I guess I just thought all muzzleloaders could be capped at half cock. Obviously not so!!
nope not all. it all depends on the cut of the tumbler .
TC for a while produce locks where you could cap at the 1/2 cock .
I don’t know this for sure but they probably changed do to lawsuit potential.
With the ½ cock further down in the tumbler curve , you have less tension on the main spring . So over time you get less chance of sear and tumbler damage . Also less chance of the sear jumping out of the notch .
Its also much more noticeable that such a lock is at the ½ vs. one that closer to the full cock notch
One should also not 100 % rely on the ½ cock as a safety. If the sear for any reason jumps out of the notch . There still can be enough pressure to set of the cap .
Its not like a true safety which is more of an interrupter in that when in the safe position the triggers are held away from the sear ether by blocking the sear completely . Or by setting at a higher point on the trigger . thus also holding the triggers away from the sear .
With the ½ cock the sear is always in full contact with the sear . As such one can actually have get the gun to fire while cocking . While lowering to the ½ cock or by jarring the trigger hard enough .
It should also be noted that if the ½ is worn or not cut properly , many times you can easly fire the lock even though it is in the ½ cock .
Which then also relates back to the reasoning for TC placing the ½ notch where they did and cut the way it is
But even with that , there are times when someone will have things out of tune and thus start to have an issue with the lock firing at the ½ .. or catching at the 1/2 .
So while the ½ cock is better then nothing its not anywhere near 100% safe .