Well that didn't go as planed.

[WalnutRed]

Took my recently purchased ASM 60 Army to the range yesterday. Test firing with 25 gns of 3fg and a .454 RB went as expected. Decent group at 25', 6" high but centered. Then it swallowed a spent cap. I could not clear the cap and the action locked up. Took it home and disassembled the revolver and cleaned it. I cod not find any debris but the end of the trigger which engages the hammer notch was badly deformed and had a burr. I stoned the trigger back into the correct shape and it seems to be cycling fine. It will be Wednesday before I can get back to the range but the revolver seemed to function fine while being test fired in my wood shed.

I cant imagine a fired cap wedging in tight enough to deform the trigger tip but don't know what else could have caused the damage. Anyone else run into this problem?

 

[M. De Land]

Took my recently purchased ASM 60 Army to the range yesterday. Test firing with 25 gns of 3fg and a .454 RB went as expected. Decent group at 25', 6" high but centered. Then it swallowed a spent cap. I could not clear the cap and the action locked up. Took it home and disassembled the revolver and cleaned it. I cod not find any debris but the end of the trigger which engages the hammer notch was badly deformed and had a burr. I stoned the trigger back into the correct shape and it seems to be cycling fine. It will be Wednesday before I can get back to the range but the revolver seemed to function fine while being test fired in my wood shed.

I cant imagine a fired cap wedging in tight enough to deform the trigger tip but don't know what else could have caused the damage. Anyone else run into this problem?

I've had to make a several new triggers out of tool steel for a couple of percussion revolvers and single shot hand guns because the factory offerings were to soft and wouldn't hold an edge even after repeated case hardening. One each in a 80's purchased Pietta Colt 60 and 58 Rem. Neither one was jammed by an obstruction.

 

[Salt River Johnny]

When firing your revolver.
Pull trigger.
Raise pistol tilt it side wase to the right just a bit the cap should fall out as you cock the pistol again.That was the way it was done so the cap would hopefully fall out.

I use this process repeatedly with out fail.
Sorry your cap got jammed. Good luck.

Salt River Johnny

 

[RiverRat]

When firing your revolver.
Pull trigger.
Raise pistol tilt it side wase to the right just a bit the cap should fall out as you cock the pistol again.That was the way it was done so the cap would hopefully fall out.

I use this process repeatedly with out fail.
Sorry your cap got jammed. Good luck.

Salt River Johnny

I never had a cap jam on my Colt 1860 using the above method.

 

[ChrisPer]

I too do the rightward flick on cocking my Army model, and it helps a lot.
But a busted sear nose? Its almost certain that there was an 'episode' of bad handling, possibly when you put it in someone else's hands or before you bought it for all I know.
I take kids and complete newbies shooting and the things that sometimes happen are not the same as when they are in my hands.

 

[WalnutRed]

I did buy this used but the action seemed fine on initial inspection. However unless the trigger was not properly hardened from the factory I have a hard time imagining a spent cap damaging the sear nose. Next time I place a parts order a trigger will be on the list.

 

[45D]

I did buy this used but the action seemed fine on initial inspection. However unless the trigger was not properly hardened from the factory I have a hard time imagining a spent cap damaging the sear nose. Next time I place a parts order a trigger will be on the list.

If a cap hull (or fragment of) holds a trigger sear from not moving forward enough, the lip of the half cock can easily damage the sear . . . especially if there's a heavy main spring powering the hammer. It's best to put a slight angle on the top edge of the lip to help cam the sear out of the way in those instances. It will also clear the way if the trigger isn't pulled "quite" far enough.

Mike