1841 Mississippi

[Poor Private]

After having my Mississippi in a couple of smith shops (This is due to the hammer at 1/2 cock you can pull the trigger and it snaps down on the hammer). The gun is a Replica Arms manf. in 1978 by Bernadelli and parts are not available. Anyone have any suggestions on how to get this piece fixed? Yes I can fire it but it's the 1/2 cock issue I want solved. Is there a lock out there that will drop in? I just want a working gun, I don't care if the lock is by the same manufacturer.

 

[ian45662]

Get ahold of the folks at www.lodgewood.com. They should be able to fix you up.

 

[BillinOregon]

I think you should give up on that old "Yager" and sell to me for a tremendous loss.

 

[Zonie]

Have you examined the nose of the sear and the half cock notch?

The half cock notch should have a small groove which the nose of the sear can fit into. This groove makes it necessary to pull the hammer back slightly to get the nose of the sear out of the notch.

If someone forced the trigger while the sear was in the half cock notch it is possible they broke off the little area that forms the notch leaving just a small flat area. That would explain why the lock can slip out of the half cock position.

If this lip is broken off, a careful use of a Dremal with an abrasive cut off wheel can be used to cut a deeper groove for the sear nose.

That could repair the lock but it would involve totally disassembling the lock to get access to the place where the notch should be.

 

[hawkeye2]

What Zonie said and also the same situation can occur if the tip of the sear is broken off. I can't imagine 2 "gunsmiths" not being able to diagnose and repair this problem. This problem could reparable without parts and honestly it could be repairable without brand specific parts with a little fitting. The worst case scenario would be to have to weld up one or two parts, fit and harden. I suggest in the future you avoid these smiths. I'm sure they are too busy installing scopes and sling swivels to bother with you anyway.

 

[flintlockmdj]

With over 40 years of shooting black powder I can well imagin two smiths not recognizing the problem.
I have not seen "it all" but "a hell of a lot". Most modern gunsmiths don't know about muzzleloaders and don't care unless as you say it's to mount a scope on an inline or add sling swivels.

 

[krolick]

I do believe the repro 41 locks and the Zouave locks are the same. I've got both and they sure look the same. I know the main springs will interchange, possibly other parts as well. I was at Lodgewood this week getting a correct rear sight for my Zoli 41. They did have spare repro 41 parts - call or e-mail them to see if they can help. Finally, if all else fails, the tumbler can be over welded and new notches cut in then re-hardened. Hope this helps. G.S.

 

[59sharps]

Look up the northwest territory N-SSA site. they have a page on how to fix a lock sear and tumbler. nwtskirmisher.com/useful-locks.shtml
don't remember if we are allowed to attach links here so I gave it w/o the http and www in front of it.

 

[TOS The Old Sarge]

I had a similiar problem with a Parker Hale 1853 Enfield. Sent it to our local gunsmith who did some modifications on the sear, and said it was temporary fix, and to buy a new sear. I ordered one from Dixie Gun Works, and now it works quite fine.