Gun went off....early

[Halftail]

I was out at the Range bright and early this morning with my Little Flintlock.Everything was going great and I had 7 shots off already.I was shooting off of the sandbags and Bench.I primed for number 8 and rested,squeezed her off.....nothing but sparks.I figured I didn't put enough prime in the pan before and I was right.Anyhow,I put more prime in the pan ,closed the Frizzen.When I did the gun went off...Ka--Boom!!I nearly [censored] my pants!!
I had everything pointed down range and all was well but manure did that ever shake things up for me.
I figure I musta cocked to full before priming again instead of halfcock.Just thought this was a good place to shared one of my Dumb Moments. :shake:

 

[roundball]

I was out at the Range bright and early this morning with my Little Flintlock.Everything was going great and I had 7 shots off already.I was shooting off of the sandbags and Bench.I primed for number 8 and rested,squeezed her off.....nothing but sparks.I figured I didn't put enough prime in the pan before and I was right.Anyhow,I put more prime in the pan ,closed the Frizzen.When I did the gun went off...Ka--Boom!!I nearly [censored] my pants!!
I had everything pointed down range and all was well but manure did that ever shake things up for me.
I figure I musta cocked to full before priming again instead of halfcock.Just thought this was a good place to shared one of my Dumb Moments. :shake:

Wow...

1) are you saying that the hammer fell and fired the rifle when you closed the frizzen?
2) Or that the frizzen hit the flint at half cock when you closed it?
3) Or that an accidental discharge happened when you closed the frizzen without any contact with a flint?

::

 

[Halftail]

I'm Saying that the Hammer fell when I closed the frizzen.I'm not sure if I hit the trigger or what happened.
I'm glad I was taught to control my Muzzle in a safe direction at all times.

 

[Birddog6]

Couple of things come to mind:

1: Your set trigger is set WAY to light or it is not fully engaging. (You need to know which it is & correct it)

2: You were on full cock & should have been on Half Cock, you have a defective or worn tumbler, or the triggers are not engaging properly & not fully engaged.

2: I don't prime the pan on full cock, nor do I snap the frizzen closed. I prime on half cock & I ease the frizzen shut.
I bought a rifle one time that had a broken tumbler & the half cock wouldn't hold & I didn't know it. I primed & snapped the frizzen shut & the gun fired imediately. Not Good. Scares the bejesus out of ya & can really ruin your normally steady nerves for the day...........

:m2c:

 

[roundball]

I'm glad I was taught to control my Muzzle in a safe direction at all times.

Good discipline...because #$@% does happen to all of us from time to time !
:front:

 

[chuck-ia]

sometimes things happen so fast ya really don't know exactly what happened. One thing I would check though is that you have a little play in both triggers at half cock and full cock though. flinch

 

[Wart]

Agreed, things happen so fast sometimes, that your not sure what the heck happened.
Fortunately no one was hurt - yours is a good story to share with others as "ONE NEVER KNOWS".

 

[musketman]

Halftail, try to recreate the situation again with an unloaded gun...

Cock the gun and close the frizzen with the same force as before and see if the hammer drops...

If not, while it is still cocked, push on the hammer (cock) with your thumb and see if the hammer falls...

If not, tap on the stock with the palm of your hand and see if the hammer falls...

This is checking the sear's engagement in the tumbler...

Now, when you were at the range, did you raise the hammer to half cock position or did you go past the half cock notch and then lower the hammer into it?

If you lower a hammer to half cock, the sear may be just riding the edge of the notch and can easily slip and fire, by raising to the half cock position, the sear enters the notch proper and is fully engaged...

Just a thought...

 

[Darkhorse]

Halftail, has someone been "tuning" your sear nose and tumbler notches by any chance?

 

[Halftail]

I did have the lock tuned Yes,It has a very light trigger pull with no set trigger.

 

[RackwitzG]

Hi,
good thing nothing happend besides maybe needing a new pair of underwear. Anyway, in ol

 

[Birddog6]

That being the case, I would remove the lock & check it out with it out of the rifle. It could be the sear angle is changed & not correct. Also it would be the trigger is a lil tight. Also I have seen the humidity change the wood just a tad but enough to make a very light trigger too light.....

Whatever the problem is, you need to reinact it all with the rifle Unloaded & see if you can simulate it all, then take the appropriate action to insure it will not discharge like that again....

:m2c:

 

[Darkhorse]

If it is the notches it will probably get worse over a period of time. Meaning you can take it out of the gun and try to get it to repeat the misfire but it won't. Then when you least expect it too, it will. After that it will happen more frequently. I suspect the reason being there is a tiny radius on one of the bearing surfaces and the metal is breaking down slightly.
Also when the lock was tuned a lighter sear spring was probably installed and doesn't have the force to hold the sear in the now polished and altered notch.
You could try a heavier sear spring. But to be really safe I would install both the spring and a new tumbler. Then if the trigger pull is too heavy I would consider fitting set triggers to the rifle.

I tuned the trigger on a Lyman GPR a few years back with the idea of using the hard to pull front trigger while deer hunting. At first it was just great. I really liked it. Then towards the end of the season I was getting ready to take a shot at a doe and cocked the rifle and it went off and fired out across the woods. I couldn't get it to repeat that day but when I got home I kept messing with the rifle until it did it again. Then it just got worse. I put the old sear spring back in and it seemed to fix the problem but I couldn't trust it again and ended up replacing the tumbler with a new one.

 

[Ridge]

When I bought my .54 caliber I couldn't wait to shoot it. I took it to my family's farm, loaded it, walked over to where we shoot, primed it, cocked it and........BOOM.

The way the trigger was adjusted the hammer wouldn't stay at full cock. I'm just glad I moved to a safe area before I primed/cocked. My best friend was with me and I hate to think what may have happened.

 

[Blivetmaker]

If the flint contacts the frizzen before the frizzen completely covers the pan; it is possible that the flint could send a spark into the priming charge by simply snapping the frizzen closed. Movement of the cock isn't necessary for ignition. If the flint sits too far forward and the frizzen spring has enough "oomph" a spark can be produced. Black powder isn't known to be very finicky about where the spark comes from.... ::

 

[2172]

I agree with John...I have a small tatoo from burnt priming powder on my bicep (was wearing a tee shirt) because I broke my routine of priming, cocking and then closing the frizzen...I closed the frizzen before cocking, and on cocking, the flint dragged across the frizzen and sent a spark into the pan...the gun was pointed down range, but at chest level when it happened...from your description, it seems like the gun did not stay at full cock, but if I read you wrong, then John's point is worth considering..Hank