Making the Boss Single Trigger (the WHOLE thing)

One might wonder why I'd have to make an entire single trigger mechanism for a Boss, so I'll answer that question with another question: Just how much damage can a "stock maker", with absolutely no mechanical comprehension, actually do?  The answer is: A LOT.

The gun came in with a complaint of doubling, which, if you understand a Boss trigger, is physically impossible as long as everything is as it should be.  Therein lies the rub, as NOTHING was as it should be, because our woodworking hero had no idea of how much he didn't know (obviously, that was no impediment though).

It would seem that, for reasons known only to him, he decided that the angle of the lower tang needed to be altered.  Now bear in mind that the Boss's rotary shift drum is mounted to the triggerplate (behind the trigger blade), while the sears are, obviously, mounted to the lockplates.  When he bent the triggerplate tang upward, this altered the spatial relationship between the drum and the sears.  It also altered the spatial relationship of the drum to its reset link and the trigger blade itself, because he bent the tang behind the triggerbox, which carries the trigger pivot and the slot for the reset bar.  

Having now discovered that the sears no longer wanted to play nicely with the shift mechanism (because the drum is now higher, further forward AND at a different angle), he decided that the drum had to be lowered.  He did this by removing material from the lower skirt of the drum.  This was apparently only partially effective, so altering the sears was the next step in his "oh shit, now what" approach to gunsmithing.  And alter them he did, multiple times, via bending, then grinding, then welding and so on, in that fashion.  Eventually, he managed to get the gun back together (after a fashion) but his lowering the shift drum also introduced another issue.  The Boss drum rotates on a vertical spindle, which has a projection at its top that meshes with a mating notch on the drum, in only one position.  When aligned, this allows the drum to be lifted vertically by the trigger blade, raising the left sear tail and releasing the tumbler.  The problem is, he lowered the drum but not the spindle as well (because there was no way to do so), which introduced a gap between the projection and the drum, sufficient to allow the drum to lift, regardless of its position.  The result of that should be obvious.  The reset bar also crashed the drum, and the spindle, so, naturally, he modified the drum to alleviate that, blissfully unaware of the consequences of that action.

But wait, there's more.  Now that the sear tails are nowhere near where they used to be, the safety no longer works.  The fix?  Welding, the really good kind, with porosity and contamination.  "That's alright", says our intrepid imbecile, "I'll just clean that up on the buffing wheel".  Clean it up he did, to the point that the left interceptor, which is operated by the safety slide, now would slip out of its cam groove.

Long story short, a shit-show worthy of an Oscar.

Behold.

Making things right...

The right main and interceptor sears machined from O1 and heat treated to Rc60.

The new shift drum and spindle were also made from O1.

 Unsurprisingly, our ham-fisted hero also managed to crack the shift drum spring through the inner hole.

I drilled a new hole adjacent to the original and reshaped the end of the spring.

Checking the spring's function...

I made the new reset link from 1018 and case-hardened it after fitting.

The safety slide was made from 1018 and case-hardened after fitting.  Obviously, I also made new retaining pins as well.  The nails were a bit too "rustic" for my taste.

At this time, I corrected the damage to the left interceptor sear.  The video illustrates its proper interaction with the safety slide.

Naturally, an Alpha-dipshit of this level would never do a job without "marking his territory" via mangled screw slots but this guy went above and beyond by making a new breech screw, triggerplate screw and triggerguard screw.  He apparently was unaware that the threads in a Boss are all BA-type though.  Thankfully, the screws were apparently made of Home Depot's finest Chinesium and were so soft that the existing threads survived.  He even engraved them himself.

Obviously I'd never let anything go out the door like that, so I made all new screws from 1020, engraved them in the correct pattern and case-hardened them.  Why didn't I "heat blue" them?  Because they were originally case hardened and, I'm not a hack. 

Here's a video without the stock and left lockplate, showing the operation.  The Boss trigger is a "three-pull" design, meaning that the recoil-induced, involuntary second trigger pull does nothing.  The intermediate pull is not noticed during live-fire but is readily apparent during dry-firing.

The finished job...

