Project Heavy '76 - Welding Up the Hammer & Sear|Restoration, Repair and Maintenance|Forum|Winchester Collector

TXGunNut said
Wow! Good job, was fun seeing all that machinery along with a steady hand put to good use. I would have liked to see the first fitting in the gun but it would have been a waste of time for most folks. Your singing partner was right on cue. 

 

Mike  

Thanks Mike.  The first fitting was kind of anticlimactic.  The tip of the full-cock notch was a few thousandths too tall, so the sear didn’t catch the fly and just dropped into the half-cock notch.  I polished it down a bit and the sear picks up the fly now.  And yes, Ranger stole the show.  He’s quite the ham! Hope to get a chance to visit with you at Cody.  Mark

TR said
 Mark, That was a great job of welding, not many people that call themselves welders could do that.

 Repairing a set trigger, including the welding and machining would take how many man hours? When buying a gun with a defective set trigger the price of the repair has to be considered in the purchase price. It’s not a $300 repair.

                                                                                                                                                Thanks Mark loved it. T/R  

Thanks TR.  When I recently took a tig welding class in gunsmith school, I was the only student over 30 years old and the instructor told the class on the first day how “old guys” struggle with tig because our eyes and manual dexterity are shot.  I took it as a challenge and finished the entire course a month early with the highest score in the class.  By the end of the course, the instructor told the other students they should just send all their welding projects to me when they become gunsmiths.  Sometimes us “old guys” still have something to show the young whipper snappers.

Of course, a typical hammer rebuild wouldn’t take this much welding.  Usually, a hammer isn’t ground down like this one and just needs a little welding.  Getting the notches cut it is a slow and deliberate process, though, especially with a set trigger.  The geometry is critical.  Then there is polishing and either surface hardening and bluing or color case hardening, depending on the vintage of the rifle.  This hammer was just about as challenging as they come because of the excessive grinding and the fact that it’s a set trigger.  It probably wouldn’t have been worth the cost to fix if a replacement hammer could be found, but it’s not often a person finds a ’76 set trigger hammer on a table at a gun show.  Mark 

1892takedown said
Thoroughly enjoyed the video.  Thanks for taking the time and effort to produce and share. 

Chris  

Thanks Chris.  I’ve been really busy this spring and have been pecking away at this project for a while.  Made it kind of challenging when I had to try to splice it all together when editing it.  Glad it came out OK and you enjoyed it.  Mark 

tim tomlinson said
Mark,  I am amazed!  Best way to put it….  My welding class years ago, my best efforts were in hard edging cultivator shoes.  “Wiggle it a little”!  Yeah, I did that with all my welds!  NO WAY can I even come close to holding still enough!  I have more to get you more experience.  See you in Cody!  I do have a good surprise for you, I think!  Tim  

[email protected] said
Mark,

Great Video, along with exceptional work, skill, engineering,etc……..!  Truly very professional in your work. We truly do enjoy, what you bring to the table. Thanks!

Tony  

Thanks a bunch guys!  

Tim – I’ll be looking forward to shooting the breeze and learning about that surprise in Cody.  Mark