Good morning,
I have a first generation Colt 1873 Army Chambered in colt 45.
I've been reading about the 4 clicks and what they are supposed to do.
When at the first click, the safety notch, the trigger will not release the hammer, but the firing pin is still sticking though the hole behind the cylinder. I assume the firing pin is supposed to be behind the flat part of the frame of the gun behind the chambers, what ever that's called.
When at the second click the bolt drops down and I can turn the cylinder for loading, but the trigger can release the hammer. I assume it isn't supposed to fire in the second click.
The third and fourth clicks don't happen simultaneously as the gun is somewhat out of time, but when full cocked the cylinder is locked and the trigger will release the hammer.
The gun cocks and fires with little effort and is very smooth through the action. I would like to fix it so the hammer is out of the chamber area when on safety notch and the gun wont fire when in the loading notch. I think it's most likely trigger or hammer wear, or both. I don't have the trigger or the hammer out of the gun at present, I was hoping for some advice as to what to look for and if there are any other tests I should do before or during disassembly .
Any help is greatly appreciated.