Franchi question

[270man]

Need advice on an older model Franchi semi-auto 20-ga shotgun. I inherited this one and it was purchased new sometime prior to 1970 (maybe even a short time before 1960). It is lightweight at less than 6-pounds and handles very well. My 11-year-old grandson shot it well from the beginning, so I've promised it to him.

Trouble is, it functions sometimes and not others. The first thing may be inherent in the design (recoil-operated action). You have to manually load a shell into the chamber, close the bolt then put 2 rounds (with plug) into the magazine. If you just load the magazine and pull the bolt back, nothing happens. The bolt stays open and the shells remain in the magazine. Is this the way Franchi's are supposed to work?

I can live with the above problem but the Franchi also jams on me occasionally. Sometimes a live round will fire but not eject. At other times, the shell ejects but another one doesn't load from the magazine. The bolt remains open as if the last round had been fired.

Soon after I got the Franchi, I had some problems and took it to a gunsmith. He told me that he made a slight adjustment (didn't say what) and it worked okay for a while after that. Now I'm having problems again.

Any advice or comments would be appreciated.

270man