Bob

I am going to disassemble the receiver again and reinstall the retractor I am sure I put it in correctly but it doesnt hurt to redo it just in case

Rob

Yes I have done that and it almost travels far enough looking at it from inside the receiver. I have a couple other 73's and comparing the  cycling the only difference is bolt position that I can see. The hammer is in good condition and the bolt fave is not overly worn

Rob

Rob

You can remove the stock and the left sideplate and watch it as you cycle the lever. You just leave the right sideplate on and lay the gun on that side so the toggles don't fall out. You will be able to see why its not going in to full cock.

Bob

I have a Winchester 1873 rifle in 38-40 that has a single set trigger. When I got this rifle is was pretty dirty and I cleaned it I cycling the action was good and it ejected a dumped my round from the magazine into the carrier, bolt seated the case and ejected nicely. The set trigger did not work could not be set but the half cock and full cock worked correctly. I cycled and fired a few rounds and it shot fine and the cases looked good with centered primer hits.

I saw the set scew was scewed in so I unscrewed it a little and it still would not set. It was at that time I dissassembled the action to look at the parts. Taking the plates off the toggles were in good condition but dirty so I removed those and the lifter, carrier and cleaned them. I removed the buttstock and removed the hammer spring so I could look at the trigger assembly. I removed the finger lever screw and pin removed the finger lever. Then I tooked out the lower tang screws with the idea of removing the lower tang but it would not move. I tried socking it with Kroil oil and gently pulling and trying to rock it but no go. Gently used a brass hammer but nothing. I then decided to clean the muck out of the set trigger assembly using degreaser a small brush and compressed air. Once done the set trigger worked correctly. There was a lot of gunk in it mostly dired oil. I lightly oiled it and then resembled the rifle. Once it was reassembled I cycled the action and found that the bolt drove the hammer back but would not go back enough to engage the full cock. Pulling the lever back the hammer would follow back and stop at the half cock. The half and full cock notches are in good shape and both work great. When shooting the rifle I could put it in half cock and it held and could cycle and full cock would hold until the trigger was pulled. Now after cleaning I have a working single set trigger but cannot cycle the bolt enough to get the full cock to engage,

So I am at a loss at why this is happening. It looks like the bolt needs to travel about .125" more to fully engage the full cock. Not sure why I can't remove the lower tang and not sure why after cleaning the full cock will not engage when cycled, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks 

Rob

I am looking for Winchester 1886 finger lever bolt & bushing and a hammer if possible. All the sites I look for parts are out (Homestead, Old Arms Idaho) I'd appreciate any suggestions on where I can locate these. I posted this in the Swap section as well.

Thanks,

Rob

 There is a rare chance that the hammer notch has a hardened grease build up in front of the full cock hammer notch. That can be removed by spraying something on the front of the hammer with it in full cock and pushing forward on the trigger as it hits the notch.

 A 1886 plain trigger and hammer has lots of meat on it to file but it takes skill. T/R

I guess I'll have my gun smith look at it. Thanks for the advice.

I looked at Homestead parts, and they said the sear is part of the trigger. But none are available. 

Would a broken trigger spring cause this?  Or has someone altered the trigger and sear?

Just wondering what might all be involed in correcting this issue.

Thanks

It has about a 1/4" of free play, then about a 12lb pull. Does anyone make an aftermarket trigger for this rifle?

Or can someone recommend a compitent gunsmith for a trigger job. Thanks.