[theoldgringo]

gunny & Michael
Semper-fi and thanks for responding. This Woodsman was mfg. either in the late 50's, or early 60's and had always worked well with standard velocity ammo. To my knowledge, the last time the gun had been fired was around 1980 (I was present), when it still worked well. When my dad handed me the gun three, or so years ago the box contained a non-itemized receipt for repairs, dated 1998, which he had brokered through the infamous "Gun Room" in Portland, OR. Now then, I won't commit libel because I can't say the repair was the cause of the malfunction, but I can say, "it hasn't worked since".

I, subsequent (to the OP), have replaced the firing pin, sear, hammer and springs, cleaned it thoroughly and lightly "flitzed" the chamber and that solved the non firing problem. However, now the gun won't cycle. A closer inspection reveals a small (for lack of a better term) ratcheting notch on the hammer on this gun which apparently is not present on earlier generation Woodsmans. It appears that this notch engages the sear at cock and releases when the trigger is pulled. I have no idea how the earlier ones cocked. So, what is now happening, is the gun is firing every time, but the hammer is following the bolt forward, rather than engaging the sear, as the gun attempts to achieve battery.

I recently received an e-mail from one Robert Rayburn, saying he had the appropriate hammer, but my attempts to return mail have failed. I'm guessing I'm being blocked as spam. If any one knows how to contact Mr. Rayburn, please let me know, or if anyone knows the location of the appropriate hammer I'd appreciate knowing about that, too.

I think it's great that guys resurrect these old threads and take an interest in the results. The reason I didn't post results was the "long" time lapse between the OP and the (almost) fix.......... Lesson learned.

Thanks again and good shooting.