Browning BuckMark going auto

Old Gaffer

New member
At least twice today, my BM Hunter gave me "two-for-one specials"; that is, two shots fired for one squeeze of the trigger. And NEVER more than two, and never two back-to-back.

It also several times seemed to fail to either cock, or re-set the trigger after ejecting the previously-fired shell casing. I'm not sure if the trigger wasn't cocked or it the trigger simply didn't reset; the "fix" was to manually rack the slide, eject the round in the chamber, and continue shooting.

Several months ago I did the Heggis-trick (invert the sear spring to lighten trigger), and a month or so before that I'd polished the hammer and sear mating surfaces.

It was 24º (F) at my range this morning when I started shooting, and didn't warm up past the very low forties all day.

I haven't torn the gun down to look at it yet, but I thoroughly intend to.

So, to the questions:

Are the problems of multiple discharges related to the trigger not resetting (or hammer not getting cocked)?

Is it likely that the cold was a factor, and that my BM is simply a warm-weather friend?

And what do you all use for cold-weather lubrication?

What am I looking for when I strip it down? Is there going to be anything obvious, or should I just return the gun to as stock as possible and send it off to Browning? Giving it back to Browning would be my very last choice as I'll be without a pistol for a good part of the winter league. But if that's what it takes...

All the best,
Rob
 
Harry Bonar wrote:
Sir:
It's your trigger job, I'm sure - it's not resetting. Buck-marks do not react well to any change.
Harry B.

Greetings, and thanks for your reply.

I was quite prepared to agree with you that this was a self-inflicted wound.

So I stripped the top end off and looked at the hammer under my 10X loupe, and compared it with the factory hammer I'd removed. They both exhibited the same wear pattern, and I could discern no difference under the loupe.

I did check to see that the hammer wasn't dragging the disconnector pin, and it was. Apparently I'd not reset the disconnector pin sufficiently when I'd had the hammer off to install an overtravel screw, and it was rubbing against the inside of the right grip. I re-set the pin and all was well on that front

So, with the slide and grips off, I set cocked the hammer manually and fired it many times, each time looking for something that I could see as out-of-the ordinary...an anomaly, if you will.

What I determined was that the rear surface of the disconnector was interfering with the sear, keeping the sear from fully engaging the hammer. What I did was carefully relieve the disconnector to allow the sear full access to the hammer, then thoroughly cleaned and lubricated everything

I took a picture of it so you can see what I did, and where. This was the before shot.

Slide1.jpg


I took about .010" off the rear surface of the sear-engagement notch, and was very careful to make sure the engagement surface was parallel to the sear.

I took it to the range this evening and put about a hundred rounds through it - at least ten of every different kind of ammo I have, from CCI Standard Velocity to Winchester Super Expert.

The gun performed extremely well with all the ammo I had, saving a couple of FTEs and an FTF with some of the cheap bulk stuff. I use the cheap bulk stuff on the 50 yd line for slow fire because with ten shots in ten minutes, I have plenty of time to re-shoot an FTF and clear an FTE.

In any event, I'm considering the gun safe to take into polite company again.

Thank you Mr Bonar, and all other respondents; your interest in helping fellow shooters is just part of what I enjoy about this sport and these forums.

All the best,
Rob
 
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