it comes with a bunch of different size red & green inserts so you can make the dot bigger or smaller (they're held in with a spring so you can reuse them). Plus it comes with an awesome little rotary case to hold them all. $28.95 on Amazon prime. Bomb.

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I've actually never had that problem, so I don't know. The big thing that removing material from the front of the port helped with for me, was that it made it easier to push the shells further into the mag tube. I was having problems quad loading where the last second shell (of both the first and second set) would not go far enough into the tube to be held by the carrier latch extractor. I would insert 2 shells and as soon as the carrier/lifter went back to it's down position, the last shell I had loaded would pop on to it. That meant I couldn't load any more until I cycled the action or fired a round. I would have to stick my thumb in the mag tube with each load to make sure the shells went in far enough to click.

By cutting back the front of the loading port, I can insert shells further without my having to hook my thumb into the mag tube. Here's a pic of where the shells now sit when loaded. You can see that even though it's being retained in the mag tube, if I slid my thumb flat along the loading port all the way up to the top, I'd be able to push the shell even further into the tube than it needs to. That gives me some little leeway so if I'm rushing and my grip on the shells isn't perfect or for some reason I don't slide them all the way to the very top of the loading port, it's still far enough for them to click in to the mag tube.

I know that's not the best explanation but I hope it makes some sense.

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If your mag tube falls out, you've gone too far.

You can stick your finger in the mag tube and feel a little ridge that marks where the tube ends and he receiver begins (it also keeps the follower from shooting into the chamber). Don't go that far.

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The other thing I'd add is to go slow and check your work often to see if you have taken enough off. As they say, you can always s take more off but you can't put it back on if you do too much.

If you've waited this long to do it, you're more patient than I am. I didn't even wait 36 hours after posting my questions before I broke out the power tools. Even the sander on the Dremel was too slow for me so I switched to the cutting wheel (SUPER dumb idea btw, all the time I saved grinding was more than eaten up by the time I had to spend with a hand file to even I out).

If I was able to salvage my aggressive hack job, you should be fine.

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Lol I definitely have a few bald sanding drums as well. The carbide cutters will work too, but if you're not careful they can bite in to the metal and jump around (jump around).

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