Part II
Trigger pull weight is a function of these primary things:
1. Mainspring strength.
2. Angle of the Full Cock Notch on the Tumbler.
3. Angle of the Sear Face and agreement with the Full Cock notch on the Tumbler.
4. Sear Engagement and in the case of a Military Lock, much of that is in the depth of the full cock notch.
5. Sear Spring strength.
6. Position of Trigger.
7. Improper drag or friction due to improperly shaped or fitted parts.
I already noted I do not recommend reducing the mainspring; because it has to work on such large parts in a military lock, it increases lock time and may/will have a negative effect on the sparking of the lock. For many Novices, Items 3, 6 and 7 are beyond their technical abilities and/or are too difficult to do without serious instruction.
I do believe one should inspect Angle of the Full Cock Notch on the Tumbler, both to see “what is going on” and in case the angle is so bad ”“ to get the lock to someone more knowledgeable to correct it. I am somewhat concerned about using the following link for examples of this and other things, because I am not in agreement with some of the information ”“ yet there is a lot of good information in the link. So with this caution in mind, please scroll down to Figure 2 under “MODIFICATIONS. Step 1. Modify the full cock notch to an angle that increases the trigger pull.”
http://www.nwtskirmisher.com/useful-locks.shtml
Figure 2 shows the correct angle for a Full Cock Notch, for optimal performance. The angle is square and perpendicular to the Tumbler Shaft. If this is what it looks like on your Tumbler, that is great, but usually not the case. “line A” shows the angle of the Notch going forward and this is not acceptable because either the Sear will not remain in the Full Cock Notch (NOT Safe) or will easily slip off and thus make WAY too light of a Trigger Pull. What you probably will see in your lock is more like “line B” in the illustration, where the angle is such that the bottom of the full cock notch angles backward at least slightly. From many of the original 18th and early 19th century Military Flint Locks I have seen, I personally believe they designed a LITTLE bit of backward angle as a safety feature for the wear of the parts there, during the working life of the Lock. NOTE: Any backward angle as in “line B” is going to INCREASE the weight of the trigger pull. The more angle goes backward, the more trigger pull weight, because you are actually cocking the Tumbler and thus the Cock/Hammer as you pull the trigger.
It is a pretty safe bet that the angle of the notch in your tumbler is already angling backward by your description of the Trigger Pull Weight, as it now stands. For many people, it is NOT a good idea to try reshaping the Full Cock Notch, though. It is WAY too easy to cut through the surface hardness and then you have to re-harden and anneal the Tumbler OR it is too easy to not modify the notch correctly and then other problems will occur. I would suggest you leave the Full Cock Notch alone for now, as long as the angle is going backwards. I DO NOT suggest modifying the Full Cock Angle backwards more, as the author of the link recommends, because then you are going to cut through the surface hardening and will have to re-harden and anneal the tumbler in Pedersoli and most Italian Locks.
A very important thing to do to reduce the trigger pull weight in such a Military Lock is to reduce the Sear Engagement and in the case of a Military Lock, that means reduce the depth of the full cock notch. This means modifying the Tumbler so the nose of the Sear will not go as high up into the Tumbler Notch, when the parts are installed.
What appears to be the most straightforward way to do that is to file/grind down the Full Cock and Half Cock Notches ”“ as described and shown in “Option 2A) File or machine down the tumbler to the shape shown in Figure 3.” of the above listed link. This is the first way I was taught to do it, BUT I had mentors right there as I was working on the lock. Even so, it is WAY too easy to cut too much of either or both Notches or cut them wrong and then ruin the Tumbler. Further, Pedersoli and other Italian made gun lock parts are normally not “through hardened” like the Original Lock Parts were done for the Civil War. So you wind up cutting through the surface hardening and then really should reharden and temper the Tumbler. There are also a host of other problems when doing it this way. So I DO NOT recommend this for most people, unless they have a Mentor to show/train them. (FWIW, it used to drive me CRAZY working trigger pulls on Smith Carbines using this method.)
I really wish I remembered the name of the tall slender fellow who worked with Nick at “The Gator Den” on Sutler’s Row for many years at the NSSA Spring and Fall National Championships to give him full credit. Since we were right next door, we often went back and forth to each other’s places and I purchased a LOT of Smith Parts and other parts there over the years. Anyway, this exceedingly kind tall slender gentleman first showed me about soldering on a brass shim to the Tumbler to reduce trigger pull weight on a Smith Carbine in the very early 80’s. Then another extremely well known Smith Carbine “Smith” told me how he did it. He used common Lead Free Solder and tinned the brass shim with solder, then cleaned and fluxed the tumbler and soldered the brass shim on with a good size soldering gun.
In the link shown above and in “Option 2B) Solder or use an adhesive to attach a thin piece of brass to the tumbler as shown in Figure 5.” ”“ the author mentions that soft solder is too soft and can fall off. Well, that is true and especially if the shim is not properly soldered. When I asked many folks who had correctly used soft solders if the shims fell off, only a small percentage said it had happened. Taking into account that even a small percentage might fail, I chose to solder on shims with Brownell’s Hi-Force 44 Solder. Since it flows at 475 F, it can be used without messing up the tempering of the full cock notch. The author of the linked article also mentioned a fairly new adhesive to try instead of solder and that is “Loctite Black Max.” Since I have never used that, I can’t recommend it, but I am thinking about trying it out to see how it compares to the Brownell’s Solder.
Ok, there is more to write, but I’ve been at this for some time today, so will have to close for now and come back later with Part III.
Gus
So have not been motivated to reharden the frizzen. I'll betcha rehardening will get it firing just fine. Loads, prime, phase of moon, none seem to matter. The Bess' fires reliably. Won't cut Xs at 100 yards, or maybe even 50 but it will go "bang" when the bad guys are charging.
