About two years ago I had a Jewel trigger installed in my Swindlehurst rifle. Lately it has been giving me trouble in that after chambering a round the striker will not fall when the trigger is pulled. When this happens, the trigger feels like the rifle is not cocked. The trigger flops around loosely as if the rifle is unloaded and uncocked. When this happens, I lift the bolt handle to cock the rifle, put the bolt handle back down, and the gun will then fire when the trigger is pulled. During the last shooting event I fired 50 rounds and the trigger failed this way three times. I am opening and closing the bolt gently and keeping the sear surfaces free of oil and bolt grease. I flush the trigger regularly with lighter fluid. Also, the trigger pull is inconsistent. It has some slack in it that varies from shot-to-shot. The rifle originally had a Hart trigger in it that never gave me any problems.
I have no idea why this is happening, I am not a gunsmith and am unable to comprehend how this can be happening. The rifle has a shroud that encloses the back of the bolt. I am tempted to shoot the rifle with the shroud removed so that I can see the position of the striker and better determine what the problem may be. This may be a bad idea from a safety standpoint. Maybe I should not shoot it at all until I can have a gunsmith inspect it. I am looking for advice regarding this issue. Please provide your input. I will be taking the rifle into my gunsmith soon but would like to know if anyone out there has experienced this problem and can explain it to me so that I may explain it to my gunsmith.
Thanks,
Lawrence