Model 24S not staying locked "fully" - - - - SOLVED!!!!

No numbers to match on the barrel but I do know that it was functioning perfectly before the owner took it apart for cleaning and now has this. I see nothing wrong anywhere. It snaps shut like it should but then you can pull on the barrel and get the gap. Since everything is pinned and there are no adjustments to anything, I don't see how it can happen but I am not very familiar with the 24 and hoping someone here has seen this before.

Getting ready to tear it apart and see if there is anything that can be put in upside down or reversed that may cause it but nothing comes to mind that would.

I had a 24 S-E that did this. It cause misfiring in both barrels and I spent 8 years on it, and developed a "temporary but repeated solution" before I sold it. I would get ~1/2 the gap you get. I took it apart and put it back together 1000 times. I bought a sack of relevant parts and swapped them out in multiple configurations. My only relief came via tapping/slightly bending the hook that catches the forearm, back in the direction of the receiver. By bending the hook back, the forearm forced a slightly tighter lock up, closing gap between te barrel and the receiver allowing better fire pin penetration into both the 20 and 22 primer. Of course I was laughed at, scoffed at and given funny looks when I presented this solution to buddies and others but what folks didn't understand was that, that simple solution was the culmination of 8 years of parts, diagrams, gun smiths, $$$, advice etc. I had tried it all. This goofy redneck jerry rigged solution was the ONLY solution. After a few years however, the hook/notch bent back more toward the muzzle and ultimately the 22 resumed with the light strikes. A prudent person would expect this to happen, and after it started misfiring again, I repeated the solution and solved the problem yet again. I had established a small 24 collection in the mean time and sold it to a guy in MI on a helluva deal, who swore he could get it firing permanently. I never heard from him again. In any case, a you might want to try pulling the forearm off an finding a way to use the firearm to force a tighter lock up. And Don't worry, the people telling you that it's a bush leauge solution aren't the ones fighting your battle and won't be the ones with money tied up in a gun that doesn't fire. One disclaimer, Id Like to make on that is that I was 100% sure the locking bolt and lock up in General was solid and would not come open upon firing!!! You better make sure too. At least not more than the little gap causing the misfiring issue. Please let me know if you fix your gun or don't. I spent so much time, effort and a little too much $ on this same exact issue to not share my simple solution and take an interest. Hope something works out for you and I hope you'll report back on it.
Mike

deadeye, when you say there is "play" in the gun when it is locked up do you mean that the barrels can be physically moved back and forth when the gun is locked up? I do not know if it is an optical illusion or not, but when the gun is locked up is the top of the barrel even with the top of the receiver? In your picture it looks like the top of the 22 barrel is higher than the top of the receiver. This would mean that the barrels are not seating properly in the receiver. These two components should be even with one another when the gun is locked up closed. As leaf suggests did the previous owner put the gun back together correctly? How far did he go in the disassembly process? The barrels should close tightly on the receiver even without the forearm in place with little if any head space between the barrels and the receiver. The forearm should only be putting sufficient tension on the barrel bites and the receiver lug to prevent the barrel bits from slipping out of the receiver lug when the gun is opened.

deadeye - has this gun been previously fired with reloads that were possibly overloads? With plastic cases you need to use plastic wads, primers, loads, and powder weight that are specific for that particular plastic case. If a hotter primer and the wrong size plastic wads are used even with the correct load and power weight an overload (over pressure condition) can occur. The gun will not blow up, as it is designed to take a certain amount of over pressure but the overload would stretch the fit up of the barrel bite (barrel lug) and the receiver lug causing head space as you have described. Adding tape, as you have described, on the barrel bite (barrel lug) will compensate for the above described condition.

You can see my previous post on how to disassemble/reassemble the mainspring assembly. This seems to be one of the hardest parts for most people to disassemble/reassemble on the 24. The thread is entitled: Savage24forum.boards.net/thread/591/disassemble-reassemble-main-spring-older 24s

American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) has a detailed disassemble/reassemble DVD for the Savage Model 24. It is found in their Guntech Volume #50. You can purchase the DVD from their website. I have used this DVD and found it very helpful.

good luck

Ohhhh, you've got one of the late-model ones with the break lever in front of the trigger guard?

If so, I am 90% sure that it's the exact same part as they used one the model 9478 single shot shotgun. Numrich probably has the part.