Home » General Conversation » Gun Talk » contender help
| contender help [message #26838] |
Wed, 25 December 2013 12:18  |
gophishhhh
Messages: 9
Registered: March 2013
Location: Milwaukie, OR
|
Forum Newbie |
|
|
Merry Christmas all.
hoping to find some help with one of my contender G1 frames.
frame is stainless with trigger group pin directly over the trigger shoe. low round count frame.
with multiple barrels (all have split lugs), barrels lock up tight and hammer cocks. But if I wiggle or push forward on the hammer, it drops (wont stay cocked).
I have cleaned everything and even tried backing sear adj screw all the way out. so, this is an unsafe frame at this point. cant find anything broken or heavily worn inside either. any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
|
|
|
|
| Re: contender help [message #26839 is a reply to message #26838] |
Wed, 25 December 2013 12:50  |
|
|
I can't be of much help and I am sure that some of the folks that have more knowledge than I will be along shortly. The first thing that enters my thought is that the sear has been stoned at the wrong angle. At this point it is definately a dangerous firearm. Be very careful. I wish I could be of more help, but that is the first thing I would look at. You have gone through the main things. It may be time for a professional.
Mr. Murl
ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ
Molan Labe
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither safety nor liberty." - Benjamin Franklin
“Quemadmoeum gladuis neminem occidit, occidentis telum est.” (A sword is never a killer, it is a tool in the killer’s hands.) – Lucius Annaeus Seneca, circa 4 BC – 65 AD
"America will never be destroyed from the outside.
If we falter and lose our freedom, it will be because
we destroyed ourselves."
~ ~ Abraham Lincoln ~ ~
[Updated on: Wed, 25 December 2013 12:51] Report message to a moderator |
|
|
|
| Re: contender help [message #26840 is a reply to message #26839] |
Wed, 25 December 2013 13:09 |
jmiles007
Messages: 51
Registered: December 2012
Location: NEMO
|
Novice Contributor |
|
|
First of all: Merry Christmas to all of my Encoreclassified friends.
I agree with Mr. Murl. It's time for a professional. Not knowing the history of the frame, it could be any one of a number of root causes: improper trigger work, factory defect, damage from being dropped, etc. But, whatever the cause, the result is the same. Any firearm that can be externally forced to randomly drop the hammer is definitely dangerous.
If it hasn't had a bunch of custom work that you don't want to be undone, the cheapest route would probably be to send it back to T/C. A lot of what they do is covered under warranty (although that is slowly changing under the new ownership), and they will replace any nonconforming parts with new factory. Their biggest problem right now is the availability of the parts due to high demand, so it may take a while.
There are several custom gunsmiths out there who are very good with T/C stuff, but I think few would argue that one of the best among them is Mike Bellm. I'm sure he would be able to fix it, and also could do any tuning that you might desire at the same time.
Good luck with it, and be sure to report back on what you found so that the rest of us can learn something, too.
Also, sorry for hijacking your thread, but while I'm here, I thought I would mention that in my search for a Contender sear plunger, I ended up with two of them. So, if anyone else finds themselves short a plunger, please feel free to contact me.
Jerry
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Re: contender help [message #26846 is a reply to message #26841] |
Wed, 25 December 2013 13:45 |
jamesgammel
Messages: 1708
Registered: August 2012
Location: Lovell, Wyoming
|
Top Contributor |
|
|
Brad,
Since we don't have the gun in front of us, we'll have to ask questions that may help with figuring this out.
1. Are you the original owner, or did you purchase it "used"? (goes to how much you know about it's past)
2. Just to be sure, I would assume it is an "angry cougar" frame and has a serial # preceeded with "S".
3. You mention when cocked, "wiggling" or pushing the hammer forward causes the hammer to drop. When cocked, does the hammer "wiggle" side-side?
I have 4 G-1's of various age and round counts and NONE have any "wiggle" side-side when cocked.
You should have a swing-lever style firing pin/safety hammer, even if your frame was an older armour-alloy frame which many "call" an SS frame (not neccessarily you, but let's cover allthe bases. With a barrel mounted, put the selector on "safe (middle position), cock it, and repeated pull the hammer back and let it go back down. It "should" move back about a quarter of an inch but fall back to the "cocked" position (and never drop any further no matyter how many times you repeat this).
