Stevens 520-30 Trench Shotgun

I recently acquired this and knew it was not functioning 100%. If I pump it 10 times, the bolt only engages maybe 8 times, also the Operating Handle has a lot of "twist" to it. Can nayone offer any advice please?

I've never had the opportunity to own the trench guns but I have had several different riot types and the reason I don't bother with them now is the parts availability. The one you have sounds like there's a minor mechanical failure but which part will be hard to say without seeing it and troubleshooting. There's a lock bar on the left side of the bolt that may not be engaging due to wear or the spring involved may be out of place or broken. I have seen the spring bent out of shape, I guess by overzealous strip and assembly. Maybe had a hard time putting it together and was just glad to be done. The twist in the pump handle, is that the bar or what? That could be part of the problem too!

..my trech had the same problem. My ex-gunsmith friend tweeked the bar in some , I think. It's an easy and quick fix requiring no parts , but I'd have to ask him when I see him again exactly what he did.
Chris

When I say "twist", you can turn the pump handle (& bar) about a 1/8 of a turn as if it is loose. I see a bar for sale on GunBroker, but the end on mine looks a bit different. Unfortunately my gunsmith is not a shotgun guy.

Old 12Ga. Stevens-Savage Operating Handle Bar : Other at GunBroker.com


I have an original WW2 Shotgun Manual, but it does not cover troubleshooting.

couplw things, 620, are known to crack at the top in the locking area, look for a small crack in the corner of the lucking lug.
and wear and tear, and someone forcing the gun back together, will make it malfunction,
the forend shown is from an older shotgun, and not a 620.

Hey Ragman,
You're going to run into the same problem I have in the past. And that is that there are a few variations of the "520". And the kicker is that the parts don't interchange for the most part. The "520" is an older civilian shotgun with a squared receiver that has an extra hump to it. If I am not mistaken the receiver is more elongated than that of the 520-30. There is also the 520A. To be honest, I'm not sure what the difference between this one and the 520-30 are. It may simply be the designation between the military versions and their civilian counter parts. Just guessing there. And of course, Stevens/Savage is terrible regarding records of anything so they aren't much help. I bought some parts off of a guy on GB to finish my military receiver only to discover that they were 520 parts, not 520-30. :banghead: The trigger housing was completely incompatible as well as the rest of the parts. Lesson learned. So be very careful when looking for replacement parts. Anything from the front of the receiver forward on a 620 can be used on a 520-30. But I do not know about the receiver internals. Good luck and hope this was of help!

Any reply is a help!! This is marked 520-30, has the info behind the heat shield, not under it, also has then "US", Ordnance Bomb and a "P", serial number 516XX. It shoots fine, but as i said 2 out of 10 times the rod isn't connected, you wiggle the handle and it engages and away you go again. Thanks again for your reply.

Yes, the bar jiggles around..........

---------- Post added at 08:17 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:14 PM ----------

You jiggle the pump handle and you can see the bar flopping around inside the receiver..........

Wear and tear on parts... this one probably saw it's share of work. Just make sure the replacement parts are for that very model.

Thanks Jim, all I have to do now is determine which parts and where to find them. Would like to replace almost everything in case I take a camping trip on the southern border and it gets a lot more use !! Bob's Gun Shop in Royal, Arkansas has a few things and that is about the only place I have found.

I'll bet if you place a WTB on this forum, you'll glean some parts. I understand the idea of taking this for some possible close up work. If it was me I might take something a bit newer and let this one stay at home. But that's because I built an 870 Mk1 clone for those type of days.

I have now discovered that my heat shield (4 rows of holes) and bayonet lug are for a post-1942 Winchester Model 12. What are the chances of finding a "pink" Stevens one?

...ran into my gunsmith friend. On mine he replaced the nut block at the back of the mag tube , the one with the two square blocks on the flange and the groove for the arm to set into. The groove was worn enpough to allow the arm to flex/twist out enough to unlatch from the bolt. After replacing that , I had no more problems. Numrich has them , 967500A. HTH.
Chris

Xxxxx