June 11, 2007, 08:13 AM | #1 |
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Lost action
I bought a Wolff extra-stiff hammer spring for my old Charter Bulldog and installed it yesterday. The spring is much stiffer than the one I took out and hopefully helps prevent the light strikes I had experienced. Problem is; now I have a double-action only revolver. Hammer won’t stay back for single-action operation.
Any ideas what I may have done wrong? grym |
June 19, 2007, 10:17 PM | #2 |
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Replacing the hammer spring...
should not affect single or double action.
I'm suspicious that the lifter hand from the trigger is not engaging the proper notch. I would suggest dis-assemble and detail it lube and re-assemble. If not fixed, take to smith. What year, I believe some ealier made bulldogs had a over-tighten but nothing about single-action failure. |
June 20, 2007, 06:30 AM | #3 |
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Sounds like push-off to me. The single-action engagement surfaces are worn or cut at the wrong angle. That gun was dangerous even before you changed the spring -- you could have pushed the hammer off with your thumb.
You need a gunsmith. |
June 20, 2007, 09:30 AM | #4 |
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I’m not sure of the year. I think the serial # is something like 21XXX.
I’ll take a look at the lifter hand/notch situation. HammerBite’s suspicion of the single-action engagement surfaces bear’s investigation, but with the original spring, I could not push the hammer off with my thumb. If I don’t find an obvious problem, I’ll take it to the smith…. or just buy a good revolver… yeah, maybe that’s the ticket! grym |
June 20, 2007, 09:37 AM | #5 | |
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Quote:
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June 20, 2007, 09:46 AM | #6 |
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Coil-bind. Now that may be a possibility. I did seem pretty tight in there. I’ll try and look tonight.
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June 20, 2007, 09:59 AM | #7 |
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I don't know anything about the lockwork of Charter Arms revolvers, so the following might not be worth much:
If the hammer-strut is not pinned into the hammer, are you sure you re-installed it the right way? If the strut is in the wrong position, that might cause excessive compression of the spring. Please let us know how this turns out. |
June 20, 2007, 08:38 PM | #8 |
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Fixed...
I first checked for coil-bind and while it’s close, that was not the problem (maybe Wolff does not make mistakes after all!). Upon closer inspection I noticed the main spring seat (as identified by Charter’s manual, but which I would refer to as a spring retainer) was not fully seated in its channel in the grip frame. It was cocked just a bit. It seemed insignificant, but I guess it changed the angle of the spring guide just enough to prevent the single-action surfaces from engaging. Once seated properly, the action works just fine. I double-checked and at full cock, I cannot push the hammer off with my thumb. I don’t think I could do it with both thumbs. So seems good to go. While I was at it, I carefully flat-sanded the mating faces of the grips, so they now actually lock out when the screw is tightened.
And now I like my Bulldog again! Thanks for your help! grym |
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