Pedersoli High Wall Hammer/cocking help?

I am getting acquainted with my new High Wall after it spent 13 months at the gunsmith for new sights! I am loving shooting it. I do have one question that I hope someone can help with.

After I lower the lever and block and remove a fired case. when I put the new round in, sometimes the block/hammer will come up and be at full cock, and sometimes it is at half cock. I cannot tell what is causing it to be one or the other. I would much prefer the latter condition.

Any advice appreciated, thanks, namsag.

Didn't know you were over here....MSGO. Wish I could help. I do have a pedersolli 45-70 but it's a rolling block. Hopefully someone will be along with some ideas.

Contact Lee Shaver. He’s a great gunsmith, shooter, and he worked with Pedersoli in designing that gun. He is or was Pedersoli’s N. American warranty service gunsmith. I had two of those Pedersoli High Walls from Cabela’s and returned both of them for being delivered either broken or defective. Hope you have better luck than I did. Good luck.

my high wall is a japanese winchester and it goes to full cock when lowering and raising the breech block. no half cock.

Hello namsag,

I have two Ubertis, one Highwall & one Low-wall, both go to half-cack when closed.
I also have an original Highwall which goes to full-cock when closed.
Sorry, I can't tell you why or what is going on, but am curious.

AntiqueSledMan.

I don’t have a Pedersoli/Uberti version of the Single Shot, but it is my understanding that the hammer on the Italian guns is fitted with a fly that rides the full-cock notch over the sear as the action is closed, dropping the sear into the half-cock notch.

Some of the later originals, which were set up as “muskets,” training rifles for military shooting, also had this feature, so the untrained tyros would have a separate cocking operation, for safety. No doubt the Italian firms’ legal departments thought this a good idea too.

If that fly sticks in its rotation as the block rises, it will fail to cover the full-cock notch and the sear will catch there. Ossified lubricant, grit or maybe battering or burring can cause this condition. The fact that it only happens part of the time would indicate maybe the stuck lube or grit. Distortion of the metal would cause the fly to fail all the time.

If you can see the fly at the bottom of the hammer when the block is down, try to move it back and forth with a piece of wire or tweezers. If it doesn’t flop around easily, try some electronics cleaner and some light oil.

Thank you guys. I cannot see the part that Bent Ramrod refers to but I put a drop or two of oil down as far at the base of the hammer as I could. Maybe it will help.

I've had my Pedersoli Hiwall for a number of years. Had a similar problem when new and it seems that I had adjusted the 'set' trigger too light, and therefore the sear wasn't catching the half cock.

https://i.imgur.com/FdFRkAHl.jpg

Pull the buttstock and you'll have better luck getting some lubricant into the trigger and sear mechanism. Oiling alongside of the hammer wont get oil into anyplace that will fix a sticky sear or fly.
Once you've pulled the buttstock you can get a good spray lubricant and spray it up into the action to flush out any grit, or particles that might be hanging it up. And it will also lubricate things and maybe get it working correctly.
Too much oil poured into the action will eventually migrate out into the buttstock and cause oil staining in the wood. Best to do this without the stock on it, and stand it barrel up on a rag to drain before reinstalling the stock after a few minutes to drain.

I would pull it apart and clean it. I understand that the Pedersoli 1885s are internally very similar to the originals. The originals are very easy to disassemble and even to re-assemble :-). I had an original that would go to half cock when I got it. It was just a bit gummed up inside.

Chris.

Thanks guys, I will check it out. One thing though about working on it myself. I am the type of guy, that whenever I start out to do a job on one of my old Land Cruisers, I usually end up with 2 or 3 jobs to do! Isn't that what they call "experience?" :?

Well the good news is that the high wall has a lot less parts than a Land Cruiser :-). The only thing to keep in mind when taking it apart or putting it back together is that if something seems to require a lot of force, or feels wrong, then it probably is :-)

Chris.

Lot less parts, and it's brand new so it wont reveal a bunch of other things it needs. If you can rebuild a Landcruiser then a High Wall will be easy to disassemble. Lots of instructions to be found on the internet too.

Thank you guys I appreciate the advice.

Namsag,

when you get inside and start figuring out what this "fly" is, could you please post up some pics?

I have NOT bought Italian High Walls because they don't stay cocked on closing like the originals do. If this "fly" is something that I can make disappear, I'll be able to revise my stance.

The fly is a loose pivotted piece in a slot in the hammer ....purpose is to prevent the hammer damaging the half cock notch when using a set trigger ......the set trigger only momentarily releases the sear,and it snaps back before the hammer can fall ......the fly being loose ,keeps the sear disengaged as the hammer falls.......If the fly is removed ,set trigger cant be used without causing damage.