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Fabarm h368 XLR semi recoil spring failure
Hi team,
Since opening day of last season I have been battling with an issue with my Fabarm h368 XLR.
I noticed towards the latter half of opening day last season that the other guys in the blinds where getting off 5 shots for every 2-3 of mine....I'm a bit careful so at first I didn't think much of it, till I tried to dump a mag into a group of geese that dropped into our mallard spread an I really noticed my beloved fabarm was cycling significantly slower than even the stoeger in the blind next to me....:psychotic:
Towards the end of th day it got worse and worse and I experienced a couple of fail to rechamber the next round:pissed off:
Back at home during debrief with the lads I showed them all what I was experiencing and I pulled the bolt back then released it only to have it slide slowly back into battery like the action was gummed up with honey :o
Under supervision I stripped my shotty right down removing the trigger mechanism and all expecting to see an action fouled up with so much carbon it would cause the afore mentioned issue. I was adamant that I was aware that gas guns need more regular cleaning and that I had cleaned and lubed it prior to the days shooting.....my fellow water foulers where sceptical in fact I'm sure the phrase "filthy gas gun shooter probably hasn't cleaned his gun properly" uttered more than once.
Well proof was in the pudding when I had completely stripped the shotty inside it was spotless......a lot of head scratching then accusations of over lubing.
We cleaned the whole lot wit brake clean then lubed it up with some fancy pance berretta lube that is reccomended for their a400 extrema.
The action seemed better but not like any of the inertia guns that were present.... anyway I persevered with it cleaning and re lubing it every single outing no matter if it had fired 10 rounds or 100. It still wasn't right.... I reached out to a few folks I knew who also owned Fabarms but everyone I spoke to had never had an issue, I was really starting to fall out of love with my beautiful Fabarm, I even contemplated trading it in on a Stoeger :wtfsmilie:
Finally I surrendered and spoke to Zach at North Canterbury gunsmithing and he told me to bring it in he was sure he could sort it.
Well duck Season was a little over a month away I was sceptical but have used Zach a few times and built a good rapport with him.
A week later I got a message from Zach "your recoil spring has failed its supposed to be 11" or 12" inches when not under tension and yours is about 8 inches"
Great news we have the culprit....next problem finding a replacement with 1 month till opening weekend....
With all the shit going on with Covid and Ukrain etc etc I was not hopeful.
Zach contacted a local engineering firm to see what it would cost to have a replacement spring made to spec..... $150 and would only make minimum of 2 to be worth while setting up....
Whilst that was going on Zach contacted NZ Fabarm rep and found a replacement spring in Auckland :D
Took nearly 3 weeks to arrive but I finally have my Fabarm back and she slams shut with all the authority of a rat trap now :pacman:
Apparently it's a known issue with some Fabarms but I'd never heard of it nor could I find much about it online.
So if ya Fabarm starts to slow down get ya recoil spring replaced it's cheap as and will return your shotty back to its former glory.
All set for opening weekend lads not long to go now :redbullsmiley:
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I'll upload a quick vid showing before and after in a minute it's currently uploading to youtube....
