I have an older HK SBE which I bought in 1997 and has been flawless in performance and it has become my one gun for all the waterfowl and pheasant hunting I do. It is a little worn on the outside and it has seen more shells through it I can count in that time. The last couple years I have a had a small problem when unloading it in colder weather. The gun always shoots and cycles fine. When unloading and I press the cartridge drop lever to release a shell from the magazine sometimes the shell releases and sometimes it does not. It does not always happen, but it happens about 50:50. For a while I thought it may have to do with the shell itself, because it initially happened with a Fiocchi Golden Pheasant shells more often. Now it is happening a bit more often and sometimes the Fiocchis do it and sometimes they don't. Sometimes other shells by Remington or Federal will be the shell not releasing. The order in the magazine does not seem to matter.
If the gun is unloaded and the bolt is closed and I push the cartridge drop lever, the carrier latch always seem to do what it is supposed to do. I have removed the carrier latch and cleaned behind it. I thought that the problem was fixed until it started getting cold again. Has anybody had a similar experience and if so, what are some possible solutions? Thanks for any suggestions.
