Hammer not striking right

[BranchwaterJack]

All,

I need some help. I am really not sure what to do at this point.

My Taylor's Spencer is having a bit of an issue. When the hammer falls, it is not hitting the firing pin. It come down to the right of the pin hitting the receiver.

If you ease the hammer down, it lines up with the firing pin just fine, but when you pull the trigger off it goes. Some times, it looks like it is glancing just the side of it, but not enough to make detonation.

Any help would be appreciated.

[BranchwaterJack]

Well, after fiddling with it for a while, I found that if I back out the hammer screw about a 1/2 turn, it hits just right.

Anyone ever encountered this before?

[Herbert]

Well, after fiddling with it for a while, I found that if I back out the hammer screw about a 1/2 turn, it hits just right.

Anyone ever encountered this before?

jenraly when the hamer is not hiting proply it is because the screw through the lock to the frame is loose,there should be no sidways movment in the hamer ,best way to check this is to put on harlf cock and see weather the hamer will move from side to side,if it has any movment take the lock of and check bridle screws are firmed up,if this does not fix problem it will need smith work or replacment

[Drydock]

As he said, your bridle screws are loose.  Take the lock off and tighten everything up NOW!

[BranchwaterJack]

Checked the bridle screws and all is snug.

I am noticing that the gap between the lock and hammer is not uniform front to back.  The gap at the back of the hammer measures .005 with a feeler gauge while the gap at the front measures greater than .035 all the way back to where one of the bridle screws is perking out the lock.

Is that gap variation expected?  It would certainly cause the happer to hit right.  Bad tumbler?

[Herbert]

Checked the bridle screws and all is snug.

I am noticing that the gap between the lock and hammer is not uniform front to back.  The gap at the back of the hammer measures .005 with a feeler gauge while the gap at the front measures greater than .035 all the way back to where one of the bridle screws is perking out the lock.

Is that gap variation expected?  It would certainly cause the happer to hit right.  Bad tumbler?

are there any wear marks on the tumberler or the bridle,if not you will have to remove the mainspring to check for any movment,the gap between the hamer and lock plat should be enough so it does not rub on the lockplate,if there is no woble of the tumbler the gap should not mater,although it could be caused by the axile hole for the lockplate being over sized,this is very bad as it will put the tumbler out of square and cause the lock to wear very quickly

[BranchwaterJack]

First, thanks for all the help guys.

I complety took down the entire lock assembly to look for wear. I saw no major signs of wear.

When putting everything back together I was looking for fit.  The tumbler has a good fit through the lock and no movement on any axis. However the hammer has quite a bit of wobble around the tumbler.  So much so that, when the hammer fits to make contact with the firing pin, there is a diference in depth from the outer face of the hammer to the top face of the timbler is about .010" front to back.  So, as the hammer screw is tightened, it is squaring the outer face of the hammer to the outer face of the tumbler and that is throwing off the striking face of the hammer to the right.

Is there supposed to be a lot of play between the hammer and the tumbler prior to tightening the hammer screw, or is that supposed to be a pretty snug fit? Also, should I have that much variance in the fit between tumbler outside edge and the hammer outside edge?

[BranchwaterJack]

The gap that I have between the tumbler and the hammer is .013".  That is causing the hammer to have quite a bit of movement on the tombler.  What is that gap supposed to be?

And if someone could check a couple measurements of the hammer. I have a thickness just at the front edge of the mounting hole at .353" while the thickness at the back of the hole is .367". Does that look normal?

Also, the outermost end of the tumbler measures .298" square while the base of the tumbler measures .308" square.

[Drydock]

The hammer should be a snug fit on the tumbler, with the screw serving only as a retention aid.  Call (Not email, Call) the folks at Taylors and explain.  They're usualy very good at correcting problems like this.  You might need to send then the lock, if not the whole rifle, for a properly fitted hammer and/or tumbler.

[French Jack]

It sounds as if the hammer is not correct.  The taper on the tumbler shaft is normal, as the hammer is snugged up on the taper.  The hammer is very likely a bad casting, and the fit to the tumbler shaft is loose, causing the hammer to move out of alignment.  I would call Taylor's and see if they can fit a new hammer.

[BranchwaterJack]

We got it all worked out. Included replacing the hammer and putting a shim on the back of the lock plate

[Two Flints]

Hi Branchwater Jack,

Any chance you could post or send me a photo(s) of the shim and lock plate modification for others to see, if they have a similar problem?

Two Flints  fsgrand2@fairpoint.net