The "Cliff's Notes" version...

Vintage Hensoldt-Wetzlar Repair

 Here's a vintage Hensoldt-Wetzlar 4x scope that presented with some very common issues (common to any vintage scope, not just this brand).  The image was not clear, the vertical post of the reticle was bent, the focus ring screw had been replaced at some point with one that is incorrect, it was generally filthy and, last but certainly not least, the elevation drum lock screw was broken off (which is apparently very common).

The cause of the unclear image was a delaminated ocular (eyepiece) lens.  These lenses are made in two parts (one concave and one convex) that are cemented together into what is known as an achromatic lens.  An achromatic lens is designed to bring two different light wavelengths into focus on the same plane and, as long as the glue that holds them together is in good condition, light passes through it as if it isn't there.  Once that glue deteriorates though, the light scatters, rather than passing through, causing a cloudy, smeared or otherwise distorted image.  The solution is to dissolve the existing glue, clean the lenses and relaminate them, which is what I did.  A likely reason for this not uncommon occurrence, is that these scopes are not sealed against the elements, allowing moisture infiltration into the scope (and the edges of the lenses).  When everything is in good order though, some of these scopes provide a surprisingly clear image.  Like any scope, it comes down to the quality of the glass.

Here, the failed lamination is apparent.

 The next issue is to correct the misaligned post, seen here.

 

The remains of the broken elevation lock screw...I think that this one was broken during an attempt to remove it, without realizing that it is retained by a screw on the opposite side.  It was twisted off right at the end of the retaining screw hole (the thinnest point)

 Making the new lock screw (the focus ring screw is made on the lathe as well)...

Everything corrected, cleaned and ready for lubing and reassembly...

The finished job...

Un-botching Another Parker Repro Single Trigger

 Yes, yet another Parker single trigger that must be un-fucked, thanks to the efforts of multiple so-called "doublegun/Parker specialists".  This design is so elegant in its simplicity (unlike the rest of a Parker) that it literally baffles me that there are those who call themselves "professionals" that clearly do not, even remotely, understand how it functions. 

 This particular gun had initially suffered from the doubling issue that is so common to the Repros.  This problem is NOT an inherent fault in the design.  It is caused by a single part, more specifically, it is caused by the method of the part's manufacture.  

Had the gun come here first, the repair would have been less than 300 dollars but, because of the ham-fisted half-assery and guesswork that had been visited upon it, the cost was significantly higher.  Price shopping some things (like paper towels, or maybe gunsmithing) is really just false economy.

In this particular case, the sear noses had been shortened to the point that the hammers' fall was shortened by almost half of their travel, the single trigger's interceptor piece had been filed into uselessness and, naturally, at least one screw was destroyed (luckily, only one).

Since welding these parts is verboten (unless you're a hack that thinks all steels are weldable), making new parts was the only option, so let's get to it.

The sears and interceptor piece were machined from O1 and fit and finished by hand.  They are then heat treated and completely polished before final assembly (because that's the way it should be).  Yes, the mouth-breather that last worked on the gun left the sear tails in those pretty torch-heating colors.

The sears, blanked out

 Creating the raised bearing pads on the outboard sides

 All filed up and ready for initial fitting

After fitting the sear noses to their respective hammers (with sufficient overdraw), it is readily evident how much the original sears were shortened.  "Aw hell, that ain't much", says our halfwitted, mouth-breathing gun-plumber, obviously unencumbered by any understanding of geometry.

 Next is the intercepting piece.  This is the part that is attached to the rear of the lifting plate and stops against the anvil during the first shot, limiting the lifting plate's movement before the shift.  It's a small part but not particularly simple and has multiple fitting points.  Drilling the pivot pin hole is a non-event but the hole for the upper leg of the tension spring is a bit of a different story, due to its being 0.9mm in diameter.  That hole was drilled in a small precision drill press of my own design and manufacture (I actually made it for watchmaking work).

The breechscrew is the last part that needed to be made.  It is made of 1018 and case-hardened after making, fitting, indexing and engraving.  Notice that the frame must be stripped bare in order to gain unencumbered access to the top strap.