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 Post subject: Light hammer hits
PostPosted: Sun Aug 16, 2020 1:18 pm 
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'afternoon,

Curious if you have any suggestions, before I contact Lodgewood.

I have a Pedersoli with an original lock plate on it. The internals are all Pedersoli. It started giving intermittent light hammer strikes. I could literally see the difference in the speed of the hammer falling. It would do this even if I was just capping. I've checked, and there's no sign of drag on the back of the hammer (as if the lockplate screw was too far in). I've even removed the pellet primer feeder arm, in case that was slowing the hammer down. No difference.

I've replaced the mainspring, using an original because they are much stronger than the modern ones. Note that it was an original previously as well. It's doing it less frequently, but still enough to be annoying.

The previous owner had the conversion done to the rifle, to incorporate the original lockplate. I've owned the rifle since 2013 and it was just the end of last season that it started giving me issues. Yesterday was the first time in the field with it this year, due to lack of events.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Mike

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 Post subject: Re: Light hammer hits
PostPosted: Sun Sep 20, 2020 6:39 pm 
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Location: Old Northwest (Michigan)
Greetings Calum,

Sorry for the hiatus, but this is 2020 and everything seems to be topsy.

Okay, have you pulled the hammer free from the lockplate and thoroughly cleaned the working parts and the mortise in the block? There could be built up solidified oil acting like cosmoline and slowing the hammer strike.

Have you pulled the lock plate off and manipulated the hammer and sear to see if your getting a slow hammer fall then?

If not I’d look inside the stock to see if there is any gremlins like a piece of spent cap, shavings from the mortise that have gotten rough from wear and binding the working parts

Next, dab black shoe polish or marker on the parts that come in contact with the stock mortise then slide the lock plate back into the stock then pull it back out. If you see black on the wood that is likely where the binding is happening. Lightly sand the that spot with 220 grit sandpaper until the black is gone, put in lock plate and see if the hammer is still falling slow. I suspect you’ll find the culprit inside the mainspring mortise if everything else checks out.

Hope this helps

Bill Skillman
Bugler
Hudson Squad Mess


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 Post subject: Re: Light hammer hits
PostPosted: Tue Sep 22, 2020 12:50 pm 
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Hi Bill,

No worries, I've been moving slow myself. And it's given me an excuse to take my Garrett out for the few small gatherings (hate to even call a dozen guys an event) regardless of whether I'm wearing blue or green.

Yes to all of it, with the exception of checking clearance inside the stock mortise using blacking although I did look to see if anything may have gotten in there. Simply because I hadn't thought of doing so. :)

After completely disassembling the lock, it improved some, but not back to 100%. Perhaps this weekend, I'll give that a shot.

Thanks for the input!
Mike

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140th PVI, Co A
https://www.facebook.com/140pvi/

1st USSS, Co H
http://nyberdans.wix.com/nyberdans


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 Post subject: Re: Light hammer hits
PostPosted: Tue Sep 22, 2020 5:07 pm 
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Location: Old Northwest (Michigan)
Cal,

I’ve been doing research and recovering a number of ‘in process’ articles that were lost when I asked my son to remove junk and reconfigure from my laptop. We both assumed the other made a backup of the files to reload. Surprise!!! Fortunately I had made back up CD’s but all the 2019 work was lost.

Now back to your Sharps. They say some marriages should never happen. I think this especially applies to trying to marry original Sharps parts to Italian Sharps. Not only do you have the differences between measurement systems, but quality of my old Ped’s parts like the barrel bands, I bar (under the forestock) and fasteners couldn’t compare with the original and Shiloh. You may remember in my Sharps/Lawrence pellet primer article that only a single screw was compatible between the Garrett (father to the Pederosoli) and the original.

So this brings me back to your original mainspring fitted to the Italian Ped. Apply blacking to the upper and lower sections of the spring but especially to the leading edge of the spring profile. I seem to recall I tried to replace Ped parts with originals. I found the original mainspring was too wide by about an 1/8 inch. I really didn’t want to file the mainspring nor did I want to inlet the mortise so it’d fit.

Since Todd was braver than I was, you get to figure out what’s going on ‘under the hood’.

Finally, did your Sharps rest in a gun cabinet in a somewhat high humidity environment? Since you didn’t have this problem before I’m wondering if the wood has swollen slightly and is causing the problem? Pull the lock and use a hair dryer for a couple minutes on the wood, reassemble and check.

