Flintlock not cocking

[Frontier]

I have a custom Flintlock that was working great.  I put it up due to weather, and just recently got it out after several months.  Now the Hammer will not go into half cock or full cock unless I set the set trigger first.  I though it may have been some piece of the stock was swelling causing the relationship between the lock and the double set trigger to not work right.  I cant find anything rubbing.  Any idea what is wrong?

[Mark Elliott]

It seems to me that the stock shrank moving the triggers and sear bar closer together; thus, requiring you to set the rear trigger to provide enough clearance for the sear to move.    Play with it some more to try to determine if that is what is happening.   If it is,  I would try to remedy it by bending (hot,  while the sear tip is clamped in a cold vise) the sear bar up very slightly.   In my experience grinding the trigger bar and sear bar doesn't give you enough clearance.    If this is the problem,  there was probably way too little clearance to begin with.  

[Bob Roller]

Neither the lock or trigger will swell or change dimensions in any way so that leaves the wood.
Did you have the lock or triggers out of the stock for cleaning or maintainence?If you had the triggers apart,
you might have got the spring that drives the rear trigger too tight and it's holding the rear trigger against the sear.
How far do you have to compress the rear trigger to get the lock to engage in both positions?
If the trigger must be set,then take a look at both the wood and the trigger spring.

Bob Roller

[Pete G.]

The rear trigger is putting pressure on the sear. Some trigger mechanisms have an adjustment, usually a small screw behind the rear trigger. Others need the tip of the trigger main spring filed down enough to allow clearance. If it was working fine before the wood has probably shrunk, in which case some sort of a shim under trigger plate itself will get it back to where it was.

[Acer Saccharum]

I can't add anything to the above replies. Go thru those, and let us know the results.

[ken]

Take the tang screw and loosen about a half  turn , also is the lock screws have they been over tighten. . If this works either file off some of the trigger bar or shim the trigger assembly just a tad. Oh  when you loosen the tang screw tap it down with a leather or wooden hammer ken

[Mark Elliott]

If your tang screw is pulling the trigger plate in too far as Ken suggests,  a flat head wood screw under the trigger plate next to the tang screw can act as an adjustable stop/shim.   

[kaintuck]

triggers need wiggle room...no touching the sear please!
no means no.......

[Frontier]

Thanks for all the replies.... I tried most all of them, but it appears that when I loosen the tang bolt and tap on it to give trigger a bit more room all works as normal.  I tried putting a shim in... and it all seemed to be good until I tightened everything up.  It is better, but still not right.  I am afraid I will need a shim big enough to cause the trigger plat to be stich out of it's mortise to make it work.  I wonder if simply releaving the metal on the flat part where the trigger hits the sear bar is too radical?  I get I would need to take off 1/8 of a inch or so.  Thoughts?

[shortbarrel]

I would take the gun back to the custom builder, if you know him. The gun was not inlet correctly.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

I would not hesitate to remove steel from the top of the trigger.  But be careful, you don't want a trigger that rattles either.

[ken]

Hope this helps !! Try shimming it under the trigger both front and rear as so it is flush with the stock and not inside of it . This might be the fix you will need. If you need to remove metal from the bar  leave the shims in as to not have to remove as much metal.  Take your time.          ken

[Ted Kramer]

Before I'd take any metal off the rear trigger blade I'd either loosen the main spring a bit as Bob Roller mentioned or very carefully take a file stroke or two off the nose of the spring. Either method would give you a little more slack between sear and trigger. Good luck.
Ted

[Mark Elliott]

I would take the gun back to the custom builder, if you know him. The gun was not inlet correctly.

I wouldn't necessarily blame the builder for this.   I  am sure it worked when delivered, but wood shrinks.   Wood shrinkage has given me fits with touch plate patch box releases.   I have had to adjust these over Winter.   Because of that,  I have stopped using that type of release for one that is more reliable.  It sounds like wood shrinkage is what happened here.   There just wasn't enough slack to allow for it.  Under the circumstances,  you either need to take a little metal off the top of the trigger bars or bend up the sear arm.    If the fit is as tight as it seems to be.   I am betting that bending the sear bar up is going to be required.    By all means, grind a little off the trigger bars, but be prepared to move the sear bar.   I build a lot of slim guns, and bending the sear bar up is frequently required and it is very hard, at least for me, to bend it exactly right.   You usually have to bend it up and back a bit leaving just a BIT of slack between the trigger bar and sear.   Check back with us for detailed instructions for bending the sear bar if it looks like that is necessary.