I picked up a Maverick for a buddie of mine yesterday. After I got home, I noticed that I can hear a spring moving up and down the “shell chamber” (sorry not sure of proper terminology), as I tilt the gun.
Is the spring supposed to move freely?
If you are talking about the magazine. (The tube under the barrell that you push the shells in) It is probably the plug. It is a wooden dowel that is basically loose in the magazine. Can you put more than 2 shells in the magazine? As long as you aren’t going to be using it to hunt migratory birds, take it out. You should be able to unscrew the cap on the end of the mag tube and slide the barrel off the receiver and take out the plug then reverse it and put it all back together.
Yes, the magazine - sorry as I see how bad “chamber” looks in that usage. A wooden dowel huh? It sure sounds like a spring, but I’ll take your word for it. I haven’t bought shells yet so I can’t comment on loading it. It doesn’t look too easy to remove the end of the magazine on the Maverick. I’ll leave it as is if it’s not going to effect functionality. Thanks!
If it is a plug then it is certainly going to effect functionality by preventing you from loading more than two rounds into the magazine.
You should be able to remove the barrel by simply opening the action(it’s been a while and I don’t remember if you open it all the way or only halfway) and unscrewing the screw at the end of the magazine tube, which will allow you to remove the barrel. The plug should come right out through the hole.
If it isn’t the plug, it may be the result of a broken magazine spring, which would actually be a much worse problem.
Well, the cheapo Maverick barrel is a little different. It doesn’t have a cap that screws on, it has a screw that threads into the magazine. The barrel is already off, but I don’t have a clue how to get the threaded insert out of the magazine. I don’t want to try to yank it out and scar up the gun where I can’t take it back. Perhaps I’ll just go back and swap it out to be on the safe side.
That’s what a Mossberg 500 has too. If it is the factory plug, it’ll fit through the hole in the end of the magazine that the screw screws into. You may have to shake it a little to get it to drop out but the magazine tube doesn’t come off.
Joker’s got it. The factory plug will probably have a rubber O-ring on it to keep it from falling out.
Take the barrel off, point the shotgun down, and shake it a little. the end of the plug should come through the hole in the end of the mag tube.
It sounds like a spring because that plug is banging around inside the coils of the spring, making a spring like sound.
Thanks everyone - it was the plug and came out easily following your directions. I appreciate the help!