1860 bolt/trigger spring

[test drive]

Got a steel frame Pietta 1860 bought it new about 3 or 4 years ago. Don’t shoot it that much but it does see some use. It keeps breaking the trigger/bolt spring and it’s always the bolt leg of the spring. Usually get around 2 or 300 shots befor it breaks. Gun functions great with a good lock up. Any ideas ?

 

[AlexanderA]

You might try a wire-type spring instead of the original flat spring. Piettas may need a spring with a longer trigger arm than the standard spring.

 

[J-Bar]

Go to Wolff Gun Spring website.

Click revolver link, EMF because they are Piettas.

Find spring pack #32328. Enjoy.

 

[45 Dragoon]

Test drive, the main reason for the failures is that the bolt is descending too far into the frame. This over stresses the bolt spring (which is over tensioned to begin with). The suggestions above may be a decent fix for you (for now) but you may eventually have cam and or bolt arm failure. The wires may be more forgiving but will break as well. I'm not being argumentative at all, just giving you (and others that may have the same ques./ problem) a "why" this is happening. The "fix" is a little bit involved so these suggestions may work for you.

Mike

 

[skeeterfogger]

Depending on the trigger pressure you might try putting a thin washer under the spring attach point to help ease the tension.
You can experiment and see how thick a spacer it takes to maintain safe trigger pressure and still supports the bolt. If you get it where you want and the screw head fouls on the trigger guard just dye mark the guard and trim the spot till it clears. Pretty sure if it gets to that point the fouling would be minute.

 

[Jackrabbit1957]

Question for 45 Dragoon, how and where would the bolt be going too far into the frame? Are we talking about the window below the cylinder, wouldn't the cylinder cuts determine that dimension? Or the bolt leg that rides over the cam on the hammer?

 

[skeeterfogger]

Think what 45 is saying is the cam on the hammer may be for some reason pushing the bolt down further than typical. If so it may be as slight negative in tolerances in the span between the parts some how.
How far into the frame does the top of the bolt go at half cock? I have same walker and on mine it drops right at .030 at left side of lobe.

 

[45 Dragoon]

Skeeter is correct. The cam pushes the bolt arm up which lowers the bolt head. The bolt head needs only to go as deep as the frame w.t.. Most go much further into the frame which causes undue stress on the spring. The adjustment for this is the rear most vert. surface of the bolt arm ( the left one). Be careful though, the intersection of the top of that surface and the horizontal (top) surface is the point that bolt drop occurs. That said, set "bolt drop" first and then adjust the depth the bolt descends into the frame as needed (don't touch the drop off point!).

Mike

Of course, going to coils is another "fix" because coils don't care so no need to adjust the depth. Lol!!

 

[Jackrabbit1957]

Thanks guys, I was thinking of the opposite direction.

 

[Catman42]

a member advised to put in a wire spring. he is very correct. i have 8 cowboy handguns and the first thing i did was put a wire spring in to replace it. it wont break. also i redid the froceing cones to a smooth much better one. also i checked all the exit part of the cylinders to see if they were the right size, they were. they only badly reamed cylinder ive had to reream was a ruger 45 long colt. sent it of to a professional who did this every day and then the ruger shot as good as my uberti hand guns.i got some off of track but a wire spring as suggested before will solve your problem.

 

[45 Dragoon]

Cayman, I've found many broken "unbreakable" wire springs over the years. The wires are just a modern version of the flat spring. Wire springs don't translate the same feel as flats do. I'd rather have tuned flats than wires any day. Coils though are the best setup by far as far as longevity is concerned. They don't "stack" nearly as much as flats or wires. They also spread the force over a much much longer area than a "beam" type spring (wire or flat) which makes them more forgiving and why they are so linear as they work.

Mike

 

[Catman42]

if you want a flat spring to last find some one with a canister liquid nitrogen, pour a small stiafoam cup full of it. place your flat spring in the cup of liquid nitrogen. let it boil off. the spring after this treatment will last a lot longer. wont change the feel of it.

 

[45 Dragoon]

Thining the spring width is quicker and doesn't require liquid nitrogen (resulting in longer life as well). The most important thing concerning spring tension is its relationship with the wearing of the part/parts that are being acted on. One of the biggest culprits is the bolt spring. Premature wear (or just wearing) of the hammer cam is directly influenced by extremely too strong factory springs. 3 lbs is plenty of force but usually they come with 6-8 lbs.! Add to that the "stacking effect" ( greatly increased tension as the spring is moved past rest) and it's easy to understand how over tensioned springs easily break! Coils on the other hand don't seem to care much (and are adjusted individually!).

Mike

 

[Catman42]

i thinned a uberti remington 1875 main spring once with a honing stone. the way it was was horrible, took about two days to do it. when i got done the remington cocked as good as a colt uberti. never liked the gun, sold it to a shooter who loved it. my hands didnt fit the grip. was a shooter though.