So I disassembled my Buckmark for the first time today after a day of shooting in 3 degree weather, it was a good day. I decided to disassemble and clean it well when I got home, partly because I wanted to clean it, and partly to disassemble it out of curiosity, might as well learn at some point, right? So I found a website with guide to take-down. It was easier than I expected, I cleaned it well, and reassembled it without any issues or missing parts. The only thing I notice that's different, is when I pull the slide back to cock the hammer, it seems to have a lot more resistance in order to cock the hammer back. Once the hammer is cocked, the slide moves back and forth fine. Its just that the hammer seems to cock back hard. Does anyone have any idea about why this may be? Did I jostle something when I had it apart? Is there an easy fix to this? Thanks in advance for any help.
Question for Buckmark owners, RE: Reassembly
- Thread starter JeffDilla
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gb6491
Member
They can be a little stout to cock; some grease (vice oil) on the slide where it contacts the hammer helps. Also make sure you tightened the sight base back down snug. FWIW: You'll probably need to keep an eye on the rear screw next time out (unless you used Loctite). Mine has a tendency to loosen after about 200 rounds causing some failures to eject. I should go to the loctite, but I just carry a wrench in my range bag.
Regards,
Greg
Regards,
Greg
gb, thanks for the reply. What I find weird about it, is that before I dismantled it, I didn't notice the resistance to cock the hammer, it always cocked fairly easily. It wasn't until I reassembled it that I noticed the extra resistance. Maybe I just need to lube it a little bit. Thanks for the suggestion.
MaterDei
Member
gp6491 is spot on. My Buckmark has always been 'a little stout' to cock as well. Maybe you just didn't notice it at first. I also agree with the comment on the rear sight base screw, mine tends to work loose as well.
I have experienced the very same thing recently with my buckmark. It is about a year or more old, but not fired much until recently. I have been pushing federal 550 box ammo thru it, it gets dirty quick but they seem to work well until........after cleaning the slide was very hard to pull back. After another cleaning it was passable but hard.
I have used grease on the slide rails and rem oil on the internal hammer and parts. It functions ok, but seems to get dirty too quickly, so now I am in the process of experimenting with different ammo with it.
My personal experience is when they go from easy to hard, something is amisss.
I have used grease on the slide rails and rem oil on the internal hammer and parts. It functions ok, but seems to get dirty too quickly, so now I am in the process of experimenting with different ammo with it.
My personal experience is when they go from easy to hard, something is amisss.
gb6491
Member
Jeff,
A little lube in that area won't hurt anything.
That the slide works freely after the gun is cocked leads me to believe you have everything back together properly. You could take the sight base off and give everything and eyeball check; with it off, you might be able to get something down past the recoil spring/guide to to lube the hammer face.
I think you should just take it out and shoot it some.
Regards,
Greg
A little lube in that area won't hurt anything.
That the slide works freely after the gun is cocked leads me to believe you have everything back together properly. You could take the sight base off and give everything and eyeball check; with it off, you might be able to get something down past the recoil spring/guide to to lube the hammer face.
I think you should just take it out and shoot it some.
Regards,
Greg
gb6491
Member
That's a bummer Jeff, but remember, if things get too hectic a little trigger time can be very therapeutic
Regards,
Greg
Regards,
Greg
It sounds like it wasn't lubricated when it was put it back together. Without enough lube, the guide rod and recoil spring will have more friction, and the slide won't "slide" very well.
Lube the guide rod and recoil spring by holding the pistol vertically with the slide locked back. Put a few drops of gun lube on the guide rod and let it drip down the rod into the spring assembly that is inside the slide. That's how I lubricate it between major cleanings.
Put a few drops of lube along the slide where it slides along the frame at the bottom and along the sight rail at the top.
After lubricating, pull the slide back and forth several times to see if moves any easier.
Edit: Oops, just noticed in your post that the slide moves fine once cocked. Disregard if you've already tried this.
Lube the guide rod and recoil spring by holding the pistol vertically with the slide locked back. Put a few drops of gun lube on the guide rod and let it drip down the rod into the spring assembly that is inside the slide. That's how I lubricate it between major cleanings.
Put a few drops of lube along the slide where it slides along the frame at the bottom and along the sight rail at the top.
After lubricating, pull the slide back and forth several times to see if moves any easier.
Edit: Oops, just noticed in your post that the slide moves fine once cocked. Disregard if you've already tried this.
HKIWB, thanks. I'm going to try anything at this point. I'm going to take it down again when I get home tonight and see if I can't figure something out. I've gotten a few ideas over at rimfirecentral.com also, it seems like it could be the sear spring detached while I had it apart. Hopefully I can figure it out tonight.
gb6491
Member
Jeff,
I'd be interested in hearing the results of your inspection. Personally, unless you poked something down in around the spring or you took the pistol down further than taking the slide and/or barrel off, I doubt the sear spring "detached" while you were cleaning your pistol. The person who posted about that at RFC had tried to do the "Heggis Flip" of the sear spring and just did not get the spring back properly in the pistol. His hammer was never staying cocked and his slide was hard to pull back every time. That your slide is easier to operate after the harder effort manipulation suggests to me that your hammer is staying back; thus your sear is operating correctly.
Regards,
Greg
I'd be interested in hearing the results of your inspection. Personally, unless you poked something down in around the spring or you took the pistol down further than taking the slide and/or barrel off, I doubt the sear spring "detached" while you were cleaning your pistol. The person who posted about that at RFC had tried to do the "Heggis Flip" of the sear spring and just did not get the spring back properly in the pistol. His hammer was never staying cocked and his slide was hard to pull back every time. That your slide is easier to operate after the harder effort manipulation suggests to me that your hammer is staying back; thus your sear is operating correctly.
HKIWB makes a good point here; also, after reading that, it occurred to me that if you didn't get the recoil spring guide seated correctly into the buffer it might increase the force needed to operate the slide. Just a thought.
Regards,
Greg
I also botched the Heggis sear spring flip on my first try, and the hammer wouldn't stay back. This will happen if the spring doesn't seat into its groove correctly. On my second try the hammer would stay back, but the pistol would unexpectedly do two or three-shot bursts of full auto in the middle of a mag. Maybe I stretched the spring and it was too light, I don't know. I got the mod working right on the third try, but would suggest being very careful when messing with the sear spring.
gb and HKIWB, thanks for the responses. It's good to know that its not likely anything to do with the spring, I never did take it down that far, just took the slide off and guide rod and spring out to clean it. I'm still pretty new at this so the less mess the better. I'm going to take it down again tonight and lube it well and make sure the guide rod is seated properly and see where that gets me. I'll let you know how it turns out. Thanks again for the help.
OK, just a little update. I took down the buckmark again tonight, lubed the hammer assembly a bit, and it did seem to ease up a bit, it's still a little more resistant than what I remember when racking the slide to cock the hammer, but I think its normal. Of course, when I took it down this time, something else had to go wrong, the buffer broke in half. I think it was pretty well worn, as it almost dissolved in half when tried to adjust it to seat the guide rod in it. My new question is what buffer do I need to order? The Browning website has 2 different buffers listed on their parts list, the "Buffer Buck Mark & Rifle" and "Buffer type 1". I'm assuming I need to order the "Buffer Buck Mark & Rifle", but I'd just like to make sure. Any one have any ideas? Thanks.
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