1860 Colt main spring improvement

stankemp

I'm looking for a slightly less powerful main spring for a Uberti 1860 new model Army. I lke the gun but the cocking force required for my arthritic thumbs is unpleasant. I think this is true for any single action cap and ball type I've tried. Is this really necessary? The solution would allow the cap to detonate and at the same time be easy to cock from rest on a nipple.

navc130

SAA Colt type mainsprings can be adjusted by (1) thinning the width (usually) or the thickness (harder to get a even taper),or, (2)judicious bending along the top half of the spring (kinda scary to do). Replacement springs are readily available.
Stan, an interesting solution. I never thought of that. I have see those slotted springs but did not fully understand their function. I think your method is faster than hand filing.

stankemp

Thanks Nav. I think I'll choose door 1 - thin out (width) a replacement spring. Won't break the bank if it doesn't work.

stankemp

Here's what I did to assist the old thumbs:
I looked at the hammer springs made for SAA for cowboy action. They had a configuration of a normal spring width with a slot in the middle to lower spring pressure when operated. I took out the Uberti spring and clamped same in a vise. I put a couple of ice cubes in water in a plastic cup next to the vice. I would make a pass down the center of the spring ( the same as the SASS SAA spring) with an angle grinder and cutting disc and then quickly apply a towel with the ice water to save spring temper. After a couple of passes , I tried the modified spring in the gun to see if that was enough. This was repeated 3 times and I had an easier hammer spring to cock. Since I was warned about making it too weak, it still retained a snap. Fired it at the range and it worked just fine.
Stan

machine gun moran

I have an anecdote, in which I was saved from an 1860 Army copy going full-auto, by having a heavy hammer spring.

I had decided to fool around with trying two-ball loads. I loaded each chamber with two balls, and while the velocity was no doubt pretty far down, I found that one ball would always hit the point of aim, and the other would be offset by up to about 6 inches, at around 15 yards.

But I noticed something odd. After a shot, the hammer was not resting on the fired cap, but on the rear of the cylinder right next to the next unfired chamber. The force blowing back out of the nipple was recocking the gun almost fully, rotating the cylinder to almost the next chamber, and because the trigger was back when this happened, the hammer would fall all the way forward again. Had the cylinder reached full index, the gun would have fired again.

Had I enlarged the nipple holes or weakened the mainspring, I would have had the perfect defense gun. A perp would have been in a fusillade of a dozen roundballs, and any accomplices would have been falling over each other in all of the smoke LOL.

Somehow, I've survived all of my trips to the range [:D].