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Has anyone had a hook/hinge pin tightened by using a shim, spray weld, or a dovetailed insert? How about some opinions from those of you that have done one or another of these to a Fox hing.

Mike Orlen is reported to do excellent, and reasonable, work using a shim. Dan Lammers here in Phoenix tightened up my 1915 12g Sterly with some TIG welding. You might follow this thread on the same subject
http://doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=18815&page=1#Post18815

Thanks, Rev. I am mostly interested in how long these "fixes" last. That's why I asked for experience. Have you shot your repaired gun a lot?

I have shimmed several guns myself. I use Loctite 638 and appropriate shim material. I have a Fox 12 gauge that I shimmed (.002) some time ago and have shot several hundred rounds through. It is still fine...no apparent wear.

I also have a couple 16 gauge Foxes that are slightly loose at the hinge, with the actions near perfect because I have had them professionally attended to. As these guns wear, and the lever moves left, there is a point (particularly on small gauge Foxes) where the bolt holding the lever turrent to the rotary locking bolt begins to touch the frame. The lever was at center on these two guns, yet the bolt touched the frame. Obviously, that's the end of the ability of the bolt to take up further slack. What happened here was that although the bolt seemed to be doing its job, it was beginning to lose its grip. When the rotary bolt is replaced (or possibly metal added to the extension) the barrels come back on face slightly, pulling off the hinge. The barrels may not even look obviously off the face to begin with.

One of my Fox 16's is definitely loose at the hinge, but I couldn't even use a .0001 shim with the retaining fluid to keep it in position (Too thick). That's why I didn't shim it.

The other is at a gunsmith, who is tightening the action. I suspect it will be off the pin when he is done with that operation, and he proposes to dovetail in metal to take up the slack. I will let him do that rather than shim or spray, since I have seen another gun treated the same way with good results.

Sterlingworths I have handled almost always need some work on the pin or rhe bolt...even when they don't appear off the face, and have a lever to the right.

Most people put attention to cosmetics and chokes and just shoot the guns anyway. Maybe that's not a bad idea, since it's cheaper, and it may take a long time for one to truly fail! Mike