Trouble with my 1853 euroarms 3 band musket

[bill shack]

Hi Guys i have trouble with my 1853 euroarms 3 band musket. this week end i was live firing my musket and i would load my musket with powder and minnie ball then install a percussion cap and fire. the hammer would start forward and the stop at the half cock position. I took the lock apart and noticed one screw that was loose. I tightened all the screws inside the lock and lubricated the lock with rem oil. i then tried again it still did the same thing it stopped at half cock. I opened the lock again and worked the lock many times back and forth. It worked for the next 15 shots then the stopping at half cock started again. My musket is always kept very clean and is only three years old.
I have fired it maybe 1000 times both blanks and live. Yes i always have it checked after live firing to make sure there is nothing inside. My question is why does the hammer stop at half cock. is there a part that is worn and needs to be replaced.

[Boyd Miles]

Could you possibly be letting the trigger go or not pulling it all the way back? Check to see if the trigger is in the right place, it might not be pushing the sear far enough out of the way, check too to see if it is worn on the top. Make sure the sear is moving freely and the spring is in the correct place. If everything is assembled correctly then the who thing is simple enough it usually works which goes back to if you are pulling the trigger back far enough or just tapping it and not holding it back. The amount of travel to release from full cock is not as much as it needs to clear half cock, you have to find why it isn't going the distance be it something you are doing, a mechanical problem, something binding such as a bit of wood in the way (look for recent scrapes in the lock inlet, nothing should be rubbing) or a screw too tight or too loose (the tang screw could be too long or not tight enough and has the trigger too far away to engage correctly). Hard to tell you without having the musket in my hands, I am sure Curt or Blair can give you the correct answer.

[Blair]

It is difficult to say what may have been the actual cause of this "unwanted" engagement of the sear and half cock notch at this point. As Boyd has pointed out, screws that are too loose may allow for wiggle room that causes unwanted wear. Screws that are too tight may pinch or bind on parts that need to move freely to function correctly.

It would be my guess that the face of the sear and/or the half cock has suffered or caused damage to one another from this unwanted contact.
Even a small amount of damage to the sear face may allow it to slip off the full cock notch before it can clear the half cock notch. Causing the two to crash into each other with a greater degree of regularity as parts become more heavily damaged from this unwanted contact.
Examine these two areas of each part. Clean up the half cock notch and you may find you will have to replace the sear. You wont know how much wear or damage has been done to the face of the sear until you are able to compare it with a new sear.
There are other variables that may need corrected, but, this is what I would suggest you look at first.

[lincolnsguard]

At any rate don't fire the musket until you have a professional give it the once over.

[fedpard24]

Mine does the same thing. I had to replace the sear a while back. If you don't pull the trigger back all of the way it hangs up. As long as you squeeze hard you are fine. I would just inspect the parts and try it and see.

[Ala-Sippi Rifle]

I had the same problem with my Euroarms Enfield. It seems the sear isn't made of hardened steel and over time tends to curl a bit from use. I replaced the sear and polished the tumbler,which cleared up the problem. I kept the old sear and straightened the end a bit to use as a spare.

[Curt-Heinrich Schmidt]

Hallo!

Just to add a bit to what has already been shared...

And NOT having the lock and gun in my hand...

The Italians are notorious for random hardness, tempering, and other metal treatments. And sometimes, who ever cut the half cock notch position ha sit in the wrong place so rather than balance between sear spring and mainspring sliding it past, it falls into the incorrectly located notch. Or sometimes the shape of the sear nose, and the shape of the half cock (or full cock on another problem) is too far "off' to allow the notch to function properly.

Not saying it is, just throwing out some other Italian "maladies."

CHS

[bill shack]

Many thanks to both of you

[bill shack]

I meant all of you

[DanWambaugh]

One last thought (that may or may not help.) I once had a musket come into the shop with the caveat that the half cock would catch unless you pulled the trigger hard. I dismantled the lock and noticed that the sear screw and the bridle screw had been swapped. Putting them into their correct configuration solved the problem instantly and permanently.

Perhaps something worth double checking.


Dan Wambaugh

[Blair]

Dan,

This sort of thing may happen from time to time.
Both the rear lock bolt screw and the forward bridel screw may, stick out from being flush with the lock plate and bind against the inside of the hammer. Either of these will slow the speed of the hammer fall due to friction or binding.
Because both of these screws are hiden by the hammer, they are often over looked as a potential problem.
This is why I stated,
Quote, "There are other variables that may need corrected".
Thank you, that was a good posting,

[TheQM]

You may have a problem with the lock binding against the the stock. That can cause things to slow down. Take out the lock and look for any shiny spots on the inletting where the lock parts have been rubbing against the wood.

Easy problem to fix. Use a jewler's file or sandpaper to remove just the slightest amount of wood from the inletting where the lock was rubbing. (You can always remove more. You can never make it thicker again!)

One of the many problems with the repops is the inletting is not sealed against moisture and the wood can swell from humidity or water getting into the inletting during cleaning.

[Blair]

Hi Bill,

As you suggest, each variable needs its own evaluation.
Screws too loose, screws too tight maybe the cause of several quite different issues that show up with similar problems/issues.
There can be many variables within the repros. The overall internal Geometry of the modern reproduction Enfield locks and parts are quite or rather poorly designed.
Too much wood, or in some cases, not enough wood may also cause problems. They all have to be evaluated for what they do or don't allow for in the repro's.

[Craig L Barry]

Ha! It's funny you should mention that because I had a comrade make that very same
mistake, mixing up the two almost indentical looking internal lock screws. Over-tightening was
binding the sear but putting the screws in their intended place fixed the problem. His was
an Armi Sport US 1842.

However, if no internal lock work was recently done, and the musket was working and now it isn't---
I suspect the sear is in need of replacement. It is easily done in 5 min but you need a mainspring vice
to do the job properly.