Dixie disappointment

[gunpa]

Got my new in the box Dixie Hawken Friday. Spent all day Saturday trying to make it work. Lock screw is tight against trigger base when snug----- not overnighted. Pulling front trigger 1/2 inch take up then about 15# pressure would drop hammer. After adjusting set triggers for a perfect pull the hammer won't fall. I'll be making a phone call Monday!

 

[ohio ramrod]

I would give them a chance to fix the problem. I have always had good results from Dixie.

 

[doubleset]

I had a problem like that with my TC Crockett rifle early on when I'd disassembled it and reassembled it. The locks and front/rear trigger relationships are subject to problems like that if the lock doesn't sit exactly right in its inlet. Often tiny screws are used as adjustable shims under the lock and may need to be adjusted or another shim added, sometimes a tiny bit of wood may need to be removed, etc. Such problems can happen if you tighten the lock into the stock more than the factory did (even by a small amount). The fix is typically easy and you'll get to learn how all of that works. The TC tech said, basically "Oh, yeah, here's what to do ...", I fixed it in a couple of minutes -- and then had to fix it a bit better when I did a little better work on the inletting a few weeks later. Give them a call and it will probably be pretty much the same with your problem.

 

[Gooddaytoya!]

Also, check the screws that hold the lock parts, for tightness (snugness). Loose lock-part screws made my lock really misbehave in a mysterious way until I finally tried tightening them. The hammer wouldn't fall, then it would only fall to half cock, and then it only fell if I pulled the trigger excessively hard. My lock has a set trigger too.

 

[jdw276]

Sometimes folks believe that a retail store front or internet shop inspects all the firearms they sell. Nope, do not even open the box in most cases unless the customer is present. This is a factory QC problem. Worked in a shop and a lot of folks consider a gun used if it is just in a case available for a customer to handle. Let alone fired. Dixie will take care of it but do not blame them for QC. Only person that ever worries about QC is the gun builder themself. Good luck with it. Dixie will make it right for the manufacturer.

 

[bang]

Had one that had high trigger pressure. Backed off the lock plate screws a half turn and it fixed it.
The slop in the trigger travel can be fixed by adding a very light spring to hold the slop.
Definitely up the charge to at least 60.

 

[doubleset]

To me, and at least from inspecting and experimenting with my Crockett lock, I think that all of these little glitches that are fixed by tightening or loosening screws, etc. are in fact simply symptoms of sloppy inletting and the measures the assemblers take to "fix" that. And yes, this is a factory QC problem. QC has become a major source of problems in a variety of products manufactured in at least a handful of companies worldwide. I just factor it into the price and try to learn everything I can about exactly what I should expect when the product arrives. Then fix what should have been done right in the first place.

 

[gunpa]

There definitely are inletting problems. Talked to the Gals at Dixie this morning. They said they'll gladly exchange it. Their gunsmith is only in on Tuesday and Wednesday so I might wait and talk to him. Thanks for all the responses.

 

[doubleset]

In a lot of these cases you can't really "fix" the inletting since too much wood has been taken off at one place or another. In the case of my Crockett lock I added a couple of little epoxy "pads" to shim it up, I added one washer on one of the lock bolts shimming up the front of the lock to bring it up a bit and even it out, I chipped out a bit at one point to get some necessary extra clearance because of other changes I'd made (!), and I added a small (#6?) wood screw as an adjustable shim (they already had three of those in place). It works perfectly now.

I'm inclined to -- at some point -- pull out all that extra screwage hardware and carefully bed it with epoxy, though I'm not sure when I may get to that since it works fine now and is stable through lock removal and replacement when I clean it. It still binds the rear of the barrel into the barrel channel when I tighten the rear lock screw -- which I find very irritating and may try to address at some point. But there just shouldn't be enough flex there (especially after I added a spacer block in the channel) for that to happen. Not a real problem, but just irritating. My Lyman GPR exhibits none of these "features".

 

[gunpa]

Talked to Dixie's Smith this morning. He said the factory has neglected to adjust the set triggers on some of these rifles so he had me send the stock minus barrel and he'd fix the triggers, shipping taken care of. Not worried anymore. Then I started on the barrel. Obviously had a proof load! Barrel looks great.

 

[hanshi]

I have a rifle that I used for years and it was a serious jewel when fired. Reliable and extremely accurate. Then one day at the range the trigger and lock would not cock and fire. I removed the lock and determined where a tiny bit of wood needed to be removed, and I mean "tiny". Did that and it's been the jewel since then.