oneatatime wrote on Sep 1^st, 2026 at 12:02am:


True, except for A) when the barrel doesn't budge, and B) when an owner doesn't wish to disturb the "homogeneity" of a winning barrel/action relationship. 

For me, if there's no need to take down a takedown (and there truly rarely ever is) I tend to leave them alone. 

the 44 1/2 was designed as a switch barrel. If the barrel won't budge it was not machined correctly. If the barrel set screw is torqued to the same pressure, it will be correct. I switch between 2 of my 4 every month. Now if you only have one barrel and keep the torque at the same setting, all will be well and I can understand not wanting to touch anything. I would not play games with the hammer. I would drop the block before I took a chance on doing something that might screw up the sear.
Again, a 22 rod will clear it and the tang sight (like mine) lowered with the eyepiece not touching the wood. Do you have a pull through? Might try that if all else fails. If you are determined not to use a good 22 cleaning rod you might try a long 5/16 Delrin rod. It is going to drag but won't hurt anything doing it. Just make sure it is long enough for the handle to clear the stock at full run. Once again, a good long 22 rod.