Before you knock the pins out of that rifle, call Tradition's and explain all that is going on with that rifle. Let them talk you through the whole procedure. They might have you just send the whole rifle back and then they can do all the work and make sure everything if fixed.

I don't understand why this happened to me,but almost every CVA rifle and Tradition'srifle I have purchased came from the factory... for a better word, defective and had to be sent back. My CVA Staghorn was the one rifle that came and has worked just fine. My inline Tradition's E-Bolt had the trigger or cocking mechanism bad and went back and never returned. My Tradition's Woodsman Hawkins would not fire a cap consistently and had to go back for tuning. My Tradition's Pioneer has a cracked stock, which they refused to fix because they no longer make the rifle. My CVA Hawkins would not shoot accurate. They discovered something was wrong with the barrel, and they replaced the rifle. I then sold it. My CVA Stalker came with a 12+ pound trigger pull and had to go back twice before they got it right. My CVA Mountain Stalker came with a hammer that would not hit the nipple square, and I had to bend that instead of sending it back.

I've looked at your Shenandoah rifle a couple times but do not own one. They balance beautiful and pull real nice. Still, I always get the hooked breech model rifle, although my next flintlock will be a pinned rifle. For the kind of money you paid for that rifle, call them and demand they get all these things fixed... The trouble with you knocking the pins out is, you break it, its yours. I just would not do it at this point. If the rifle was ten years old or something it might be a different story, but with a new rifle, they would have to get it right for me.