What's wrong with my lock ??????

I have a T/C New Englander percussion. After it has been stored for awhile, I have a problem with its lock. It will skip past halfcock and remain at fullcock. It also feels "mushy" for lack of a better word. After working the hammer from nipple to fullcock several times the problem gradually goes away(it catches at halfcock as it should). I have adjusted the lock bolt to see if that has been the culprit to no avail. Also, I have made sure that the screw heads inside the lock were tight but not over-torqued.

Anybody have an idea what is wrong with this lock? As always, many thanks! :bow:

If things change when it's put up, then it is one of two things metal or wood. Make sure the lock is clean and rust free. Check the inleting around the lock and trigger assembly for interferance. I have found swelling of the wood can cause this, especialy in humid areas.

Is it possible that you have a build up of oil and or dirt in the half cock notch?I would think that too much oil would collect dirt and fill the notch. Might be worth a try to clean it good.
Edwin

At the risk of showing my ignorance of the New Englander, is is possible that your gun has a TC Hawken style lock in it?

The TC Hawken style lock is made for use with double set triggers so it has a fly in its tumbler.

You might take the lock out of your gun and watch what's happening to the nose of the sear where it meets the tumbler as the hammer is released from the full cock position.

Do this by holding the hammer so it will fall slowly.
Pushing upward on the sear arm to release the sear from the tumblers full cock notch and then releasing the sear arm, let the hammer fall very slowly.

As it falls, the nose of the sear will ride against the outside of the tumbler until it gets to the half cock notch.

If the lock does not have a fly in its tumbler, the nose of the sear will enter the half cock notch.
If the lock has a fly, when the nose of the sear gets almost to the half cock notch the fly will prevent it from entering.
The sears nose will then ride up over the fly and allow the hammer to fall to the fired position.

For a gun with double set triggers, this fly is very important. Without it, the sear will try to enter the half cock notch, stopping the hammers fall.
A fly isn't needed for a single trigger gun because the shooters finger pressure on the trigger will keep the sear well away from the tumblers half cock notch as the hammer falls.

If your lock has a small fly in its tumbler, it was made for use with a set trigger and you can remove it for your single trigger gun.

If your lock has a fly in it and you decide to live with it you MUST always lower the hammer below the half cock notch and then raise it back up until you hear the click of the sear entering the half cock notch.
That is THE ONLY WAY to put a lock with a fly into the half cock position.

Don't crank those lock bolt down so hard. Put witness marks on the bolt heads, and the washer under the bolt to give you a reminder of how far in those bolts should be turned, AND NO FURTHER!

I suspect that you squeezed the lock just a little tighter when you put the gun up last, and that is forcing the wood in the lock mortise against the searbar, and tumbler, and, possibly, the fly. Check the fly area to see of you have congealed oil in there that is gluing the fly in one position and lot allowing it to swing freely. That would explain why the hammer would not go into the half cock notch, until you worked it back and forth a few times.

All your lock bolts, and threaded screws were produces and cut to length so that they do not EXTEND PAST the front side of the lock plate. Take a good look. If even half a thread is sticking out past the lockplate, you have over tightened the screw or bolt. With most modern made locks, you should not even be able to feel the nose of a screw or bolt from the outside of the lockplate.

I have seen guns where some guy screwed the top lockplate screw in so far, that the screw actually blocked the movement of the hammer. The wood on the other side of the stock was a mess.

Leave the gorilla out of your work area. Treat that lock as you might a fine, expensive, Swiss watch, when tightening screws. Wood is easily compressed when you screw a bolt or screw into wood too far. That collapses the wood cells, breaks the wood, or weakens the wood, so that eventually, you will need serious wood doctoring, on that stock, or a new stock.

Start wood screws by hand, before using a screw driver to finish them. That way you are more likely to get the screw threads following the existing threads in the wood, rather than "cross-threading", cutting across the existing threads, and cutting new threads. Do this many times, and the wood will crumble, fall out, and won't hold a screw at all!

With bolts, start them also with fingertips, and only use that screw driver when you feel the threads catching in the metal nut, or flange. Then, just snug the bolt down and return it to the witness mark position.

"At the risk of showing my ignorance of the New Englander, is is possible that your gun has a TC Hawken style lock in it?"

It's the same lock, good advise above.

It sounds to me like whatever you used to lubricate the lock has congealed. When you work the lock a few times it wears off, allowing the lock to function properly.

Sounds like the oil in the lock gummed up after being stored, degrease the lock and see if that frees up the action.