Hammer Springs for New Vaqueros

[Max Payne]

I have two sets of 38/357 Ruger New Vaqueros, all slicked to the max by a well-known quality gunsmith about 2 years ago. short stroke, transfer bars removed, half-notch, lots of beveling, etc., etc.

 

My wife & I have felt pretty good about them, until I played with some Jimmy Spurs NM Vaqueros this past weekend. The hammer springs were so much lighter than mine I couldn't believe it. When I had mine done, I was advised to not shoot anything but Federal primers because they probably wouldn't fire. But, when everything was locked down & I couldn't get Federals, I loaded Winchester primers, & they seemed to work fine. I've since been shooting Federals exclusively & don't plan to change.

 

So, I have to decide whether to try to 1) buy some new springs from Magic Springs, Wolff, or somewhere else that you'll tell me about, 2) take some off of the coils myself (not sure I want to do this), 3) send them to Jimmy Spurs to have everything done again, which is a little tough to do since I already have about $1,600 invested in action work on the ones I have, or 4) shut up & just keep shooting what I have.

 

My pistols are pretty slick, but I'm one of the sick people who can't sleep if I know something else is better & I don't have it.

 

Has anybody bought the Magic Springs or the Wolff springs? From the website, it seems that 17 lbs is stock, & 14 lbs seem to be the lightest that they are offered. I didn't see anything on the Magic Springs site that tells me what poundage they are.

 

All comments, observations, & suggestions are welcome!

[Dubious Don #56333]

Lightening springs is more than just chopping off a coil or three. The spring needs to be a particular length. Springs come in different size wire (yes you can 'thin' a spring with a grinder but this can affect temper and reliability) and different coils depending on the size wire used.

 

Tuning a revolver is more than cutting/replacing springs. All the little widgets need to be fit properly with one another. Change one thing and it can affect another negatively. This includes springs.

 

Wolff springs are the best. Period. I use'em exclusively. With the proper action work, those low end springs might work.

[Charles B. Gatewood SASS #48517]

Max,

The lightest ones I know of are the 13lb springs that Slick McClade sells. I've been using these for about 2-3 years and have been very pleased. While I use Federals, I've tried Winchester and had no issues.

 

CBG

[JD Trampas, SASS # 55781]

I know what you mean about Jimmy Spurs NM vaqueros, I handled some awhile back that a fellow shooter got, WOW, are they smooth for sure, it does not take anything to cock them, he told me that Jimmy throws the stock springs away and put his in, just going what he told me, he had the whole set done and he is very happy with them, he was shooting Colts, now Rugers, I'm sure he does other things to the guns besides springs, but I sure liked what he had, but I have so many rugers now and I'm just going to shoot what I got, I'm not fast so stock guns would work for me, but mine does have springs in them.

 

I'm sure somebody will chime in with some information for you, just wanted to let you know I handled some myself.

 

 

All for now JD Trampas

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

Save your $$$ and just short'n the OEM hammer springs and put a slight 'kink' in both legs of the trigger return spring.

OLG

[Chili Ron]

Howdy,

DONT.

You have good reliable equipment.

It has no troubles. Don't screw with it.

I have a rifle that was worked on in the early 90s.

It is wonderfully accurate.

I clean the barrel, clean the action and spray cleaner into the works.

Ive never taken that rifle apart and some days shot 200 rounds at one sitting.

It will come apart when it has a real problem.

Its your money, I wouldn't do it.

Spend the money going to another match.

Best

CR

[Augustus Goodnight]

Brownells says that the Stock OEM Springs are 17#. If I'm not mistaken they're actually 23#.

I've got 16# in mine right now because I'm running through a bunch of Winchester Primers. After that I'll drop them down when I only use Federals.

I've had the same kind of work done to my SASS RNV's by Lassiter.

You may want to try these from Brownells:

WOLFF NEW VAQUERO®/BLACKHAWK® REDUCED POWER HAMMER SPRINGS

Lighter than the 17-lb. factory spring for smoother, easier cocking. Available individually in 14-, 15-, and 16-lb. weights, or in a Pak with one of each, so you can try all three to find the weight that works best in your gun.

969-000-200WB

Reduced Power Hammer Spring Pak

Mfr Part: 33255

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

 

Brownells says that the Stock OEM Springs are 17#. If I'm not mistaken they're actually 23#.

I've got 16# in mine right now because I'm running through a bunch of Winchester Primers. After that I'll drop them down when I only use Federals.

I've had the same kind of work done to my SASS RNV's by Lassiter.

You may want to try these from Brownells:

WOLFF NEW VAQUERO®/BLACKHAWK® REDUCED POWER HAMMER SPRINGS

Lighter than the 17-lb. factory spring for smoother, easier cocking. Available individually in 14-, 15-, and 16-lb. weights, or in a Pak with one of each, so you can try all three to find the weight that works best in your gun.

969-000-200WB

Reduced Power Hammer Spring Pak

Mfr Part: 33255

 

The 23's are OEM to the OLD models.