Next, with the lever still on "safe" cock the hammer and do whatever it is you have been doing and "make the hammer drop". When it does, does the front of the safety lever touch the frame? It SHOULD leave about a 1/16th" gap, thus not fully dropping, and hitting a firing pin IF it had been set for either left or right (rim-fire or center-fire). Reason being, the hammer block safety should not have dropped down because the trigger hadn't been pulled.
You mentione "one of" your G-1 frames, so you must have at least one other. Any chance (by you) both guns were unassembled at the same time, and a part from one frame got inadvertantly put in the other?
Let's start with these, then see if we can diagnose.
Jim
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Re: contender help [message #26851 is a reply to message #26849] |
Wed, 25 December 2013 15:28 |
jamesgammel
Messages: 1708
Registered: August 2012
Location: Lovell, Wyoming
|
Top Contributor |
|
|
Brad,
Glad to hear your issues cleared up. the problem didn't happen to arise while trying to use a different barrel than the .223 carbine or 30-357 did it? If your debris hypothesis is correct, I'd be worried that that piece may find itself back in the sear notch and plague you again. Be nice if you could actually find and remove it. Unlike G-2's and encores, G-1 hammers will still cock if the trigger guard is "reset" and no barrel even on it. Mount a barrel, close, then reopen and while the barrel is still open (dropped down) the hammer will cock. Pulling a G-1 trigger is what makes a hammer "un-cockable".Even with no barrel you can reset the hammer cockability by pulling back on the trigger guard. The locking bolts have more to do with re-setting the hammer block safety than with hammer cocking. With no barrel, pulling the trigger shouldn't let the hammer fall all the way to hit a firing pin swing lever safety engaged or not. Your hammer "wiggle" at cock is what concerns me most, there shouldn't have been any wiggle when the hammer was cocked. Since your attempt to "test" failed to exibit any symptoms, I'm wondering if you may have had a cartridge "too long" for your barrel/frame combo and it was keeping the locking bolts from seating fully. When it was "screwing up" did the gun still fire when you pulled the trigger? Common symptom of locking bolt seating fully issues is failure to fire.
Jim
|
|
|
|
| Re: contender help [message #26852 is a reply to message #26851] |
Wed, 25 December 2013 15:49 |
jamesgammel
Messages: 1708
Registered: August 2012
Location: Lovell, Wyoming
|
Top Contributor |
|
|
Brad,
BTW, contrary to what you may have read, you DON'T have to "open" a G-1 contender to be able to re-cock the hammer to be able to shoot it. You can merely put the swing lever on your easy open frame to "safe", pull the trigger spur while keeping the barrel from dropping, and the trigger will reset the hammer to cockable. If you're so-inclined, you can also "pull the trigger" and ease the hammer down (I still don't recommend doing that) keeping the barrel closed and you can still cock the hammer and shoot. The locking bolts will keep the hammer block safety re-set. It's not the barrel opening and closing that re-sets everything, but pulling back the trigger guard spur is what re-sets the "sear" independent on the hammer block safety mechanism. Don't "dry fire" a contender when the hammer can actually let a firing pin be struck. Dry firing with the hammer left "down" is still acceptable to feel "trigger pull", barrel on or off.
Jim
|
|
|
|
| Re: contender help [message #26853 is a reply to message #26851] |
Wed, 25 December 2013 15:54 |
gophishhhh
Messages: 9
Registered: March 2013
Location: Milwaukie, OR
|
Forum Newbie |
|
|
Jim,
Problem followed the frame, I tried multiple barrels (pistol and carbine). The side to side hammer wiggle is around .010 total. with hammer cocked then fired, hammer is not contacting breach face. seems normal to me??
when it was screwing up, it would fire so long as the hammer stayed cocked. but if you pushed on the hammer spur it would drop.
|
|
|
|
Goto Forum:
Current Time: Fri May 17 23:52:06 EDT 2024
|
] 
Thompson Center Encore Classifieds
Search
Help
Members
Register
Login
Home
