Traditions Crockett 32 = POS !

[wild_willie_10]

I can't believe that I'm the only person owning a Crockett 32 that has constant quality problems with thei rifle. I'm now on my second rifle, as this one was a replacement. The first rifle had the well documented gap between the breach plug and the barrel. The lock spring broke and knocked a chunk out the inlet area and made the gun un-repairable by my local gunsmith. He said complain to Traditions. Oh yea, this was after he had already replaced this same broken spring two weeks earlier. To make things worse the rifle shot consistantly to the left. No matter who shot it. He could not give any reason for the failures. So I get in touch with Traditions Quality Dept., got a RA # and sent the gun back with my money. After 4 weeks, they finally sent me another gun. This rifle had the same lock spring break the first day of shooting. It had wreaked the inside of the inlet area, same as the first. SURELY I CAN'T BE THE ONLY PERSON HAVING THIS PROBLEM!!!!!

 

[BrownBear]

The mainspring on mine broke, fortunately without doing any other damage. It had always been canted a little. When I went to replace it, I found the root of the problem. The hole in the side plate for the little spur on the mainspring is slightly too small. Try shoving the one from your broken spring into it. It won't fit. I relieved mine gently with a handheld drill bit and haven't had a problem since. Double check on yours, and if that's the problem, point it out to them. I should have, but since it's fixed I didn't think about it again.

 

[TVG.75]

ZIGGY,
WHEN THESE FIRST CAME OUT MY WIFE FELL IN LOVE WITH THE FIRST ONE WE EVER SAW AND I BOUGHT IT FOR HER. IT WAS A FEW YEARS AGO, MAYBE '02 OR '03. I WOULD HAVE TO FIND A RECEIPT TO BE SURE. ANYWAY WE DID NOT HAVE THE PROBLEMS YOU DESCRIBE, WE HAD A CRACK SHOW UP IN THE WRIST EARLY ON AND IT SOON BROKE ALMOST IN TWO. REPAIRED THAT AND EVERYTHING SEEMS FINE.
I HAVE HEARD OF THIS BREECH PLUG GAP AND WE DONT HAVE IT. I DID HAVE TO DRIFT THE SIGHTS ALOT OUT OF THE BOX TO HIT ANYTHING. MY BIGGEST PROBLEM IS WITH THE RAMROD, IT'S TOO BIG FOR THE BORE, TOO SMALL FOR THE THIMBLES, AND HAS NO THREADED ENDS. I DON'T LIKE TO CARRY A RANG ROD SO THIS IS IMPORTANT TO ME. THE LOCK HAS ALWAYS WORKED WELL, I HAVE NOT NOTICED, BUT WILL CHECK FOR MAIN SPRING MISSALIGHNMENT NOW THAT I HAVE HEARD OF IT. MAYBE WE WERE LUCKY AND HAVE AN EARLIER/BETTER QUALITY CONTROLED ARM. I KNOW ANY STOCK CAN HAVE HIDDEN ISSUES, BUT FOR THE PRICE I GUESS I AM HAPPY.
BEST OF LUCK IN YOUR ENDEAVORS
TVG

 

[CoyoteJoe]

I have one with "The Gap" but rather than send it back and hope for something not any worse, I pulled the plug and fixed it myself. Haven't had any lock or stock problems but the trigger guard did break at the front screw hole. Not a great disaster since I find that a very ugly piece and intended to replace it anyhow.
But realistically, Traditions is most noted for providing cheap guns and the Crockett is their cheapest rifle so what can one expect?

 

[gamick]

An aluminum arrow makes a good field and range rod and the inserts are a 10-32 (I think) so jags and other accessaries can be screwed on to it. I think the dia. was a 2216. My crockett is 5 yrs. old and my biggest complaint is that I don't have the skills to make it a full stock in maple.

 

[woodmaster62]

Hey all! :hatsoff:
I bought my wife a Crockett 32 off of[url] Gunbroker.com[/url] last year around New Years time.
While it was used, it was good shape out of the box. However to cock the hammer, you had to pull the
trigger to get full cock, and it had no half cock at all! I emailed the gent that I bought it from,
and at first he said it had no problems he had seen. Then he emailed back that his better-half
said it did that for her too.

I took things apart, and found the lock sear was bent at an angle, causing the trigger to make contact all the time. So I heated up the sear and re-bent it fairly straight making sure I still had temper, re assembled and it worked great. Some of the morticeing for the lock was so-so but I wasn't sure if this was factory or the prevous owner. My wife took it out and on
her first shot bullseyed a groundhog target at about 25-30 yards. As it was her first shot using
any muzzleloader I thought it was pretty good!

