Lock stopping at half cock???!!!

[LehighBrad]

I just recently put my lock back together after inletting it into my stock. My trigger plate, trigger, tang bolt, and side plate are all now inletted nicely. Then a problem arose.... I bolted my lock onto the stock and snugged up my lock bolts and when I pulled the hammer to full cock and squeezed the trigger my hammer only fell to the half cock position and NOT all the way down to engage the frizzen!! I shortened my top lock bolt so I know that isn't interfearing with the hammer and I sooted up all the lock's internals many times as I was inletting it, so I know there isn't any wood clearance issues anywhere as far as I can tell. I took the lock off the stock and as I held it in my hand I pulled it to full cock position and pushed up the sear and more often than not the hammer will STILL only fall to the half cock position!! A few times it did fall all the way, but even stopping once at half cock is too many times!! Could there be something catty-whompis with my tumbler or fly??? Everything looks fine...but obviously isn't. 

   LehighBrad

[smylee grouch]

That has happened to me befor too and I think I might have had the bridle screwed down to tight or some greese in lock as the fly would sometimes not fall as the sear went by.

[Dave B]

Brad,
Whos lock are you using? One type of lock has a fly that is placed over a stud and can be place in back wards which can cause  it to stop  the fall of the hammer. Just flip it around and it will work fine. I had this happen with a lock of mine. I think it was an L&R lock.

[JDK]

Me too....same thing....bridle too tight.  J.D.

[smallpatch]

Could also be some wood in the bottom of the inlet, keeping the sear from fully clearing the tumbler.

[LehighBrad]

I'm using a brass plated large left handed Siler lock from Jim Chambers. I didn't realize that the bridle could be tightened too much. I'm heading down to my work bench and loosening the bridle a bit to see if that takes care of the problem. I did tighten the bridle down pretty good! I thought they needed to be good and tight. I'll let ya's know how it turns out. Thanks guys!!:-)

[LehighBrad]

Well....unfortunatly loosening the bridle didn't work. The hammer still  only falls to half cock MOST of the time.....every 5th or 6th try it'll snap all the way down. Either bolted in the stock or holding it by hand. I also made sure the fly wasn't gunked up or sticking in any way....it isn't...it floats freely in the tumbler. Now I'm officially confused. I also used a few drops of light gun oil on the moving parts hoping that would help...it didn't. I have a large Siler percussion lock in my gun cabinet.....would possibly swapping the tumbler and fly from that lock and putting it in the flint lock be worth trying??

[BJH]

You have a bind some where. Possibly on the rounded part of the sear, the sear arm at the bottom of the sear arm hole. Or even some thing over tightened. If not a over tightning issue, then it is a clearence isue. Usually I am betting on a parts clearence issue between the sear and the stock mortice. Just the smallest bit of intefearence will stop you dead. BJH

[bob in the woods]

I have had the same thing occur, and now, if I can't readily find the cause, I just take the fly out. Most of my guns are single triggers, so don't really need it. I have a bunch of them in a cap box !   If you don't have set triggers, try taking the fly out. I'll bet that will do the trick  for you.

[LehighBrad]

It's 5:10 a.m. and I'm soon off to work.....But I'll try the fly removal once. I'm only using a single trigger too so hopefully tonight after work, that'll do the trick. I didn't realize you can "make do" without having the fly in the tumbler on a single trigger set up. Thanks......Brad

[JDK]

Just don't go digging around in your lock mortise until the lock is cured.  Obviously not an inletting issue at this point as you say it has the same issue in and out of the gun.

Can somebody comment on how stiff these locks are with the brass plate?  Could the plate have been tweaked and causing a binding on the tumbler?  J.D.

[Captchee]

Important !!!
first off before i went and left the fly out , i would  give Jim Chambers a call . he will tell you what to do .
 Some tumblers have the  half cock geometry on an outside  plain of the full cock . The fly  lifts the sear nose over this  difference.  In such cases , removing the fly  will then cause the sear nose to slam full into the ½ cock   and possibly break the sear .
  Im saying this from experience and  while sitting here looking at one of  Buds original locks .
 On the at lock , the ½ cock is  outside the plain of the  full cock .
 With a light trigger pull , the sear will  NOT clear the ½ cock ,without the fly in place
Call Jim  first


 now a question .  when you checked your inletting , did you remember to check  the depth of your sear hole to insure that  the end of the sear bar , was NOT bottoming out ?
 if not , then when you tightened your lock down you may have  distorted the sear  enough that  it  is rubbing on the lock plate  and thus not getting full easy travel..
  you also say that  the lock is now catching  at 1/2 , even when out of the stock .

 first thing i would do is  check where its catching . is it  actually in the 1/2 cock notch or is it catching the fly . . My bet is that your catching the fly  and not the  ½ cock notch . if your fly is working properly  it should drop and completely cover the 1/2 cock  when you  pull the cock to full .
As such e ven a small burr on the fly is enough to catch the sear .
So check where the sear is truly catching . Then give Jim a call . He wont Bite .
  Well LOL , if you continue to slam the sear into the ½ cock , he just might LOL

[Swampwalker]

Brad - take the assembled lock, and remove the mainspring, but leave the sear spring.  Cycle the lock slowly.  When cocking the lock, the sear should pop into the half-cock notch, pushing the fly rear-ward out of the way.  Bring it to full cock, the sear should climb over the fly and drop into the full-cock notch.  Pull the sear while pushing forward on the cock - the sear should be forced to to climb up the fly and over the half-cock notch.  If the fly is too short, the sear can fall into the half-cock notch, which may be the problem.  Cycling the lock without the mainspring should give you a beter idea of what's going on.  You may still have to call Jim to resolve or to get a replacement part.  Hope this helps!

[Blackpowder Barbie]

I think it is your fly hole in your tumbler.  It is probably slightly too big allowing the fly to work it's way out of position and then block the sear movement.  Check it when you get a chance and if that is the case, just send us that tumbler back and I'll get you a new one right out!   

[LehighBrad]

She's sparkin' now!!! Just recieved a new tumbler and fly from Jim C. I just re-assembled the lock and she's functioning great!! The original tumbler had a small chip at the half cock area and the fly had a teeny tiny burr kicked up on it because of the chipped area...I'm assuming. You could actually see a small mark on the inside of the bridle from the chipped piece that broke off the tumbler. Anyhoo.....the new tumbler is in, the lock works great in or out of its mortise, and I'm like a cow in tall grass......utterly tickled! Thanks all you guys for the advice....and to Jim Chambers!!! Now it's time to tackle the butt plate.

[LehighBrad]

Thank you too Barbie.....as you probably already read....the lock works perfect now!!