The value of light main springs

[Bottom Dealin Mike, SASS #22273]

I have another topic that is tangentially related to this question, but I didn't want to hi-jack my own thread. So I thought a separate one was in order.

 

I'm going to share my opinion on light main springs. I'm sure that opinion won't be universally held, and that's OK. Let me state right up front that I'm not trying to run down any company, I'm just sharing 40 years of observation...and I do need glasses...

 

OK, here goes:

 

In my experience, light mainsprings do not have much effect on trigger pull weight on a properly set up single action revolver. Light main springs do, however, have a noticeable impact on hammer pull weight.

 

As a recent example a couple of weeks ago I installed Wolff reduced power main springs on a pair of Uberti 1851 Navy revolvers. Trigger pull went from 3 pounds even to two and three quarter pounds after the new springs were installed. But hammer pull weight dropped from seven pounds with the stock main springs to five pounds with the Wolff springs.

 

In my opinion, the reason the trigger pull weight hardly changed with the light springs is because the guns were properly set up. As soon as I got them I disassembled them and I stoned and polished every contact point including the hammer and trigger sear. As a result the main spring has very little impact on trigger pull, but it continues to have a direct impact on hammer pull weight.

 

A couple of years ago I sent one of my Colts to Tom Sargis for an action job. I had installed the Wisner medium strength main spring from Brownell's and a Wisner's trigger/bolt spring. Tom called me to ask what happened to the genuine Colt springs. Tom reinstalled the full strength Colt springs, but the gun is now so smooth that It still feels like it has light springs.

 

In my experience I gun that has not been smoothed and tuned experiences a greater reduction in trigger pull from lightened main springs, but that roughness can affect the hammer fall to the point where hard caps like CCI are very difficult to set off. I recently experienced that with an Italian SAA clone that had a seven pound trigger pull out of the box. A light main spring and Heine trigger/bolt spring reduced the trigger pull to five pounds, but made it very unreliable in terms of popping primers. After I stoned all the contact points and de-burred the hand slot, I got the trigger pull down to four and a half pounds with the original main spring.

 

So those are my views...let the stoning begin...

 

[Colorado Coffinmaker]

But, But, But, your observations are all correct. Mostly. Most Main Springs are too heavy. Primarily to compensate for poor or non-existent final finishing prior to shipping for sale.

The problem with that is, if the time of a skilled employee were applied to each firearm, we would be screaming at the price. Reducing the Main Spring without cleaning up the innards is fairly silly. As you have noted, if you have a lot of rough surfaces inside the frame and lock-works, a light main will usually result in ignition problems. Unfortunately, most SAs, regardless of price, need to be cleaned up before changing springs.

About 25% of the Hammer pull weight is the result of a too heavy Trigger/Bolt spring. Too heavy to compensate for poor timing at the assembly point. Once correctly timed, a reduced T/B spring can be very beneficial.

On some guns, one can get away with a simple spring change to make a handgun more user friendly. But, not many nor all.

All of the above was de riguer in the past when the guns we got were so bad as to be near unserviceable. We can now get guns that are pretty darn close to right. Unfortunately, most all still need work.

Oh, trigger pull. Almost entirely dependent on correct fit of trigger sear to hammer. Unless you have a good jig for correcting the angle of the trigger sear, leave that alone.

 

Coffinmaker

Retired Gunplumer

 

PS: CCI primers and caps suck. Even with heavy springs <}:-)

[Tom Bullweed]

Lightening springs to maximize performance and reduce wear is a great idea.

Lightening springs to the point that some primers may not ignite turns a firearm into a toy (my opinion). Of all my guns, my cowboy guns see the most time at the range these days. I do not own an AR, M-1A or FN-FAL. In case of need, I would grab the guns that I am most comfortable with, have the most firepower and a ready amount of ammo: my cowboy guns.

At a state match last year, I left my ammo sitting at home for the final day of shooting and had to buy Black Hills cowboy ammo from a vendor at the match. I had no problem with these rounds in my guns, but they did not consistently fire in two other cowboys over-tuned guns.