Hey guys, Remember I told you about the T/C Cherokee I got, new in the box? Well I got it the other day. Well, its true, it was never fired, but it was also not preserved too good either. The bore was in excellent shape, but the outside of the barrel had some minor rusting. No pitting - just surface rust. But I figured what the heck, so I broke out the sanding blocks and the steel wool and took the whole barrel down to bare metal. It is at the smith now going to get reblued along with the tang and underrib.
The trigger assy and lock assy looked perfect on first glance but both had major problems. The rear trigger was froze in the rearward position and the sear on the lock wouldn't disengage because the little plunger that keeps tension on it was rusted in place. Both received several liberal sprayings of PJ Blaster to free them up.
First the trigger. Following the PJ Blaster, out came the Break Free and the rubber mallet. A few love taps and the rear trigger broke free. A couple drops of Break Free and working the trigger back and forth for a 1/2 hour I got it working smoothly. Thank goodness the springs were in good shape. (But this trigger assy looks identical to the Hawken).
The lock was a different story. I put it in the vise and gave the sear a love tap, then another, and another. Finally it dropped and so did the hammer. Right on the knuckle of my index finger, putting a beautiful 1/2 moon cut on it. (Well at least the coil spring is good). Took the cover off the back of the assy and removed and cleaned all the tiny internals. I had to pull the little plunger out of its recess with a pair of pliers. Both the plunger and spring were in good shape (stainless). But the recess in the lock's frame was rusty. Cleaned that out good with some Break Free and Q-tips until the plunger worked freely. Reassembled everything, flushed the lock and trigger with WD-40 and both work fine.
So while I am waiting for the barrel to get reblued, I'm in the process of buffing all the brass hardware.
But I don't care about all the extra work. I'm an optimist. It could have been worse. And with it snowing and blowing out, at least I have something to do.
__________________ PLEASE NOTE THAT DUE TO THE RISING COST IN AMMO PRICES I WILL NO LONGER BE FIRING A WARNING SHOT.
A government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take away everything you have.
I'm not as good as I'm gonna get - but I'm better than I used to be. "Life without God is like an unsharpened pencil - it has no point."
Sounds lik a good project for a bad weather day.I think you will really like that 32. I don't have a cherokee but I do have a crockett and it is fun to shoot. There are rabbits here but not many squirrels ,so I shoot it mostly at paper. Have fun
Sounds like a Fun Project to do when it Snows, and if your Weather is snything like ours, it is Snowing, 2+Feet in 2 days on top of all we already had. I bet them Squirrels are already packing there bags.
Good Luck with your new Toy!
(BP)
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Those who hammer their Guns into plows will plow for those who do not. Thomas Jefferson
No way, at least not now. I've been wanting a 32 or 36 for a long time and almost bought a Crockett rifle a couple times. But getting this new Cherokee for less than $100 more than a Crockett was a really good deal. Even if I had to do some work on it.
__________________ PLEASE NOTE THAT DUE TO THE RISING COST IN AMMO PRICES I WILL NO LONGER BE FIRING A WARNING SHOT.
A government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take away everything you have.
I'm not as good as I'm gonna get - but I'm better than I used to be. "Life without God is like an unsharpened pencil - it has no point."
Lots of tinkering going on
thats what im tryin to say...
