The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - JC Higgins Model 20 (High Standard Flite-King)

jmstr · March 30, 2020, 08:05 PM

Next time you are at the range, please give it a try and confirm it fires.

I know the hammer will follow. I actually read a brochure where the JC Higgins 20 was listed as having a safety feature that allowed the hammer to follow without firing the round accidentally [I think this was an obvious comparison to the Winchester Model 12]. that ad was from the 1950s.

With a properly working Model 12, if you dry fire it and hold the trigger back, rack the slide back [hammer cocks] and slowly push the action bar forward, the hammer stays back until the bolt pops into battery in the receiver, and then the hammer falls- to safely fire the next round.

On my JC Higgins Model 20, when I do the same drill, the hammer is obviously pressing on the back bottom edge of the bolt as I am sliding the bolt forward. By the time the bolt is in battery, all of the hammer's force has been used up and then it can depress the firing pin- but it doesn't strike it- it just compresses it.

This means that fast pumping the slide [with trigger held down] leads to no bang on the next pump, and then I have to take trigger finger off trigger and pump the live round out to clear it and load another [and cock the hammer].

If you are simply using a snap cap to see if the hammer resets, then the JC Higgins Model 20 will not reset, and it may make you think it will fire.

However, only an attempt at the range can prove it one way or the other.

Check it out and let me know what you discover later on.

March 30, 2020, 08:05 PM	#11
jmstr Senior Member Join Date: February 24, 2001 Location: San Joaquin Valley, CA Posts: 1,281	Next time you are at the range, please give it a try and confirm it fires. I know the hammer will follow. I actually read a brochure where the JC Higgins 20 was listed as having a safety feature that allowed the hammer to follow without firing the round accidentally [I think this was an obvious comparison to the Winchester Model 12]. that ad was from the 1950s. With a properly working Model 12, if you dry fire it and hold the trigger back, rack the slide back [hammer cocks] and slowly push the action bar forward, the hammer stays back until the bolt pops into battery in the receiver, and then the hammer falls- to safely fire the next round. On my JC Higgins Model 20, when I do the same drill, the hammer is obviously pressing on the back bottom edge of the bolt as I am sliding the bolt forward. By the time the bolt is in battery, all of the hammer's force has been used up and then it can depress the firing pin- but it doesn't strike it- it just compresses it. This means that fast pumping the slide [with trigger held down] leads to no bang on the next pump, and then I have to take trigger finger off trigger and pump the live round out to clear it and load another [and cock the hammer]. If you are simply using a snap cap to see if the hammer resets, then the JC Higgins Model 20 will not reset, and it may make you think it will fire. However, only an attempt at the range can prove it one way or the other. Check it out and let me know what you discover later on.