"New', have much 'lighter' springs.

Hammer springs will NOT interchange.

OLG

[VICIOUS, SASS#8014]

HOWDY; Magic springs are smoother than wolf springs. Original Vaqueros like at least 17 lb springs to fire primers. The NEWEST ones are stock with 17 and wolf have 14s, these have different angles so softer stock spring.

I use 19 or 18 because I want a faster hammer fall and sure fire hits on primers of all kinds on originals and 14 in NEWEST vaqueros or Blackhawks.

[Straight Arrow Hombre]

I was not at all impressed with magic springs. I'd try 14 lb wolfs and see if they're any lighter than what you have.

[Sleepy Floyd]

I had Johnny Meadows put 15# in mine. Worked OK with Winchester, not any more. Attempted to change out the spring with an 18# one. Screwed up that pooch, left the other one alone.. Have a call into Jimmy Spurs to do his magic on them.

 

S. Floyd

[Hurricane Deck 100366]

I'm running 17 pounders in my NMV's (newest version) and like them, but I'm a tinkerer and just ordered a set of 13 pounders to see if I can get the pistols reliable with them.

 

I've widened the hammer notches about .0002 and jeweld the hammers, did a few other small things inside like polishing and beveling. I'm pretty happy with them but in all reality, my daughter shoots them right now, not me. She loves them, but complains about how stiff the hammer is (hence the 13lb hammer springs).

 

The wife and I are exploring the reaches of a set of smokewagons. We've discovered we both tend to ride the hammer on them leading to long stage times (as we have to go back around the cylinder to pick up the 1/2 cocked round) so we have some work to do.

 

I think our next set of pistols will have us going back to Rugers for a number of reasons.

[Max Payne]

Thanks for all the great replies! I had what should have been my first idea late yesterday & called the gunsmith/cowboy who built my guns. He immediately said he would send me his lightest springs (that would be reliable) at no charge for both pistols. I've been very happy with the guns, so I won't mention him by name in case someone were to read my comments as negative, which they are not.

 

I did communicate with Jimmy Spurs by email. His response was almost immediate. He said he could do his full race job & turn the pistols around in about 2 weeks. I probably shouldn't have handles Fast Eddie's guns because now I may not be able to relax until I get the full Jimmy Spurs treatment. Jimmy said he won't just sell the hammer springs as it it very important that everything work well together. I'm sure there are lots of views on that, but I could certainly see the value in this one.

 

Thanks again for all the great feedback!

[Monco]

Might want to verify if your firing pin springs were lightened to the same degree as the Jimmy Spurs revolvers before going too much lighter on mainsprings....of course trying anything won't cause much harm as long as you can change back to what was working.

I find that the 15 lb springs work reliably with stock firing pin springs and transfer bars....which are definitely not as light as the springs installed in standard stroke JS tuned revolvers.

[Dubious Don #56333]

Old Vaquero = 23#

New Vaquero = 17#

 

Brownells says that the Stock OEM Springs are 17#. If I'm not mistaken they're actually 23#.

I've got 16# in mine right now because I'm running through a bunch of Winchester Primers. After that I'll drop them down when I only use Federals.

I've had the same kind of work done to my SASS RNV's by Lassiter.

You may want to try these from Brownells:

WOLFF NEW VAQUERO®/BLACKHAWK® REDUCED POWER HAMMER SPRINGS

Lighter than the 17-lb. factory spring for smoother, easier cocking. Available individually in 14-, 15-, and 16-lb. weights, or in a Pak with one of each, so you can try all three to find the weight that works best in your gun.

969-000-200WB

Reduced Power Hammer Spring Pak

Mfr Part: 33255

 

[El Hombre Sin Nombre]

Thanks for all the great replies! I had what should have been my first idea late yesterday & called the gunsmith/cowboy who built my guns. He immediately said he would send me his lightest springs (that would be reliable) at no charge for both pistols. I've been very happy with the guns, so I won't mention him by name in case someone were to read my comments as negative, which they are not.

 

I did communicate with Jimmy Spurs by email. His response was almost immediate. He said he could do his full race job & turn the pistols around in about 2 weeks. I probably shouldn't have handles Fast Eddie's guns because now I may not be able to relax until I get the full Jimmy Spurs treatment. Jimmy said he won't just sell the hammer springs as it it very important that everything work well together. I'm sure there are lots of views on that, but I could certainly see the value in this one.

 

Thanks again for all the great feedback!

My advice would be to stick with the guns you have. If you already had an action job, then there's little more that a better action job can do for you unless you are one of those top 1% of competitors. For the rest of us, a good action job won't do much more than make the guns we shoot more enjoyable. You could hand me the slickest gun ever made, and it will do very little in my hands that any other gun won't do. Ask any of the top competitors and they will tell you that practice is far more important than getting the best guns.

 

On the other hand, if you've got the extra money to spend, then go for it. The more money that goes to the gunsmiths and vendors that specialize in this game of ours, the longer they get to stay in business. Which is great for all of us.