Set triggers with no half cock notch.

[bowkill]

This is a pretty old gun. The lock has no half cock position. You must take a little pressure off the lock by pulling the trigger very slightly or setting trigger to get gun to cock. Very hard to carry gun safely like that with hammer on cap. Don't really know what to do about it never run across one like that unless it had something wrong with it.






upload photo on net

[rich pierce]

ive seen that setup and never understood it outside of a target rifle. 

[smylee grouch]

I have one like that, no half cock with set triggers. I always carried it un caped and only capped it when I saw a deer approaching. I got three deer with it over the years but quit using it because it had a 1&3/16 Remington barrel in 45 cal. It was a 14# gun but shot real good as I had Jim Goodoien fresh it out for me.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

The lock is what it is.  I'd leave it alone, and keep the rifle as an example of the history it represents.  There's lots of guns...do you really need to use this one?

[sqrldog]

Many of the old mtn rifles had single lever set triggers and no fly or half cock notch on the tumbler. In early contemporary rifles single lever set triggers were used. I had a Don King  Armstrong in my shop a couple of years back it had a single lever set trigger in it. It is possible to adjust a single lever trigger so the rifle can be cocked without setting the trigger. It is feasable to carry the rifle cocked w/o a cap and cap when you intend to shoot. In my opinion a half cock notch is a convenience but certainly not a reliable safety as I have repaired locks where a strong set trigger spring broke the notch.  Tim

[Mike Brooks]

I got a box full of old locks set up just like that. Must have been the norm in the later caplock period.

[Dennis Glazener]

Having missed two deer by them being spooked by me cocking my flint rifle, I made a hammer stall. Its a piece of leather folded and sewn so it fits the frizzen so the flint can not spark the frizzen. I cock my gun slip the hammer stall on the frizzen and when ready to fire I remove the stall, theory is good if I can just get another shot at a buck to test the theory

Where I hunt the woods are thick, so most shots are less than 35 yards. I can tell you for a fact that a deer can move quicker than a 54 cal ball can be fired out of a 38 inch flintlock barrel I know I WAS right on both deer when I pulled the trigger, both clean misses at about 30 yards!
Dennis

[DFHicks]

In the mid-70's I became acquainted with an old man who was originally from the Blue Ridge Mountains along the VA-N. C. line.  He had many interesting stories to tell of that time and place.  In his boyhood muzzle loading rifles were still commonly used.  He said that the first thing a fellow would do after getting a ML rifle was to break out the half cock notch.  No doubt they took the necessary safety precautions when using these rifles.
Greg

[bowkill]

Its a 40 cal made around the 50s or 60s and one super shooter.  I don't own guns that can't be shot.. Guess I will hunt alone and be careful..Lol Actually if you think about it if you cock gun and put a little pressure on trigger it will be cocked but trigger ain't set. Gun won't fire if you pull front trigger and trigger is not set. I don't like system of it at all but it is what it is..

[Ky-Flinter]

The tumbler looks like it has the start of, or maybe the remnants of, a half-cock notch.  Certainly not enough to hold at half bent, but there's a very small notch there.  Looks like it could interrupt the hammer fall.

-Ron

[bowkill]

In the process of building a house and new shop, when i get both done going to give that lock a good working over and polishing... internals only of course...

[smokinbuck]

I have several rifles with no 1/2 cock notch. I cut a soft piece of leather about the size of a nickel and attach it to the trigger guard with a string. Cap the nipple, put the leather disk on the cap and let the hammer down on the leather. Protects the cap from the weather and acts as a safety.
Mark

[bowkill]

Thanks mark that is a suggestion I was looking for...

[Levy]

A small caliber cartridge case over the capped nipple might work too as long as it doesn't remove the cap when you pull it off to fire.  If one gets mashed out of shape, just replace it with another.  Who knows, it might even be PC for middle to late 1800s.      James Levy

[Adrie luke]

I can not  see the firing position
But is it not possible to file the half cock?? for safety.

[bowkill]

Yea you could, but it would catch everytime you pulled the trigger without a fly in it to bypass the notch.

[Hungry Horse]

Of the four antique longrifles I own, two of them have locks with no half cock. Obviously this was not a big issue back in the day. The fanciest gun in my little collection has silver inlays, double cheekpieces, and no half cock in the lock. Most of these guns have single phase double triggers. All these guns are original percussion ignition.

  Hungry Horse

[Bob Roller]

I can not  see the firing position
But is it not possible to file the half cock?? for safety.

That type of lock presents its own problems. Probably never intended for set
triggers.I have made a lot of set triggers but prefer a good lock with a single
trigger like my Whitworth/Henry had.I had an original LH Goulcher that was
never on a rifle and the full cock position was a good safety and it had no
bearing thru the bridle either.
The only "Hawken"type I ever made was 50 years ago and it had the long bar
double lever triggers and a lock with two position tumbler and "fly" and I
made sure the lock could be cocked and fired with the front trigger only or
with the set trigger and the lock was able to be brought to half or full cock
without having to set the trigger.I think a lot of people trying to make a rifle
buy a lot of mismatched.semi useable parts and have no idea what a good
steel ruler of 6 or 12 inch length is used for.The results are predictable.

Bob Roller

[Pennsylvania Dutchman]

I'm not seeing a tumbler axle thru the bridle. Is the bridle just holding the tumbler flat against the plate, or is there a stud on the inside of the bridle for an axle?
Mark

[bowkill]

Good question,  i will look and take a picture..