Inconsistent trigger pull on Buckmark

[Candiru]

Recently, my Browning Buckmark has developed a problem with its trigger pull. Every so often, I'll pull the trigger back to the breaking point, where it will hang up until I put about 10-12 pounds of pressure on it. As you can probably imagine, this throws off any sort of shooting. This problem developed around 2000 rounds, which leads me to suspect there may be some crud interfering with the trigger or the sear, even though I clean it after every range trip.

Have any of you run into this sort of problem with your autoloaders or Buckmarks? If so, how did you solve it?

 

[jonnyc]

Hey Willy-Fish!
Get one of the self-drying spray cleaners and give it a good hosing. Do not use any that say it may harm certain paint, plastic, or rubber, as your grips will suffer. I use electrical parts cleaner. That should fix you up.

 

[mete]

In blowback type actions like 22s powder residue and bits of lead are blown back into the action. If these are permitted to accumulate they can cause problems.A thorough cleaning should correct the problem.

 

[BigG]

You have a dirt problem. About 9 times out of ten, those symptoms indicate the need to clean out the trigger mechanism. A spray like Gun Scrubber will do it the easiest and get you back up to speed, as the others have noted.

 

[mete]

Spraying things into a gun doesn't clean it . The powder residue and lead must be removed , Get in there with an old tooth brush and Q-tips and get out the gunk. I watched a 45 go full auto because the hammer/sear area was completely filled with goop consisiting of dirt and powder residue and lube - it had the consistancy of peanut butter !!

 

[19112XS]

Remember to relube after using Gun Scrubber or any similar cleaners. They remove lube too.

 

[asknight]

Yep

Spraying things into a gun doesn't clean it . The powder residue and lead must be removed , Get in there with an old tooth brush and Q-tips and get out the gunk. I watched a 45 go full auto because the hammer/sear area was completely filled with goop consisiting of dirt and powder residue and lube - it had the consistancy of peanut butter !!

+1

The Buckmark is one of the easiest .22 handguns to fieldstrip, just remove the rear sight and you can get at everything. Two allen screws and viola!

 

[jonnyc]

True, but even field-stripped, you can't really get into the trigger group on a Buckmark. A good solvent spray does a good job of cleaning the unit. Really not worth the pain of a detail strip.

 

[MrAcheson]

It isn't that hard to detail strip a buckmark either. I did it without instructions right after I bought mine. Getting it back together is a bit tougher, but that was because I took it apart through spontaneous disassembly - if you know what I mean. Once I figured out the right order of hammer, sear, and springs, it got a lot easier. Now that I know which pins to pull in the right order, I don't have to worry about losing stuff which is a bonus.

Take off the slide and the grips and give everything you see a good cleaning. If the problem persists then got to a detail strip. Also make sure you clean out the firing pin channel while you are at it.

 

[Standing Wolf]

Getting it back together is a bit tougher, but that was because I took it apart through spontaneous disassembly - if you know what I mean.

[SMIRK] Why, I've never heard of such a thing! [/SMIRK]

 

[Candiru]

Thanks to everyone for their good advice. Not having the time to stop by the store to pick up an aerosol cleaner, I did things the laborious way. I stripped the Buckmark as far as I could without using a punch; there were several surprise-filled moments as I discovered which parts come off of their own volition once the grips are removed. Armed with a thin nylon brush, some small tools, a bright light, a roll of shop towels, a bottle of CLP, and a squirter full of MPro-7 (aka the grim reaper of carbon), I went to work.

As several of you predicted, the hammer assembly was sitting in a small drift of greasy fouling. That's the downside to using grease: Fouling sludge is a lot more viscous. I worked on it for a good long while and got most of the crud out, so all that remains is a trip to the range to make sure it's working correctly. If this doesn't do the trick, it may be time to invest in some gun scrubber and repeat the process.

Thanks again for the advice. In my defense, I've cleaned this gun after every range trip, just not as thorougly around the hammer, apparently, as was warranted.