Badwolf,
In what area/state do you reside? (I usually reside in some state of confusion ...)
OK, other than being powered by coil springs, T/C locks are not that complicated.
They are just not always nicely finished.
Even though the parts are 'within spec’ sear engagement into the tumbler can vary a LOT!!
”It’s called tolerance stacking”
Now, let’s cover the obvious.
Is it a long gritty pull?
Or, is it a hard pull that ‘breaks cleanly’ when enough pressure is applied to the trigger?
With the lock out of the rifle, does the trigger move freely with-out binding?
Are there any marks in the stock where the sear bar may be rubbing?
Hold the hammer at full cock and move the sear bar up and down. Is there any binding?
Hold the sear up and check the hammer for free movement through its arc.
Put it back together.
Is too tight a side-plate screw bending the lock plate?
Is the side plate screw so long that it’s rubbing the back side of the hammer?
If all of the above checks out we’ll go to step two.
For a ‘gritty’ trigger pull:
If it’s a percussion lock, put a faucet washer or a piece of leather over the nipple.
For a flintlock, a small block of wood in the pan to stop the hammer should do nicely.
Put a dab of grease on the sear nose and in the full cock notch.
Bring the hammer to full cock and progressively apply heavy thumb pressure to the back of the hammer when pulling the trigger.
Do this a few time to ‘burnish’ the engagement surfaces.
Some improvement should be noted.
Now, I'll catch flak for this but, here it goes.
Try a dab of real 'molly paste' on the sear nose and full cock notch, also where the trigger touches the sear-bar and repeat the above.
As stated in a previous post, coil spring stock is available through Brownell’s – As is the molly paste.
For anything worse than that, it looks like it may be time for a smith to do some stoning, polishing, OR, sear engagement work as Artificer - Gus mentioned.
LRB,
As we seem to be picking fly-@#$%/!! out of the pepper ...
In a perfect world with a 'well tuned trigger assembly', changing the engagement screw would do little or nothing.
Yet, increasing the engagement also increases the amount of sliding friction to overcome.
Here where I live, the levers stay the same length and pivot about an axis which changes the angle of contact which can in fact increase the pull weight.
Cheers,
Smoketown