Would I buy another?? Not sure. While I have a Great Plains capper thats a bullseyer, and my son a CVA Youth model capper, the next one will probably be a homemade flinter.
Have a good one!! :thumbsup:

grumpy bear

 

[Pittsburghunter]

I have not had any lock problems except the adjustment for the trigger is useless as I can adjust only up to about 1lb. However the main trigger unset give only about 5lb of pull so I use that unless target shooting.

I also have the breechplug problem but solved it with using a jag that comes to a point and using very small patches in that portion of the barrel.

My biggest beef was with quality control as mine was shipped with the tang screw drilled almost 1/8 off center and some very thin wood around the lock do to getting everything to line up. I also had problems with the trigger guard inletting but that is just cosmetic and nobody seems to notice it.

I would have sent the gun back but I love the barrel and stock it came with so I will just suck up and pay for any needed repairs. The devil you know is better than the one you don't know sometimes.

 

[walruskid1]

wow! i guess i got lucky. my crockett is a squirrel wacking, tack drivin', x punching machine. yes i have the patch grabbing gap but i live with it. WK1

 

[Pittsburghunter]

WK, I feel the same way mine shoots so good I will put up with the little defects.

 

[buttonbuck]

I have the pistol version of the rifle and was really impressed how far traditions had come. My first ML was a traditions and was junk back in the mid 90's and said forget it and bought a thompson renegade. but I really like the pistol.

 

[HomeinDixie]

I came up with a little "fix" for that patch grabbing proble. Other than that, I replaced the ram rod with a 1/4 inch fiberglass, and just shoot the fire out of it!

 

[xbr]

I bought one a couple year ago. The barrel was overbored for the breech plug cause real problems, expecially with a button jag. So I sent it back and got another. Same problem. I ended up the three (3) of them before a gave up. It was a crime, I loved the rifle, fit me well, fund to shoot and didn't cost over $800. I was thinking about ordering another, hoping they fixed the problem by now.

 

[cptleo1]

I have had mine for 3 years now and would buy another.

Two friends have them -No Problems

Go figure

 

[david50]

i bought one a couple of years ago,first thing i noticed was it came with a metal ramrod but it was advertised as haveing a wooden ramrod and like TVG.75 said it was too small for the thimbles.sold it without ever fireing it so couldnt say how it shot.

 

[captaincaveman]

great thread, thanks for all the info. I need a squirrel gun and am trying to decide between the Crockett or a .32 barrel for my GPR

Josh

 

[Dave K]

Oh, that GPR will be heavy with a 32 barrel. I would buy the Crockett. It is a perc. gun. There can't be that much wrong that can't easily be fixed. Ramrods are so easy to make, that I usually make 2 or more for spares instead of making just one.

 

[XXX]

I came up with a little "fix" for that patch grabbing proble. Other than that, I replaced the ram rod with a 1/4 inch fiberglass, and just shoot the fire out of it!

Did you find a replacement ramrod that was the correct length and pre-threaded for tools or did
you have to customize it?

 

[jasontn]

hey ziggy i have one of those and for the money its been great ive read alot of pros and cons about them and having researched them some i discovered this it seems theres 2 versions of the gun one with only one lock bolt, a striaght and curved trigger group and it appears either the rear sight or thimbles are in different places. the other the one i have has 2 lock bolts both triggers are curved ive seen pictures around of some with problems and most are the ones with a single lock bolt which one do you have?

 

[HomeinDixie]

New Ramrod

I live with in a stones throw of Dixie Gunworks, so I went over and bought one of their 1/4 fiberglass ramrods and the ends to fit. I cut to length, trimed the ends to fit the brass fittings and epoxied them on. I also made one out of hickory that they sell. It looks great, but I use the fiberglass more because at the small size they are still easy to break if you arn't carefull.
The reason some of them grab patches on a jag, is that there is a space between the end of the breach plug and the barrel that lets the patch expand and lock the jag and patch in the barrel. I fixed mine by placing a washer between the two that I had modified by making it the right ID and OD then sanding it to the proper thickness to fill the void.
Another thing to watch for is that if you use low powder loads. The ball will actually be pushed from the rifflings into a "false chamber" area that is the long breach plug and the accuracy will be lost. About the lowest loading I can get away with is 30 gr of 3f. I shoot a .310 ball and wander lube saturated ticking strips that I cut at the muzzle.
One of the best things I like about the rifle is the light weight and smaller perportions as compaired to my larger bore rifles.