Does anyone recognize this lock?

[BEP]

Since a new drum and nipple is out, I'd definitely heat and bend that hammer. It will only take a tiny bit of bending to cure the problem and I'm sure that can be done safely. As I look at the inletting for the lock, in my opinion WAY too much wood was removed from the mortice to allow any more removal. Shimming, if it can be done in a manner to also alleviate the problem, could be a good thing for that lock if it means permanently adding something to the inletting.

 

[.36Rooster]

Well the nipple is a bit mushroomed, but I take the credit for that part, Fiddling around in living room with the rifle the other day and dropping the hammer to get a mark in the soot on hammer surface and taking measurements. I am pretty good at fixing mushroomed nipples, so I just did what I needed to do and will fix that part later.

 

[.36Rooster]

...the hammer was peened incorrectly: Two of the opposing peens are too tight, the other two are too loose, creating a pivot point, and a bit of play...

This morning I had an idea. The excess play in the hammer may actually have more to do ignition problem than the actual alignment. The play allows it to rock slightly forwards and rearward. but the square tumbler is still in good condition.

It appears that, by taking opposing pairs on hammer, if I file one pair slightly it will make it easier to remove hammer, and by re-peening the other pair, it will eliminate the play so there will no longer be the pivot point.

It seems very possible that the play is softening the hammer blow by allowing unwanted movement at the instant the hammer contacts the cap.

 

[.36Rooster]

Guys, I might have fixed it. I fired 7 caps, and there was definitely an improvement. It seems as if I do my part and get the caps down flush with nipple using dowel it goes off. I got a 3 hammer drops without ignition, but it was also dark and I know for a fact that one cap was not flush. The other two were hard to tell in the dark. Plus its snowing and -6 degrees tonight so I couldn't fiddle with it very long.

I came in afterwards and cleaned the nipple with a file so that the caps will fit it better because I had dry fired it while playing with it. So this will definitely ensure that the caps seat better, even without a dowel. Right now they seat just like they do on a brand new nipple. So it can only help. And there was already an improvement after the fix to begin with. I still may have to align the hammer in the end. But right now it's actually looking pretty good.

As soon as this weather breaks I'll be able to tell you more, but this is very promising

 

[.36Rooster]

What I did was peen the corners of the square hole to fill in the gaps that were giving play to the hammer, and then carefully filed it back to fit the tumbler exactly. Hammer is snug and tight now, with no play whatsoever.

 

[.36Rooster]

Okay you guys have really opened my mind to the intricacies of a lock, pointing out rub marks and such. It does fire better after snugging the hammer, but as I began filing the bolster, I noticed this and put to and two together

:

The mainspring is contacting the barrel!!!! Look at the marks in the two pictures. I am sure about it.

Forgive my language, but what the HELL do I do about this???

Why would this even be like that?

No amount of inletting and bolster filing can help this.

Snugging the hammer made it fire within a maximum 2 shots. Before I began it was a maximum of 3. So it is an improvement. But I have no idea what to do other than thin out the mainspring now and even common sense tells me that's what I shouldn't do. You want to be the sear spring as weak as possible and the mainspring as strong as possible. I am at a loss.

 

[.36Rooster]

Also,

I filed the nipple today until it was brand new. Caps fit exactly like they do on my rifles that are perfect and fire every time. No change. Rifle is still about 50-65% success at snapping caps. So I know that isn't the problem. The rest of the problem is the alignment.