Mine is from 1968 and I’ve had no problems with it. Good luck with yours.
44 Carbine Questiions
1 - 9 of 9 Posts
For some reason, I never saw your original post.
My .44 Carbine is from '63.
I picked it up used (of course) and so I have no idea how many rounds have been fired.
I've had it going on 20yrs now and about 3 yrs ago, I was shooting it and it began to stop feeding, turned out to be the front tang.
I have no idea why it chose to break and honestly, I wasn't even aware of the issue until after the fact.
No replacement parts are available, at least I have never been able to find one.
In my case, I could not even find the broken piece of the tang. It's only like 1/4" x 1/8"
I have no idea if some rifle years are worse than others. When I read about the issue, I never really thought to make a list of the years affected to see if there was a pattern.
I often wonder if it's my fault that it broke.
If I assembled something wrong after cleaning, or it was something else I did that caused it to break. Been kicking myself since that day.
Honestly, I kind of think it's just a weak spot that is waiting to happen.
As you know, the older models have a tube magazine which is held in place by the trigger guard. When the tang breaks, the front of the trigger housing to drops slightly which causes a mis-alignment. Causing feeding issues.
I have not been able to locate a trigger housing or a gunsmith that could offer any ideas how to fix the trigger guard.
My WECSOG fix:
I was sitting there pushing up on the front of the trigger housing and watching it drop when I took my thumb away, about the cry over the damage to my carbine,
when I realized that I just needed a way to keep it raised.
The saw that the front bottom of the trigger housing is flat and sits inside the stock.
I ended up gluing a small piece of a popsicle stick (about 1/2" x 1/4") inside the bottom of the stock under the flat part and viola, when assembled, the trigger housing is in alignment and I have shot hundreds of round since that time without a hiccup.
Photo of trigger housing with broken tang:
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Popsicle stick fix:
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My .44 Carbine is from '63.
I picked it up used (of course) and so I have no idea how many rounds have been fired.
I've had it going on 20yrs now and about 3 yrs ago, I was shooting it and it began to stop feeding, turned out to be the front tang.
I have no idea why it chose to break and honestly, I wasn't even aware of the issue until after the fact.
No replacement parts are available, at least I have never been able to find one.
In my case, I could not even find the broken piece of the tang. It's only like 1/4" x 1/8"
I have no idea if some rifle years are worse than others. When I read about the issue, I never really thought to make a list of the years affected to see if there was a pattern.
I often wonder if it's my fault that it broke.
If I assembled something wrong after cleaning, or it was something else I did that caused it to break. Been kicking myself since that day.
Honestly, I kind of think it's just a weak spot that is waiting to happen.
As you know, the older models have a tube magazine which is held in place by the trigger guard. When the tang breaks, the front of the trigger housing to drops slightly which causes a mis-alignment. Causing feeding issues.
I have not been able to locate a trigger housing or a gunsmith that could offer any ideas how to fix the trigger guard.
My WECSOG fix:
I was sitting there pushing up on the front of the trigger housing and watching it drop when I took my thumb away, about the cry over the damage to my carbine,
when I realized that I just needed a way to keep it raised.
The saw that the front bottom of the trigger housing is flat and sits inside the stock.
I ended up gluing a small piece of a popsicle stick (about 1/2" x 1/4") inside the bottom of the stock under the flat part and viola, when assembled, the trigger housing is in alignment and I have shot hundreds of round since that time without a hiccup.
Photo of trigger housing with broken tang:
Popsicle stick fix:
Bought the gun with original, broken stock and a blank of unknown origin that someone tried to make fit.
Original and finished replacement - note that it's a bit thicker too.
All the bedding material is JB Weld and the receiver block is bedded also to prevent future splitting as on the original stock.
If you look close, you'll see a raised portion that supports the front of the trigger housing. Pretty much what you did with the popsicle stick. Hopefully this will be preventative to ward off a future repair.
Overall view of my completed 1965 RS carbine. Stock finish is 6 coats of hand rubbed boiled linseed oil topped by 6 very thin coats of polyurethane. Entire interior of stock is covered in clear epoxy to prevent moisture absorption. A collector wouldn't want it because of the replacement stock but, that's OK, as it isn't for sale. 😄
1 - 9 of 9 Posts
