Lock problem/question?

[mikee51848]

I went to the range today, shooting my .50. It has a large Silar lock, from Pecatonica. After the 3rd shot, I loaded and went to cock the hammer, and it wouldn't. I mean, it wouln't lock, or catch in either half or full position. I fiddled with the triggers a bit but to no avail. I thought perhaps a spring or something broke so I took the lock off, examined it, and tried it manually. It worked perfectly. So I put it back on the gun and discharged the load. I then fired about 15 more loads before quitting for the day. No problems after, or ever, before. Got any suggestions? :hmm:

 

[Pork Chop]

My guess is that the lock mounting bolts were a tad on the tight side. Once it was shot and things (the barrel) heated up, the wood got pressed against the sear keeping it from operating properly.

 

[Birddog6]

I would say the sear arm was stuck in the tripped position. It may be a little tight or may have a lil burr under the inside edge making it catch on the lockplate.. Could possibly need some lubrication also. :thumbsup: Make sure the arem is not hanging on wood where it goes to the trigger.

 

[mikee51848]

After I posted this, I cleaned my gun and tried the lock. It slipped again (wouldn't lock). So I took it off and tried it. It works perfectly. Put it back on the gun and it still works perfectly (tried it about 20 times). Has to be, as you said something with the sear or trigger mechs.

 

[Zonie]

I does sound like the sear arm is "almost" touching the hole in the stock.
The "almost" is so close that it sometimes hangs up and won't return to engage the tumbler.

When your checking for this kind of hang up, don't forget to check the depth of the hole.
I have seen guns where there is a lot of clearance around the sear arm but the hole just wasn't drilled deep enough. This caused the sear arm to hang up if the lock bolts were tightened just a little too much.

zonie

 

[Pork Chop]

Here is a quick check. The next time that you encounter the problem, loosen the mounting screws for the lock slightly without removing them or the lock. Try it again. If it works properly, then you have a wood interference issue for sure.

 

[dkloos]

I had the same problem a while back with my lock from Pecatonica. Mine was an L/R though. It turned out that a notch on my tumbler was worn down, and it needed to be recut/hardened.

 

[mikee51848]

When I built it, I had to cut off a piece of the sear as it was way too long for the hole. Perhaps it is as you fellows say and the lock is too tight and restricts the sear arm. When I look at the arm, I see marks a good half inch in from the end where the trigger is engaging the arm. Perhaps I need to file some more off the end? Or re-drill the hole a little deeper?
Thanks fellows! :hatsoff:

 

[timbuckII]

Is the trigger bar touching the sear? As in do the trigger have to be set for the lock to hold on full cock?

 

[mikee51848]

No, I can fully cock before setting the "set" trigger.

 

[Birddog6]

If you have cocked this gun allot of times, there should be evidence of the metal touching wood in the hole the sear arm goes into. If that evidence is there, remove the appropriate wood to relieve this.
If it is bottoming out in the hole, just make the hole deeper or shorten the arm 1/8" If it is hitting on the sides, relieve it.
If you cannot relieve without getting into the inlet, you may have to bend the sear arm.
I don't like to have the sear below the lcok inlet, this is a eventual problem waiting to happen...... :nono: