Hello guys….long time reader but new to forum. I have an LC 20 with a Hunter single select trigger. I took it to a famous gun smith in SC because the gun will not go on safety between shots if right barrel is fired first. Works okay if left barrel is fired first. After a thousand dollar plus bill and 4 trips his nephew came out and explained to me that this is the way the gun is designed. I know that is not he case as I have a 12 ga. Ideal that functions flawlessly with Hunter one. I left with my tail between my legs. Does any one know what may be the cause? I understood that my stock was damaged between the locks and was repaired. Any one know who might be able to fix it near Columbia SC? Cotpointe@bellsouth.net

John upon reading your post, I am a little confused as to the gun going to safe with left barrel fired but not the right barrel. Do you mean that you cannot put the safe on manually or when the gun is broken open and re-cocked?

If you mean opening the gun and not having the safety automatically go to safe, it never will as there is no provision for that to happen. (see picture)
There is not enough room for the spur lever to rise and so there is no safety rod there.
If you mean that you cannot manually push the safety to safe without opening gun then there is a good chance that something is in the way on that side stopping it.


If you look at the safety in the picture, there is a lever that goes up to the safety and that relaxes after the trigger is pulled and it rests on that block that is sticking out next to it. I think something is stopping the lever from coming down to let the safety go to safe manually.
This is hard to diagnose without having gun in hand.

David thank you for responding. Once either barrel is fired, but more consistently the right, I can not manually put the safety back on with out opening the gun. Thus If I fire one barrel at a bird I cannot take a step without opening the gun because it is in the cocked and unsafe position on the second barrel. Something new today. The selector level is only working intermittently again and the gun doubles if left in the left barrel position. All of this I have paid to have repaired twice. I really appreciate the picture but I am not brave enough to take the stock off myself.

David I am very novice at this and greatly appreciate your input.I do have an LC field grade with a three position safety so I want to assure you that I understand the difference and it is not a matter of the safety not automatically going to safe. I pull it back and it just won’t click into safe. When you pull the trigger it slides back to fire and the next barrel fires. If I open the gun between shots the safety works securely and with a snap.

John, sorry to hear that you spent so much money and did not get results. There are only about 4 people in the United States that know anything about a Hunter One Trigger (HOT), the rest can tell you that they can work on your L.C. Smith but again there aren't many gunsmiths that know the workings of one.
There are only a few parts to a HOT that can break and most of the time they do not work is because someone took one apart and did not know how critical it is to put it back together. There are three (3) screws that can make a HOT not work, the most common one is the side plate connecting screw (the one that goes through both lockplates), one half a turn either way and this trigger will not work correctly. The threaded end should be flush with the right lockplate, the screw that is under the top lever, this screw is orientated to the gun and most times it is one complete turn too tight. What happens is that too tight causes the trigger plate to rise up and brings the sears too close to the trigger plate causing the gun to have a hair trigger or fire both barrels. The other screw that can cause problems but not as much is the screw under the trigger guard that goes up into the top tank behind the trigger. This screw should also be flush with the top tang.
When ever I take one of my guns with a HOT apart I always measure those three areas before disassembly and then again putting it back together.


You stated that when you open the gun between shots the safety works securely, do you mean that you pull the safety to Safe?
There is a piece of spring steel that has two detents in it under the safety and you can hear when the safety passes over it. This keeps the safety in place when on Safe and off. Possibly one leg is broken but the gunsmith should have noticed it.

Yes David I can pull the safety to safe after opening the gun. Just not when closed after firing one barrel. Another kind member gave me phone number of a guy in West Virginia whom is supposed to be able to fix this gun. I will see if he is willing to take on the project. At some point I will stop chasing bad money with good. I will go over the screws on my gun as you so well explained it. Need to buy a good screw driver first. I realize you can not diagnose the problem with out at least working the gun in your own hands but you have given it your valuable time. You are much appreciated. John

Thanks to all. Through Zack I contacted Jerry Andrews in WVa. He said the gun is not supposed to go back on safety between shots and the reason it does on one barrel is because there is wear on the hook on one side. The selector needs a new spring. I appreciate it guys. John

Thanks Dan Zachary and David

Most single trigger L.C. Smith guns will not allow the safety to be put back on to safe if one trigger is fired until the gun is broken open. The hook sits on the post and won’t allow the safety bar to engage. It’s fairly normal.