Help with trigger reset on Browning Buckmark

[ARperson]

Went to the range today to have a little fun with the Buckmark. But the trigger failed to reset after almost every shot. I had to pull the slide all the way rearward to reset it, which inevitably ejected a round. So it went kinda like this:

Load it up, chamber one then,
Fire
Click
Rack slide/eject round
Fire
Click
Rack slide/eject round

There were a couple of times when I could get a couple shots in a row without having to reset it by racking the slide, but more often than not, it failed to reset.

Any ideas why this might be happening? At first I thought the slide might not be going back far enough, but it does strip the next round off the magazine and chamber it (hence the 'eject round' part above). Suggestions?

 

[Dave Markowitz]

The gun may be dirty, e.g., unburned powder granules could've made their way down into the mechanism and need to be flushed out.

Another possibility is a bad trigger spring.

 

[Jim K]

I'll bet on a dirty gun. Field strip per the manual, remove the grips and hose the gun down with gun scrubber, then lightly oil and reassemble.

If this doesn't correct the problem, try us again.

Jim

 

[ARperson]

This actually started happening about 50 shots into a range session after a complete cleaning. I have kept stripping it down further and further and cleaned and oiled everything I could find trying to cure this problem.

I also always field strip and clean after every range session as well.

Any other ideas, or anyone else have this happen?


The Buckmark is the only firearm I have ever had this kind of malfunction on, it is quite frustrating. Thank you very much for the help.

 

[ARperson]

I just stripped it down, cleaned everything, and noticed while doing function checks the trigger link (it connects the trigger to an device just aft of the hammer that actually drops it, sear maybe?) comes disengaged with a couple of operations. Loosening the right grip (as viewed from behind) sometimes allows this to re-engage....temporarily.

Perhaps I just need a new trigger link?
Any help is greatly appreciated.

Right about now, I am very much regretting not getting the Ruger Mk II.

 

[Dilettante]

I recently got a used Buckmark Camper. It needed a good cleaning when I got it, so I took the slide off and ran the brush through many times. By the end it went through pretty smoothly.
I may have removed some of the grease that was on the slide, so I added some oil to it.
Today was my first time shooting since then. After 50 or 60 rounds, I started having a problem like AR's. The bullets would come out of the magazine, but at the wrong angle. Instead of going in the chamber, they got stuck behind the barrel. The slide couldn't come all the way forward.
To get some more shooting in, I used it like a bolt-action for a while, putting each round in the chamber individually. Not very much fun.

Any ideas? Could I have f'd up something during my reassembly?

 

[Jim K]

Hi, ARperson,

IIRC, there is a little V shaped spring that powers the disconnector and forces it up to engage the sear. Check to see if that part is there and working; it is easily lost.

Hi, Dilettante,

I doubt you messed up anything if the gun worked for 50 shots. The problem sounds like a bum magazine. You can try tinkering with the feed lips or just buy a new magazine.

Jim

 

[ARperson]

Yep, all the parts are there, including that pesky small spring.

I'm pretty sure the problem lies somewhere in the linkage between the trigger and the hammer. That linkage bar (what else do I call it?) actually drops below the spur it's supposed to engage and that is what is causing the failure, IMO. I know what's supposed to happen and that it's not. But I don't know why or how to fix it.

Who designs a gun where how tight the grip is screwed in determines how well the internals work? :banghead: :banghead:

 

[Standing Wolf]

Who designs a gun where how tight the grip is screwed in determines how well the internals work?

Sad to say, lots of .22 caliber pistols are "designed" so all parts must be in perfect working order, or the whole gun fails to work. I think a lot of these guns are "designed" to reduce manufacturing costs, not shoot well.

 

[Jim K]

Who designs a gun where how tight the grip is screwed in determines how well the internals work?"

Well, quite a few pistols depend on the grips to retain parts or otherwise play some role in functioning. The old Webley auto pistols had a V spring in the grip; it the grip was missing or broken, the shooter's hand interfered with the spring and stopped the gun.

I recently heard of a Ballester-Molina whose warped wood grip interfered with the disconnector. The Colt double eagle had a spring that was retained by the grip and flew away when the grip was removed. And none of those were .22's.

Jim

 

[Hal]

ARperson,
It's not that big of a deal. If you look at the parts involved, they're probably finished with some sort of rough phosphorate type finish. Get some 1200 or 1600 grit wet/dry from an auto parts store and smooth the finish down. Check the frame also for rough spots. It won't hurt to run the wet/dry over the frame area where the disconnect travels if you don't overdo it.

Grease the area with Tetra or DSX and add 1 drop of rem oil after putting the parts back in and the problem will go away.

My Camper did the same thing til I figured out where it was hanging up. After smoothing things up a tiny bit, it's been 100% no matter how tight or loose the grip screw is.

 

[Smurfslayer]

Wife's gun had the same problem

If you look at the bar, V shaped spring and slot for it in the frame, obviously with the grip off, you'll notice that the V shaped spring is about 1/4 " shorter than the V shaped groove for the spring... At least it is on my wife's Buckmark. If the spring sits in the bottom, the trigger won't reset even though it's still 'in contact'. Putting the V shaped spring in the top portion of the V shaped groove, with the gap at the bottom of the spring, allowed the gun to function and trigger to reset.

I noticed that this spring is particularly weak, and I'd like it to reset a little more positively.

Hope this helps !