I have an old Plains Rifle, was given to me back in 2009. The rifle looks great, but the hammer will not stay in the cocked position. Does anyone know of any Gunsmiths near me? I am between Timpson and Tenaha, located 35 miles north of Nacogdoches a few miles off Hwy 59. Shreveport Louisiana is 60 miles east of me.
As I have been reminded so many times on this forum "Google" is your friend, but I prefer Bing so I will say "Bing" is your friend. Too bad you did not post any pictures of it. I wold be that it is a nice looking rifle.
I posted pictures of it back in 09 when I first got the rifle, I have tried both Google and Bing, I found one gunsmith listed in my area, but when i call the phone number, I found he had died two yrs ago. I am sure you can go look at my previous posts and find the pictures of the rifle. But thanks
here is the link to the pictures I posted back when I joined http://www.firearmstalk.com/forums/f22/can-anyone-identity-rifle-16603/
From the look of the rifle, on the hammer side, it appears to have a similar locking mechanism as my 1873 Springfield Trapdoor. If that is the case, then one of two things has happened. 1) the locking teeth on the hammer has worn down and can no longer engage the spring that sits underneath it. 2) the spring underneath the hammer has broken and will need replaced. The only way to know for sure it to take it apart and see. Should you decide to take it apart, make sure that you lable each part and where it came from (works for me everytime). Once you have it apart you will be able to work the components and observe their action. This will tell you what is wrong with it, and then you will be replace the damaged component. Nine time out of ten it will be the spring. Let me know if this helps or not.
