The .62cal smoothbore is down.....

[roundball]

My ML opener is tomorrow morning...finished getting things organized and the Blazer loaded, then turned to the new .62cal smoothbore. Removed the lock, added a couple drops of Rem-Oil, reinstalled, went to full cock and started to clean the frizzen & and pan with an alcohol wipe when the hammer released by itself.

Checked the bolts, they weren't too tight...pulled the lock and looked it all over...power flushed it out with aerosol brake cleaner in case a piece of debris or something was in there from the last range trip / cleaning, put it back together, and found that about half the time the hammer wouldn't hold at full cock, and just about every time it would hold, I could get it to release by just bumping the side of the lock area.

As I was getting ready to pull the lock again, I noticed a tiny triangle sliver of bright metal laying on the white beach towel under the work area...looked a little suspect...checked the sear tip & full cock notch...saw that a 45* angled half of the sharp edge of the full cock notch was missing...the tiny triangle sliver that had fallen out of the lock a few minutes earlier.

So, christening the .62cal smoothie will have to wait...put all the .62cal stuff away and reset everything for the .58cal Virginia I used last year...disappointing but luckily I'm still on track...will priority mail the lock to Chambers for repair tomorrow.

 

[bramble]

6 p's
Prior Planning Prevents Pi@@ Poor Performance.

Good lesson on preparations.

Thanks, and good luck.

I'll be down in Orange county trying to thin the herd.

bramble

 

[lonehunter]

Tough break! :shake:
Better at home than in the woods!
At least you have backup.
Good luck, We will be waiting on pictures! :wink:

 

[BrownBear]

Probably never happen again in about a zillion years, but it makes me think about having at least a couple of guns with identical locks.... or a spare lock.

 

[TinStar]

Sorry to hear that roundball; I know you were itching to use that nice gun of yours. What a bummer.

TinStar

 

[hawk]

RB no worries I broke the main spring on my lock the week before turkey opener and chambers had mailed me the new part before season opened there very good in my books...there still my be time for the 62

 

[roundball]

Probably never happen again in about a zillion years, but it makes me think about having at least a couple of guns with identical locks.... or a spare lock.

What is EXTREMELY aggravating about this is I planned for just that contingency.

When I had Matt build the .62cal, I discussed and sent the finished lock from the .58cal, for him to use as a template to make the lock mortise on the .62, and also drill the bolt holes in the same places, etc.

When the .62's lock broke last night, I thought, ah-ha, no problem...went to switch to lock from the .58cal last night into what should have been an identical lock mortise and it wouldn't go in, in spite of having intentionally sent it expressly for that purpose.

 

[roundball]

RB no worries I broke the main spring on my lock the week before turkey opener and chambers had mailed me the new part before season opened there very good in my books...there still my be time for the 62

Agree...he's just across the state near Asheville...my Wife priority mailed it this morning and hopefully I'll have it back in a few days...we'll see.

 

[roundball]

Got the repaired deluxe siler back in this afternoon's mail, installed & tested it OK.
Tomorrow I'm going to put in a 'hardwood flint' and dry fire it 100 times to ensure it's totally reliable...then finally get a chance to deer hunt it next week on vacation

 

[hawk]

glad to hear your on your way again good luck to yah!

 

[roundball]

Me too...it was like having a new toy at Christmas and it broke just when you wanted to play with it :grin:

Ran 100 dry fires this morning with a wooden flint and a leather hammer stall, works perfectly, so my confidence is high...

 

[alrany187]

Ran 100 dry fires this morning with a wooden flint and a leather hammer stall, works perfectly, so my confidence is high...

So glad to hear you're fully functional again. Now go tag one. I still have to wait a couple of weeks before season opens.

 

[hawk]

"So glad to hear you're fully functional again. Now go tag one."

Irish i think you mean tag TWO ! don't ya LOL

 

[Trench]

Great! I can't wait to hear the results of your next hunt!

 

[hoochiepapa]

Good Luck, Roundball!! :thumbsup:

 

[roundball]

Alarm is now set an hour earlier for (ugh!) 4:30am now that we've gone back to standard time...but, I gotta try to make meat with the .62 and can't do it under the electric blanket :grin:

 

[hawk]

from the results you have been getting you'll be lucky to get into the thermos of coffee in the mornin' without having to drag a deer out of the way first

 

[roundball]

You probably just jinxed me :grin: ...won't see one all week !

I only have two little spots to hunt...the wind direction has kept me completely out of one of them all this past week...its what's left over after a massive clear-cut operation this summer & early fall.
The only place left to set up there is at the bottom of a 25 yard wide ravine that tapers South 100 yards down from some farm fields up above, to a wide flat bottom that has a huge drainage ditch running a few hundred yards East & West...you can drop a vehicle into this ditch and not see it from level ground.

The good news is there's a scattering of trees all along that ditch that the clear cut boys couldn't get to as the area was to soft for the heavy equipment...and from the deer tracks I can tell deer are using it as a natural funnel to travel across that bottom from an adjacent farm on either side of the farm that just got clear cut...and they have to pass right by the mouth of that ravine.

I can't hunt the ravine in the afternoons because as the air cools it sinks and slides right down off the high ground / farm fields up above like water running down hill through the ravine and would carry my scent right to the intersection of the ditch where I hope to see some traffic moving left or right.
But I can hunt it in the mornings as the air will be lifting as it warms up...however, the doggone wind has been out of the north all week which blows right down that ravine, and would carry my scent to the intersection point in the mornings too.

Later this week it looks like the wind might shift from the south and that'll be perfect, right into my face...hope to try it then

 

[hawk]

jinkx a man that thinks like that about deer huntin' I hardly think so

your on the right track put yourself in the place that gives you best advantage ....if it's the only way in and out they'll use it to eat if your sent is there or not ,i see deer in a field weekly feeding just 40 yards of a highschool football practice ...and that smell don't spoke 'em !

good luck to ya!

 

[hoochiepapa]

The college kids used to drive up and down the roads where i hunt, shoot pistols and yell to try and spook the elk. But all they did was get the elk used to people. Soon, the elk would walk out in the road and stop while you were driving slow.