Advice on trigger assembly

nitouken · March 12, 2005, 05:20 PM

Okay, as this post will no doubt show, I am VERY new at doing my own gun work. I have had a shotgun for about three years now, and this is the first thing that has gone wrong with it. I took the trigger assembly apart, thinking "Hey, I've fixed transmissions, this can't be much harder." Yeah, right. After I had the thing in pieces, cleaned and oiled everything, reassembled, and then test fired it a few times outside of the gun. Everything was copacetic. I put it back in the - now clean - shotgun, go out to the field where I shoot clays with some friends, chamber a round, and... nothing. I can't get the trigger to move. I wiggle the safety a little, thinking maybe it was a little out of place, and try again, aiming at a two liter full of water. Nothing. So I give up and go home. The gun is in pieces again, and the only thing that I can figure out, after testing and retesting, and experimenting, is that the rocker arm that holds the slide forward after a round is chambered and disables the trigger if the slide is back, is sticking. Any advice? The gun is a Ted Williams, made (IIRC) for Sears by Winchester in the 50s and 60s.

James K · March 12, 2005, 06:34 PM

Well, no way is a shotgun trigger group as complex as an automatic transmission, but they do have quirks.

I am not sure exactly which gun that is, and Sears had guns made by several different companies, so I am going to give you some generic ideas.

One possibility is that you might have tightened a pivot screw too much so it binds and prevents something from moving as it should. Look to see if the screw that arm pivots on was staked; if so, loosen it and restake in the same place. There is also the possibility that a screw may have left hand threads, as does the carrier screw on the Winchester Model 12 pump gun.

HTH

Jim

cntryboy1289 · March 12, 2005, 07:59 PM

Not familiar with the gun you have, but is it possible that you something out of alligment keeping the trigger from reconnecting. It may have gotten moved when you put the trigger group back in the gun. On some guns, you have to make sure the arm of trigger on the outside of the housing sits in the right relationship to the disconnector to allow the trigger to ride back into engagement. Look at the left side where the trigger and disconnector are and make sure that the trigger can can reset. Might check e-Gunparts.com to see if they have a schematic for you to look at to make sure you have them oriented correctly. I have worked on transmissions before, they are a good bit more complicated than trigger groups. One tip, before you remove parts next time, take a digital pic or draw the part in their relationship to other parts before you remove them and cannot remember how they line up. Good luck with it.

guntotin_fool · March 14, 2005, 02:17 AM

call numrich arms, gun parts and see if they have a schematic drawing or exploded diagram of the trigger assembly. lots of times a spring put in backwards or hooked on the wrong side of a pivot can look right but not function correctly,

or call around you might find a smithy in your area who is old like me and has fixed a lot of these. he might still have one sitting on the shelf or have done enough that he knows how to repair 'fixed" guns.

nitouken · March 15, 2005, 02:18 PM

Yeah... I called around, and I can't for the life of me find a gunsmith within 50 miles. Anyone know of one in the Springfield, OH area?

March 12, 2005, 05:20 PM	#1
nitouken Member Join Date: November 13, 2004 Posts: 19	Advice on trigger assembly Okay, as this post will no doubt show, I am VERY new at doing my own gun work. I have had a shotgun for about three years now, and this is the first thing that has gone wrong with it. I took the trigger assembly apart, thinking "Hey, I've fixed transmissions, this can't be much harder." Yeah, right. After I had the thing in pieces, cleaned and oiled everything, reassembled, and then test fired it a few times outside of the gun. Everything was copacetic. I put it back in the - now clean - shotgun, go out to the field where I shoot clays with some friends, chamber a round, and... nothing. I can't get the trigger to move. I wiggle the safety a little, thinking maybe it was a little out of place, and try again, aiming at a two liter full of water. Nothing. So I give up and go home. The gun is in pieces again, and the only thing that I can figure out, after testing and retesting, and experimenting, is that the rocker arm that holds the slide forward after a round is chambered and disables the trigger if the slide is back, is sticking. Any advice? The gun is a Ted Williams, made (IIRC) for Sears by Winchester in the 50s and 60s.

March 12, 2005, 07:59 PM	#3
cntryboy1289 Senior Member Join Date: July 19, 2004 Location: Ms Posts: 1,160	disconnector rpoblem Not familiar with the gun you have, but is it possible that you something out of alligment keeping the trigger from reconnecting. It may have gotten moved when you put the trigger group back in the gun. On some guns, you have to make sure the arm of trigger on the outside of the housing sits in the right relationship to the disconnector to allow the trigger to ride back into engagement. Look at the left side where the trigger and disconnector are and make sure that the trigger can can reset. Might check e-Gunparts.com to see if they have a schematic for you to look at to make sure you have them oriented correctly. I have worked on transmissions before, they are a good bit more complicated than trigger groups. One tip, before you remove parts next time, take a digital pic or draw the part in their relationship to other parts before you remove them and cannot remember how they line up. Good luck with it.

March 12, 2005, 06:34 PM	#2
James K Member In Memoriam Join Date: March 17, 1999 Posts: 24,383	Well, no way is a shotgun trigger group as complex as an automatic transmission, but they do have quirks. I am not sure exactly which gun that is, and Sears had guns made by several different companies, so I am going to give you some generic ideas. One possibility is that you might have tightened a pivot screw too much so it binds and prevents something from moving as it should. Look to see if the screw that arm pivots on was staked; if so, loosen it and restake in the same place. There is also the possibility that a screw may have left hand threads, as does the carrier screw on the Winchester Model 12 pump gun. HTH Jim

March 14, 2005, 02:17 AM	#4
guntotin_fool Senior Member Join Date: November 19, 2004 Posts: 1,446	call numrich arms, gun parts and see if they have a schematic drawing or exploded diagram of the trigger assembly. lots of times a spring put in backwards or hooked on the wrong side of a pivot can look right but not function correctly, or call around you might find a smithy in your area who is old like me and has fixed a lot of these. he might still have one sitting on the shelf or have done enough that he knows how to repair 'fixed" guns.

March 15, 2005, 02:18 PM	#5
nitouken Member Join Date: November 13, 2004 Posts: 19	Yeah... I called around, and I can't for the life of me find a gunsmith within 50 miles. Anyone know of one in the Springfield, OH area?