I'm stumped....???

[Sharpsman]

My flintlock mechanism is twisting my brain! This photo shows that when the trigger is set and pulled...the cock is not coming all the way forward as it should!

IMG_2430 by Sharps Man, on Flickr

But when I take the lock out of the stock the cock comes full forward as the below photo shows:

IMG_2429 by Sharps Man, on Flickr

This rifle shoots like crazy accurate and wanted to take it on a hunt in December and now....I'm bamboozled as to what's going on! Any help or suggestion would be much obliged!

[smylee grouch]

One thing to check is that the lock bolt isnt too tight thus binding the lock up and make sure the fly is lose and working properly.

[alacran]

Smoke or use inletting black and apply all over the moving parts. Assemble lock on gun, and work the action a few times. Remove lock and see where the is any black in the lock mortise. Remove all black with chisel or gouge. Reassemble lock on gun. If it is not working still, repeat procedure.

[Daryl]

Most likely as smylee grouch says. The "fix" for most "in the gun as opposed to out of the gun" problems is in the next post.

[EC121]

Smoke -try-chisel.  My bet is that the sear nose is bottoming out on the wood and being forced up into the tumbler after the triggers break or the sear bar is dragging wood somewhere.

[Jeff Murray]

You might also check the clearance from the triggers to the sear.  Put a piece of paper or two under the trigger plate where it meets the stock  and see if the cock will drop all the way.

[wolf]

i know I have one of mine when I tighten a certain  screw inside the lock it dose the same thing. so i just snug it up and it works fine,,,,,,,,,,

[Stoner creek]

It’s almost always sear clearance!

[Sharpsman]

Thanks fellows! I'll keep working and heed your advice!!

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

I agree with Stoner Creek!  I suspect that the sear arm doesn't have enough clearance and the lock is stopping on the half cock notch.

[Frank]

Put inletting black on every internal lock moving piece as well as the nose of the sear. Reinstall and operate the lock. Remove wood as required.

[Sharpsman]

Got it done! Thanks for the advice! Had to remove little more wood! Tore the trigger apart and cleaned it up while I was at it! Working great now!

[pjmcdonald]

Sharpsman,

Good that you have it working! One more thing to check while you've got it apart is the fly. I had that same Davis lock and had trouble with the sear nose not riding over the fly when the trigger was pulled. That is, when I pulled the trigger and tripped the sear, the nose of sear would ride down and jam against the fly in roughly the half cock position. Actually broke the sear nose before I figured out what was happening. I ended up having to get a new sear and fly then do a bunch of polishing with diamond stones to get it to work properly.

I also ground a little off the sear spring to lighten it.

I'm definitely no lock expert. The gentlemen on this board helped me immensely. I'm learning to check everything. Twice. (except for Kibbler's new locks. Now that I've seen them, WOW! A perfectly functioning lock that is buttery smoooooth!)

Regards,
Paul

[Sharpsman]

Thank you Paul! I will inspect that a bit closer!

I think this is the situation that you are talking to here:

IMG_2430 by Sharps Man, on Flickr

This is when Cock was not going full forward! You can click on photo and enlarge a bit!

[pjmcdonald]

Sharpsman,
Yours looks to my untrained eye to be doing ok. Here’s what mine was doing.




The angle on the fly was not quite right. So instead of the sear riding over the half cock notch on the fly, it was wedging against the fly and the notch. Was a devil for me to figure it out at first.

Paul

[Sharpsman]

Thanks for the update Paul!!

[Sharpsman]

UPDATE

Here's a reply I got from a friend reference my 'I'm stumped' posting:

 I am sorry that you are having what seems to be trouble with the lock, but it's probably NOT the lock! If it works fine out of the stock it should work just as well in the stock. The problem is probably the triggers which are not allowing the tumbler to properly engage the sear at the 1/2 cock notch. Sometimes the triggers stand too far up in the stock and prohibit the sear from engaging.  When I build slim Lancaster Long rifles, I have to drastically reduce the triggers so that they allow the lock to function, the trigger makers allow large triggers so they can be adjusted to clear properly. This sounds like the same issue. It happens if the triggers are installed too tight (too deep in the stock). There is very little clearance between the correct trigger placement and one set too deep. Take the triggers out of the stock and try the lock and see if it works properly. Then also check for any other interference with the lock, look for any area that the lock touches the stock especially the sear, if you see any contact carefully reduce the area in the stock, this should all be done in the cut-out area for the lock/triggers and not be visible when reassembled. Remember the sear is not parallel, it actually gets larger close to the lock plate and must be able to move freely when assembled. If there is no contact with the sear then probably the triggers are the actual problem. When the lock is cocked it bumps the sear down in its cocking process and if the triggers interfere with this "bump" the lock will not stay in the 1/2 cock position.
If you find that this is the case simply file/grind the triggers down, DO NOT OVER HEAT IF GRINDING AS YOU WILL TAKE THE HARDNESS OUT OF THE TRIGGERS. This is not a bad issue, and if you are careful it should be easy to resolve. Good luck with it and do not get discouraged. Work slowly and check your progress often so you do not take too much off the triggers.

I removed the trigger assembly and using my diamond files I reduced the height of the triggers a bit and now all works well! Thanks again guys for all your responses!!