t/c pa hunter trigger

[n8dawg6]

recently purchased a t/c PA hunter flintlock carbine. i have been steadily transforming it into a PA flintlock rifle. i ordered a replacement 31" barrel from fox ridge outfitters, and at the same time sent the lock back to t/c to be replaced with the new-style hammer. t/c sent the lock back with the new hammer free of charge. however ... even before i sent the lock off, the trigger was heavy. after the lock got back, i noticed that the internal lock parts had been replaced, and the trigger pull was even stiffer. at this point, it is almost ridiculous. i dont have a pull gauge, but from my experience this pull is well in excess of 5 lbs, probably more like 7 or 8.

any suggestions on how to deal with this? should i send it right back to t/c? i would like a 3-4 lb. pull, would t/c be willing to adjust it this low? if they won't do it, any suggestions on custom gunsmiths to tune the lock? i consider the rifle to be nearly unshootable at this point due to the heavy pull (if i want to get any sort of accuracy out of it), but it will definitely have potential if i can get the trigger straightened out.

 

[roundball]

any suggestions on how to deal with this?

No, don't send it back to TC and if its what I think it is you'd have to send the whole rifle back to get this corrected.

I've had the same experience a couple times when I got newer upgraded locks back from TC...discovered that the new sear cross bar was an eyelash too long and was dragging against the backwall of wood when the lock was put in place and tightened down...they were longer than the originals for which the original stock inletting had been done, consequently there isn't enough wood removed now to accommodate the new sear.

I just touched the end of the sear arm to a grinder a few times and shortened it 1/16" and it no longer dragged.

Note: the trigger rises up and contacts the sear arm bar way in from the end of the arm so there's plenty of excess, no worry about shortening it too much by trimming off a little on the end.

 

[n8dawg6]

actually, that is exactly what it feels like ... there is waaay too much sear engagement. im a little leery of disassembling the lock without a mainspring vise, though

 

[roundball]

actually, that is exactly what it feels like ... there is waaay too much sear engagement. im a little leery of disassembling the lock without a mainspring vise, though

Doesn't have anything to do with sear engagement into the tumbler notches.

Here is a step-by-step writeup on how to dissassemble a TC lock, but you only need to go through step #5 to get the sear in your hand:

1) Remove the lock from the stock;

2) Place the hammer full forward in it's relaxed position to relax the mainspring and rotate it's tumbler notch away from the guide rod as far as possible.

3) Remove the mainspring & guide rod...and I just use needle nose pliers to push the end of the rod out of the tumbler notch.
ENCLOSE YOUR WORK AREA IN CASE THE SPRING GETS AWAY FROM YOU...AND WEAR A GOOD LEATHER GLOVE IN CASE THE NEEDLE NOSE PLIERS SLIP;

Note: As an alternative for this step, some advocate cocking the hammer all the way back, then clamping the compressed mainspring to the rod inside it with a pair of vise-grips, then relaxe the hammer, and the rod & spring come out together still in the vise grips...personally never done it.

4) Remove the bridle plate & screws

5) Remove the sear / sear spring / sear spring plunger

DON’T LOSE THE FLY

6) Flip the lock over and support it across two pieces of wood or something so the tumbler hangs free;

7) Remove the hammer screw;
NOTE: The Hammer slides onto the "tumbler" shaft...you may be lucky, and after removing the hammer screw, you might be able to wiggle the hammer off the end of the shaft if it has any play at all...usually you cannot.

CAUTION...DO NOT THINK YOU CAN SLIDE A SCREWDRIVER BLADE UNDER THE EDGE OF THE HAMMER AND PRY IT OFF...YOU WILL MAR THE SIDE PLATE, AND WORSE, YOU MAY SNAP THE TUMBLER SHAFT OFF.

8) Take a punch as large as the end of the tumbler shaft, and gently tap the tumbler down through the hammer;

Reassemble in reverse order;

REMEMBER TO PUT THE FLY BACK IN THE SAME PLACE

 

[n8dawg6]

roundball, are you talking about just filing THIS part down?

 

[roundball]

Yes...if you can do it while the lock is still assembled all the better.

To test for interference you can dab some colored chalk on the end of it and reinstall it, operate it, then pull the lock back out, and see if color has transferred to the backwall of the wood.

 

[n8dawg6]

gotcha, let me piddle with it a little bit :grin:

 

[n8dawg6]

ok, just a little bit of work with the bastard file and things are markedly improved :wink: . thanks!

 

[roundball]

Great...

And you might want to cut/paste/save those steps up above about disassembling a TC lock as you might want/need to do that some day

 

[bob4st]

...I gota tell ya all, you guys are absolutely awesome.. :hatsoff: .. I learn so much from yas... The pictures help enourmously!!!.. Also, I purchased a T/C Flinter because of the confidence and education I received from Roundball and others... Roundball is THE T/C go to man! :bow:
Thanks,
Bob

 

[Toomuch_36]

Hey Roundball:

In reading your T/C lock disassembly instructions, step 3, I think you might want to try this tool.
What I have done is take a pair of channel lock pliers and knotch the jaws, much like the knotch in a rear sight, to stradel the mainspring plunger. This allows disassembly and re-assembly of the coil mainspring without the use of a vise, or an extended vocabulary :nono: , in about two seconds. I came up with this back in '86 and it has been a quite invaluable tool ever sence.

Shoot Flint
............
Toomuch

 

[funnybike]

Thanks you made a really tough job a lot easier. I already have these steps tucked away for future reference.