lock question

[amm1851]

I have a Chambers golden age flintlock that sometimes won't go into half cock. What might be causing this?
Thanks for any suggestions.

[rollingb]

Might be any number of things,.......

Lock bolts too tight and putting things in a bind.
Sear bolt too tight.
Gunk/rust/wood chip/casting flash partially blocking sear's half-cock notch.
Weak sear spring.

Those are the first things I'd check.

[RobD]

i'd first wanna make sure the lock is really clean inside and out.  take off the lock - do it by gradually loosening the bolts and tapping each one to free the lock from its stock mortise.  take off the flint, run the entire lock under really hot water and scrub with a toothbrush (or similar).  flush out with more hot water.  shake the lock free of water, then pat off all the remaining water with paper or cloth towels until it's dry.  spray the entire lock with wd40.  use paper towels to pat off all the excess oil.  now attempt to put it to half cock.  no good?  time to visually examine what's happening as you pull the cock back and see where it fails to catch on the lock's tumbler.  chances are, if it wasn't a dirty lock/tumbler, there's a physical issue with the tumbler and/or sear.

[Bigsmoke]

Good thoughts from rolling b and rfd.
The other thing that might be causing the problem is the lock wishes it were percussion and is just acting up so that you convert it to a cap gun.  lol
But, what do I know about flinters?

John

[RobD]

aaa, john - yer just a prejudiced caplock lover!  hah!

[amm1851]

Thanks guys. First thing I did was loosen the lock bolts. It doesn't feel like it is binding up inside, it just doesn't catch the half cock notch about a third of the time. And it is as clean as I can make it. But I will look at it some more. I am reluctant to take the lock apart as I have a bad habit of not being able to get things back together.  

[RobD]

there are 2 notches on the bottom of the tumbler.  the first is half cock, the second is full cock.  

is this a new lock or rarely used lock?  was it bought new or used?  did it always work well before?  was any work done on it?

attempt to go to half cock and report back what happens - does the sear not fully engage the notch? is there some wiggle in either the tumbler or sear cams?

[doggoner]

Your best bet would be to send the lock back to Jim Chambers and have his folks look at it. They have forgotten more about Chambers locks than us "rookies" could learn in a lifetime of "part time" gunsmithing. When in doubt, go to the experts. Just my humble opinion. One thing about free advise is it is free and you don't have to follow it.

doggoner

[RobD]

Your best bet would be to send the lock back to Jim Chambers and have his folks look at it. They have forgotten more about Chambers locks than us "rookies" could learn in a lifetime of "part time" gunsmithing. When in doubt, go to the experts. Just my humble opinion. One thing about free advise is it is free and you don't have to follow it.

doggoner

that's a safe and easy and maybe costly bet.  however, simply cleaning the lock and observing what it's doing isn't invasive and may wind up either fixing the problem and/or educating its owner, none of which is a bad thing.  yeah, advise sure is free, as are opinions of everyone.

[rollingb]

Good thoughts from rolling b and rfd.
The other thing that might be causing the problem is the lock wishes it were percussion and is just acting up so that you convert it to a cap gun.  lol
But, what do I know about flinters?

John

[amm1851]

The lock is on a rifle built for me by a forum member. So far as I know, it is new. I have fired the rifle fewer than 100 times. It seemed to be working fine up until the past couple of weeks. I appreciate the input. When I get the chance I will take it out of the stock and examine the tumbler.

[rollingb]

If after several attempts you can get it to half cock, try pushing the hammer forwards with your thumb using some pressure,.... I still think there is might be something in the notch and that might "compact" it enough to allow the lock to function properly for a while.
If it does, then you can decide if you want to take the lock apart and clean out whatever is in the notch.

Ideally,.... you should use a mainspring vice when taking a lock apart so the chance of breaking the mainspring is reduced. If you don't have a mainspring vice, I can loan you one, or you can get one here.........      Mainspring Vise, to safely compress a mainspring - Track of the Wolf

[amm1851]

Thanks for the offer. Anything beyond a simple fix, and I will be returning it to the builder to repair.

[RobD]

a really good quality lock, like yer chambers, doesn't at all normally work well for a fair amount of time and then just start working erratically all on its own.  something had to make that happen.  it'd be highly unlikely that the half cock tumbler notch got buggered, but it could happen.  

sight unseen, my guess is that it's dirty and/or something worked loose.  clean and lube it well, paying particular attention to the tumbler and sear.  then before sticking it back in its stock mortise, just work the cock and carefully observe.  if the issue remains, and you either don't have a mainspring vise or the desire to pull it all apart, send it off for a proper repair.

however, if you have the gumption to want to further investigate and hopefully fix the lock yerself, bravo, go for it.  there's nothing better than taking care and control of yer own gear.  using a mainspring vise and disassembling a lock is not at all hard to do.  you can always take images of each step of your progress.  there's nothing about taking apart a chambers lock that's critical and you will do yerself a favor by gaining valuable experience.  worse case scenario, and you can't reassemble the lock, it won't matter much if it's shipped apart or together for jim or some other competent smith to get to the root problem and make it work well again.

imho, unless that lock got buggered in some manner, failing to remain on half cock is usually a dirt or loose part situation.

[rollingb]

a really good quality lock, like yer chambers, doesn't at all normally work well for a fair amount of time and then just start working erratically all on its own.  something had to make that happen.  it'd be highly unlikely that the half cock tumbler notch got buggered, but it could happen.  

sight unseen, my guess is that it's dirty and/or something worked loose.  clean and lube it well, paying particular attention to the tumbler and sear.  then before sticking it back in its stock mortise, just work the cock and carefully observe.  if the issue remains, and you either don't have a mainspring vise or the desire to pull it all apart, send it off for a proper repair.

however, if you have the gumption to want to further investigate and hopefully fix the lock yerself, bravo, go for it.  there's nothing better than taking care and control of yer own gear.  using a mainspring vise and disassembling a lock is not at all hard to do.  you can always take images of each step of your progress.  there's nothing about taking apart a chambers lock that's critical and you will do yerself a favor by gaining valuable experience.  worse case scenario, and you can't reassemble the lock, it won't matter much if it's shipped apart or together for jim or some other competent smith to get to the root problem and make it work well again.

imho, unless that lock got buggered in some manner, failing to remain on half cock is usually a dirt or loose part situation.

I agree, at some point one should acquaint themselves on how these locks work and what it takes to keep them working!