I might have figured it out. I stripped it all down and there was a square block attached to the barrel by 2 Allen screws that fit into a cutout in the stock. It looks like the purpose was to provide a lock for the barrel when it was screwed down to the stock. I loosened the Allen screws and slightly shifted that block towards the back and then tightened it all back down. The cocking works Ok now with good clearance for the trigger creep. My ML season is done and the gun is all cleaned up and I'll do some shooting next summer when I hit the range to see if that took care of the issue. When I loosen the main screws a bit there isn't any movement when I try to move the barrel. Hope that fixes it because it has been a nice little muzzle loader with quite a few deer killed with it. I have a second ML but it is a cap lock 54 and I don't hunt with it anymore. Fun and cheap to shoot round balls with it though.
Last edited by Champlain Islander; 12-11-2021 at 09:12 AM.