Disassembly Help Needed

[Roland, Headless Thompson Gunner]

Need some help guys, I'm stuck. When I took my newly acquired WH28 out for the first time with all the original parts, the fire control was not working. When I got it home and broke it down I found the rocker had been put in backwards. I fixed that and compared to a Savage lower I have and noticed that the rocker didnt sit up as far but seemed to work in manual mode. Second time out the fire control worked better but not 100% so I decided to replace the WH lower with my Savage.

 

The Savage was a tight fit and once I got it on and cocked the actuator back it will not release. No amount of trigger pressure would do it. fidgeting with all controls wont get it to release. So I removed the safety and the rocker pivot and eventually the rocker as well. The bolt would move somewhat but will not go full forward. Attempting to slide the lower frame back is obviously taking the bolt with it as I can only slide it so far before the spring kicks it forward. Out of desperation/frustration I removed the pivot plate ( maybe not a good move) I was able to get some more movement by being able to move the trigger around but am still stuck.

 

Any suggestions?

 

.

[pvmain]

You obviously have the sear engaged in the notch in the bolt. I had a very similar problem with my '21 that was caused by 15 years of crud build up in the recess in the lower receiver. I also couldn't release the bolt and as a result could not remove the lower receiver. I was perplexed for a couple of hours but finally I removed the safety and with a small punch reached in thru the safety hole and depressed the rear of the sear. This released the bolt and allowed disassembly. If you had left the pivot plate in place, you could have used the same solution but you have more complications with all those other parts tightly pressed against the bolt. Good luck!!

[Nav4]

Been there , done that !

Not with a F/A tommy but with an A5 . I (unfortunatley removed the pivot plate too )

My A5 locked up just as your WH did and after four months at Kahr (during which time nothing happened)

I finally told them to ship it back to me and I'd do it myself.

 

The bottom line was (according to the techs at Kahr) I would have to cut the trigger at the top most portion of the

lower frame and then pull the trigger piecies out the bottom of the frame.

This would allow the other parts to fall and free up the bolt so that the gun could be disassembled.

Kahr couldn't do it , or so they said , because their top tech was out on extended sick leave!

Anyway it's easy to do , but be careful not to scratch the frame and of course you'll need a new trigger.

After I did that the A5 worked but still had function issues so PK made it all better (thanks again PK)

 

Of course you could send it to PK and forget about doing it yourself.

 

 

[Sgt]

I had the same symptoms with my Kahr 27. Bolt snagged and wouldn't let the receiver slide free. I removed the pivot, and made a big mistake doing so. Sent it to Damon and he fixed it. I don't think he cut any thing loose.

[PK.]

Because you were able to get the rocker out of the way, you have a chance. If you have not kinked the springs you should be able to get the pivot plate back into place and then do as PVMAIN did, push the sear tail with a tool inserted into the safety hole to release the bolt.

 

Don’t ever remove the pivot plate when the bolt is cocked.

 

Big difference between semi's and FA guns

[Roland, Headless Thompson Gunner]

Thanks for the help guys. I'm out of the woods but the trigger had to be sacrificed. For a moment I though I was going to have to lose the WH receiver to save my Savage lower. Even after the trigger was gone it wasn't easy. I ended up with the sear in front of the trip and jammed in tight by the bolt. I was at the point of wondering how I was going to explain to my wife that I had managed to break a Thompson but then again she wouldnt have been surprised. Its always been my approach to learn things the hard way.

 

Thompson rule number 10. Don't ever remove the pivot plate with the bolt cocked.

 

Thanks again.

 

 

[Nav4]

Sorry to hear you had to cut your trigger but glad you were suscessful !

 

One question though you were just joking right ,about thinking of losing the WH receiver to "save the Savage lower" ?

I mean even if all the parts in the lower were for some strange reason welded together it would still be at least twenty times

less expensive to mill off all of the lower to save a transferable WH receiver

And as far as i know Savage lowers in very good shape are readily available .

 

Sorry to state the obvious, if you were kidding.

[Roland, Headless Thompson Gunner]

Just kidding, I learned my lesson long ago when I traded in that dull old Colt 21 for a shiny new WH 28, (kidding again).

 

Alhough I did only lose a trigger from my blunder I did not learn the cuase of my problem. I don't see what held up the bolt when everyhing appeared to function correctly when dissassembled. Seems it would have to be the sear but I couldn't see why.