Trigger bolt spring broke, so...

Good old American ingenuity!!

You can make a hand spring out of a bobby pin too.

noelf2 said:

Haven't had one of those break yet, but it's good to know. Way easier than fitting a new hand.

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I keep hearing about people that keep breaking hand springs. I've only ever broke one and that was on a brand new Pietta Griswold & Gunnison. The gun worked fine until it's first teardown. When I put it back together it no longer worked. When I tore it down I found the broke spring. Upon investigation it had a ledge in the hand channel. I was going to use a bobby pin replacement but I broke the hand getting the broke piece out. I know of people that have had a bobby pin spring for years.

I just set them up like a Ruger and get rid of the flat springs altogether. I also do music wire torsion springs as well for the trigger and bolt. Once that's done you have something that will last a looong time with no problems.

Jackrabbit1957 said:

I just set them up like a Ruger and get rid of the flat springs altogether. I also do music wire torsion springs as well for the trigger and bolt. Once that's done you have something that will last a looong time with no problems.

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You and Mike.

noelf2 said:

Maybe that would be worth the effort if you relied on the gun for competition, defense, and such. I don't. I've had the main spring on my flintlock fowler snap on me (Chamber's lock) and had to replace it. I'm sure a modern spring mechanism could replace it, but I'd rather not do that either. I've got a few more pietta and uberti TB springs ordered, and I'll be putting one in this 1851 Navy as soon as I get them.

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I don’t know. Those big flat mainsprings have been doing the job just fine for many years now and broken springs aren’t really a common occurrence. I understand the impulse to fix the unbroken but mainsprings?

I've been doing this since 1969 and can only remember breaking one spring during that time. I think I'm good to go.

Those flat springs are stamped from sheet steel - deburr them and then polish (drawing strokes, not cross) with 360-400 grit sand paper to remove machining marks and to round the edges a little bit. Nothing too extreme is needed, nor a mirror polish - just a half an hour job in the company of your favorite ale... This will increase the life span of said springs tremendously.

Had one spring break on an 1858 many moons ago. Made another one from a car leaf spring, took several tries to get the temper right. Sold the pistol several years later, as far as I know it's still working.

Jackrabbit1957 said:

Had one spring break on an 1858 many moons ago. Made another one from a car leaf spring, took several tries to get the temper right. Sold the pistol several years later, as far as I know it's still working.

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You used a car leaf spring to make a hand spring??? Am I missing something or did you mean you forged a new 1858 from the car leaf spring? You’re a talented guy but holy crap!

You missed something or maybe I did. The mainspring broke and that's what I made from the leaf spring.

That must have had one helluva hammer pull.

Maybe it was a small car, with small springs - like Yugo...

Nope, thinned it and filed it and tapered it all by hand. Took a couple of tries but once it was done I was pretty happy with the results.

You couldn't find another spring that was easier to work?

I’m picturing Dave attacking a 56 Plymouth leaf spring with a hacksaw, hammer and a set of files and whittling it down to a Remington mainspring… Sir, you are a tenacious bugger!

where do u get the parts to make the hand from

sorry not the hand but the hand like in the roa next to the hammer

misskitty2 said:

where do u get the parts to make the hand from

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You don't make a hand. You can make the spring but if you break a hand you have to buy a new one and it will have the spring attached. Hands are not drop in parts. You will have to file it to fit.

This part is the hand.

VTI Gun Parts, among others.

Wellll, you can make a hand if you have the patience and desire. I had to make a firing pin for a Remington model 121 if I remember the model, 22 pump gun, as a project at the trade school I attended 100 years ago. Point being it was way more complex of a part than a revolver hand. However it's much simpler to just order one.