Guys,

I ended up separating the block.  After removing the firing pin & attempting to clean the cavity, I found it not only was it quite dirty with thick goop but was rusted in a couple of places.  Also the bottom back of the firing pin was flared, widening the back so that it would not loosely slip back in forth.  The hammer was apparently only stricking the bottom 1/3 of the pin. So, I split the block.  See the photo below after cleaning the firing pin cavity.  The rest was spotless.

So, now I have a novice problem.  I thought I remembered how the lever link was oriented, but now I'm not sure.  What is the orientation of the link? Is the ledge in the front or back &  facing up or down?

Another thing, looking closely at the exposed trigger group, it's not obvious as to why one should not attempt to lower the trigger with the hammer at full-cock.  Does this apply to double set-trigger rifles also?

bobw,
Thanks for offering a photo of the set-trigger group, but as you can see, I no longer need it.

Wayne

Just to add to what Tom said.  
The flat on the link pushes the hammer to half cock when lowering the lever.  Understanding what it does help in knowing its orientation.
Bob

To address the problem with lowering the lever in the full-cock position, I would think modifying the hammer by taking some metal off (milling off) the lower portion of the circular relief (see photo) would eliminate the problem.  There would still be more than sufficient metal for the fly to work properly.  Of course it would most likely require annealing the hammer prior to milling, then rehardening afterwards.

Wayne

Wayne,
Reassemble the rifle complete ready to fire. Cock the hammer to full cock. If you try to open the action, the cocked hammer will hit the frame with the hammer spur. If forced, it will damage the sear. When it lull cock position the hammer spur hangs well over the frame.
I don’t think you tried this yet……you’ll see what I’m trying to say.

Tom

TomKlinger wrote on Jul 27^th, 2025 at 4:10pm:


Tom,

I gotcha, so even if the hammer link was not forcing the hammer to rotate, the hammer spur would essentially do the same thing upon forcibly lowering the lever.  Thanks for clarifying that.  

So, everyone reading this thread, please disregard my earlier ignorant suggestion of modifying the hammer.

And oneatatime, I forgive you for your earlier comment. 

Wayne

I forgive you, Wayne;-)

Guys,

I have sure appreciated all your help & have throughy enjoyed this thread & getting educated on the Ballards.  But unfortunately I may be returning the rifle to the seller for a refund or getting him to refund enough to replace the barrel.  I just completed running a borescope down the bore, which I should have done earlier.  The bore looked good when visually inspecting with a bore light or holding it up to a light source & looking down the bore.  But not so with a borescope. 

Here's a bunch of bore photos in sequence, starting from the chamber to about 26" down the bore.  All the lands & grooves are in the same condition.  Notice how dark the bore is forward of the chamber, with rust colored streaks further on.  It only starts to brighten up about 10" forward.  Also note all the gouges & imperfection along the entire length of the borescope, even when there's no darkening from rust that had been cleaned out. Also, all the circular cutter marks when the bore was rebored & chambered by JES Rebore from 38-55 to 40-65, and there's one spot in the dark region with a deeper circular cut completely around all the lands.

I've looked at a lot of bores with a scope & some imperfection are expected & acceptable.  For the price I paid, this is certainly not acceptable from my point of view.  What do you guys think?

Wayne