Trouble with Stevens 520-30

[bigskybound]

Local shop has a late war (69000 range) Stevens 520-30 trench gun. I was looking it over and could not get it apart. I have taken down numerous 520 model guns wiith no issues. With this one, the slide bar will not come forward far enough to clear the receiver. Any thoughts? Bent?

[emmagee1917]

Rack back , set safety , unscrew plate by turning mag , unscrew till clear of reciever , push bbl assmly down slightly , run slide forward , finish removal.
A bent slide will mess things up. A worn plate can allow a slide to release from the bolt , I would think a dented one might keep it from unhooking. Also heard of a few that needed the shell lifter pushed in slightly to release things .
Chris

[bigskybound]

Still no dice. The problem seems to be that the barrel lug or slide bar binds up on something in the receiver before it can be pushed far enough down for the bar to align with slotfor removal. I have a JC Higgins 102.25 (commercial 520-30) that comes apart fine. The Higgins slides down without a hitch and slides forward flawlessly. With the trench gun when about 1/8" of the lug clears bottom of the receiver, I can feel it catch. Since there is nothing in the receiver mortice to catch on, I am thinking the slide is binding on something. Dealer is not a smith, so is hesitant to work on it or have me work on it. The price is good, but I need to know it a) matches and b) functions properly. If it matches, it would be worth paying a smith. If not, I spend too much. Any other advice on what he problem may be and how to fix it?

[joem]

If the price is right (cheap enough) it might be OK to buy it and look to repair later. Point the problems out to the owner and if you can make a dea.l

[bigskybound]

If it does not match, then price is too high according to comments in this forum on the subject.