Sorry for the long post. Hope this helps

Bill Skillman
Bugler
Hudson Squad Mess


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 Post subject: Re: Light hammer hits
PostPosted: Thu Sep 24, 2020 5:32 pm 
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Hi Bill,

I hope that you didn't lose too much in the 2019 data. Been there and done that, it's not a happy thing...

For the Sharps, I don't think it's the mating of the original and Ped parts. I bought the rifle back in 2013 (I think you shared the original sale post that I bought it from), and it's worked flawlessly since. According to the original ad, all of the lock internals are Pederosoli, so only the mainspring is original. Because one of the first things that I did was to replace the mainspring with an original back then, because I've developed a distrust of modern ones. And it's only been misbehaving since last fall, so it's definitely "something wrong" not something occasional like humidity.

The Ped mainspring is in my Garrett lock, which just sits on a shelf, since the Garrett had an original lock in it when I got it. So if the lock mortice clearance check doesn't turn anything up, I may try dropping the Ped mainspring back in. But I really don't think that will impact. If it comes to that, I hope that I'm wrong. :)

Thanks,
Mike

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Mike Thomas

140th PVI, Co A
https://www.facebook.com/140pvi/

1st USSS, Co H
http://nyberdans.wix.com/nyberdans


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 Post subject: Re: Light hammer hits
PostPosted: Thu Oct 22, 2020 4:34 pm 
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'afternoon,

I'll start off by saying that I think the issue is solved. I won't know for certain until I actually use it at an event, but the handful of caps that I tried in the back yard showed zero issues.

That said, I still have no idea what the issue was. I actually ended up dropping a new original lock in. Lodgewood had a complete lock when I went to contact them about shipping my rifle to them, so I went with that. Yeah, probably more expensive, but...

I may try dropping the problem lock into my Garrett and seeing if it does the same thing there. The Garrett was modified to take an original lock before I purchased it, so the fit shouldn't be an issue. If it does, I know that it's something with the lock. If it doesn't, there was obviously something binding in the lock mortice that I couldn't find. But that's going to be a low priority project.

Thanks for the suggestions!
Mike

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Mike Thomas

140th PVI, Co A
https://www.facebook.com/140pvi/

1st USSS, Co H
http://nyberdans.wix.com/nyberdans


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 Post subject: Re: Light hammer hits
PostPosted: Sat Oct 24, 2020 9:11 pm 
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Location: Old Northwest (Michigan)
Congrats Calum,

Just to clarify for me; is this Sharps the single trigger NM1859 infantry model that had the sword bayonet guide and stud installed? If it is you can ignore my next suggestion.

If the Sharps has a set trigger system, make sure the hammer is (more or less) resting on the cone. Using an eyeglasses screwdriver; locate the tiny recessed screw BEHIND the set trigger. Slide the screwdriver into the slot and SLOWLY turn the screw clockwise about 1/8 turn while closely watching if the hammer incrementally rise or lowers. Once you determine the direction the hammer moves, lower it onto the cone. Holding the hammer, bring to full cock and pull trigger and listen for the “tap” of the hammer making contact with the cone. Do again with a cap.

I discovered the function of this screw after returning home from an event and tripped on a step, slamming the case carrying my Garrett Sharps on the mud room floor. I removed and cleaned up the Garrett and was surprised to find the hammer resting above the cone and not on it. I snapped the hammer a couple times only to find it came to rest above the cone. I tried adjusting the set trigger adjustment screw (between the two triggers), but this didn’t improve the situation. I pulled the trigger plate and for the first time inspected the tiny set screw and what it did.

I reinstalled the trigger plate and adjusted the screw and discovered it closed the hammer/cone gap. One of my deleted articles was going to describe the role of set triggers in the modern Sharps and their function. I hope to recover the preliminary information and expand on it in a future article.

Hope this helps you and any other Sharps shooters who may be a experiencing the same problem.

Bill Skillman
Hudson Squad Mess


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 Post subject: Re: Light hammer hits
PostPosted: Mon Oct 26, 2020 7:17 am 
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'morning Bill,

You are correct, this is the single trigger Infantry model.

Like you, I found that particular screw on the DST model by accident on one of my Armi Sports. One tends to forget about it, until everything else has been checked. Because it's not obvious like the set trigger adjustment screw is.

Thanks,
Mike

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Mike Thomas

140th PVI, Co A
https://www.facebook.com/140pvi/

1st USSS, Co H
http://nyberdans.wix.com/nyberdans


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