by Diamond Jim » 28 Mar 2021, 2:08 am
Update - today I took the grinder to a screwdriver to make a tool that accurately fitted the lock screw and removed the locks. It's appalling how many guns you come across with butchered screws because someone has used mechanics screwdrivers to dismantle their gun - screwdrivers are cheap, antique guns are not. Always use a screwdriver that FITS the screw. If you don't have the right tool, make one!
In any case, it seems that sometime in this guns 130 year history something has broken. Specifically, the actuator that trips the ejector in the right barrel. Someone has solved the problem by removing the broken part - effectively leaving the right barrel as an extractor. The downside of this fix is that the ejector actuator also supported the cocking lever so, without the ejector mechanism, the lever would flex on cocking and only engage the interceptor sear and not the trigger sear. I manufactured a stainless steel shim to sit behind the cocking lever to support it and all is good. To reinstate the ejector function on the right barrel means manufacturing new parts and, given the history and potential value of this gun that probably should be done by the maker. One Powerball....
Last edited by
Diamond Jim on 30 Mar 2021, 7:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Listing your firearms is as good as a fingerprint.