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T/C 50cal Hawken - trigger and hammer issue..

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silencer223

32 Cal.
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Hi everyone, this is my first post, I recently was gifted a Thomson Center Hawken flintlock. I have noticed that when the hammer is all the way forward and in half cock the rear set trigger "flops" forward and backward with no tension on it. When it is a full cock I can set the rear teigger and everything appears fine. This is the first issue.

The second issue is occurs when cocking the hammer. When the hammer is at half cock and I begin to pull it back to full cock 2 clicks occure. The first one does not catch anything and if you let it go it will either fully de cock or go back to half cock. The second click occurs when the hammer reaches full cock and stays there as it should.

I would imagine that these 2 issues are probably related but i am not totally sure. PLEASE HELP!! If anyone has had this issue before and/or know how to fix it please respond ASAP! Thank you! I will be using thus beautiful rifle during the PA flintlock season and the muzzleloader season next year. I will probably crack open the lock and trigger assembly soon
 
I suggest pulling the lock and triggers cleaning it well with brake cleaner then oiling them with "Three-in-one " oil and then seeing how things work .Most lock problems are simply fixed by cleaning and oiling. Especially on guns with set triggers and a fly. :idunno:
 
You should be able to set the rear set trigger with the lock in any position.
If you can't, it is most likely the trigger assembly is installed slightly too deep into the stock.

The first 'click' you hear when you pull the hammer back from the half cock position is the sear jumping over the fly.
If the fly is working properly, after the sear has jumped over it, it will prevent the sear from re-entering the half cock notch. That is why the fly is in the lock.
The second click is the sear entering the full cock notch.
 
That's right.
The rear trigger should flop around until it's set. Normal

Two clicks past half cock to full,, Normal

Take the lock and triggers out anyway.
It's a good idea to do that for cleaning and lube, and you can play around with'm to see how they function, :wink:
 
I was able to set the trigger in any position. However the set trigger flops around when the hammer is in any position except full cock. And the hammer does not catch on the secind click. When the gun is in half cock and I start pulling it back I hear the first click which doesn't catch and sends it back to half cock or fully decocked. There is no problem with it catching at full cock. I am just concerned about that because my dad has a T/C renegade that was made around the same time as this one and his set trigger doesn't move around and his hammer only click when it reaches half and full cock.

I hope all that makes some sense haha, thanks for the responses guys!
 
The first thing to do is remove the lock. It does not sound to me like simply cleaning and lubing the internals will fix your issue but you have to look at the guts of the rifle to find out. You could have a worn or broken half cock notch although I am struggling a bit with your description of the problem. As for the triggers, the back trigger should not be loose at any time. Tension on the back trigger is what fires the rifle when the trigger is set You could have a bad or broken spring in the set trigger. Is there an adjustment screw in the trigger plate and have you tried to adjust the tension on the trigger? You did not say but I assume this gun was used when you received it. At any rate this is an unsafe condition - anything dealing with a lock or trigger which is not functioning as it is supposed to is potentially hazardous. If you find that you are unable to repair it yourself there should be quite a few gunsmiths in your area who can help you get it straight.
 
necchi said:
That's right.
The rear trigger should flop around until it's set. Normal

Two clicks past half cock to full,, Normal

Take the lock and triggers out anyway.
It's a good idea to do that for cleaning and lube, and you can play around with'm to see how they function, :wink:
This is correct. The rear set trigger will be loose until it is set, then it should be tight. The different clicks are as Zonie has said. Lubrication in the lock & trigger is critical to proper functioning. I don't think there is a problem other than the parts are dry.
 
My father bought it off someone who purchased it in the 80s. That owner only shot it about 10 times in his lifetime. As far as safety everything still works perfectly fine. It fires and both triggers work. I will try to post a short video describing this and post the link here. I can use it the way it is but I will still crack it open, lube it, and make sure everything is in good shape. It probably hasn't been opened up in over 20 years either.

There is a screw in between the main trigger and the set trigger. I compared it to my dads renegade and it appears to be backed out more than his gun. Maybe try tightening that? or see if there is a screw on the trigger spring? I read something about that.
 
Screwing it in will lighten the trigger pull. I misunderstood your statement about the play in the rear trigger. It should be loose when it is NOT set. I thought you meant it was loose when it was set. There is probably nothing wrong with the trigger. A single set trigger will always have tension on the rear trigger since it must be set for the rifle to fire but TC put double set triggers in their version of the Haweken. I have seen some set trigger springs with an adjustment screw but do not know if TC put it on the triggers in these guns.
 
The screw between the triggers adjusts the length of pull to release the front trigger. Screw it in too much and the trigger will not set. One way to tune it is to set the rear trigger and turn the screw in until the front trigger releases, then back the screw out one full turn. If set too tight it will cause a dangerous situation (hair trigger) where just jarring the rifle it will discharge if on full cock.
 
The first part of your question,(the trigger flops) and this is normal.

Each time you pull the Cock back, the sear will ride over the half cock, which has a piece called the fly. The fly must move out of the way, so the sear can seat into the half cock notch. If you go way past the half cock, or even all the way to full notch, and let the cock back down the fly keeps the sear from falling into the half cock notch, other wise it would lodge itself into the half cock on the way down and never fire. Yes there are a lot of clicks during the cocking of a flintlock rifle, these are normal.

So, here the question, if you ease the cock back to the half cock position, will it hold in this position? If you pull the trigger will it stay in the half cock position? Now remember if you go way past half cock or all the way to full cock, it will not drop back into the half cock, due to the fly. In fact you need to hold the trigger all the way back, when lowering the hammer from the full cock position, to keep it from hanging up on the fly.
 
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