[finloq]

Here we go again.

Hopkins & Allen
Arms Company
Norwich Conn USA

Single barrel, falling block, 12 gauge.

Problem: The hammer will not stay cocked, you can sneeze on the trigger and it will fall. I took it completely apart and can find no breakage: hammer, mainspring, trigger spring, all seem fine. Before I start to bend the springs (AND PROBABLY BREAK THEM) to create more tension, I thought that I should ask the pro's.

Yes, I know, it is probably not worth taking to a gunsmith. Can anyone give me some solicited and zero liability advice.

 

[finloq]

Thanks for the tip RaceM, the sear looks o.k., but I will go ahead and replace it if Numrich has the part. It is in their catalog. This will be a fire once or twice (black powder shells) and then just hang up, I can't abide a non-functional firearm in my safe. It will be interesting to compare the two when/if the new sear arrives.

 

[finloq]

Got this advice, from a gunsmith out of N.Y.: JC Blauvelt Gunsmith, Inc.
http://jcbgunsmith.com

Take out the trigger and hammer. Look at the hammer full cock notch. Is it clean and even? Broken or chipped? Should be a sharp 90 degree ledge. Look at the tip of the trigger. Sharp square edge? Not broken or chipped? More than likely the trigger tip has rounded over. It needs to be sharpened to a square flat tip. Trigger tip should fit into full cock notch square and mate at 90 degrees. Lay the parts on the outside of the action and use the screws to hold them in the proper holes to see how they fit.

 

[finloq]

The simple act of taking the hammer and the trigger and placing them on the outside of the mechanism (held with their respective pins) showed the issue in crystal clarity. Some gentle work with a dremel and the cocked hammer won't fall no matter how much pressure I put on her. Huzzzah.
now for no reason at all...

My $44 project gun , remains a $44 project gun. I don't have to spend more money on parts than the finished product is worth.