The skinny on gun springs.

[1911SHOOTER]

This is what I found out on springs.
Makes sense to me!
Blackie


http://www.thinklikeacop.org/springfatigue.html

[crosstrains]

Thanks.  That really cleared some issues up for me.  Not being mechanically trained (though inclined to tinker), it was in terms I could understand.

[crosstrains]

Thought this was very interesting as well.  Explained how the springs work (number of coils versus strength).  They'll also custom make springs (think replacement springs) if needed. 

https://www.acxesspring.com/magazine-springs.html

[R51Fan2017]

Thanks Blackie for posting. Great info!

[Chokejug]

Good find Blackie!

Most of it does ring true, (other than his proof reader missed a spot or two).  Double negative, contractions, etc.  Easy enough to figure out just which he was trying to say.

Funny that he should mention Ithaca though.

I have my dad's old Ithaca Side by Side, twist steel 12 gage shotgun.  Made just about the time he was born, 1901.  Early in it's life, it went to Africa with a missionary, and which, some time after, dad acquired it from an older cousin.

I inherited it from dad back in 1966 in good working order.  I used it a bit, maybe up to ten or twelve years.
Then after at least a few months, or maybe even a couple of years, I attempted to use it again.

Nope, one mainspring was broken.  Apparently not during use, but during just storage.  Something this spring guy said he had never seen in 30 years of working on guns.  Claimed that such could never happen!
Never say never!

Granted, it was older than likely 99 percent of the guns he usually works on.  The main springs in this piece are leaf springs, and virtually unavailable.
So, I ordered about the right width and thickness spring steel strip, (wanted to keep the necessary forging to a minimum, for lack of equipment).

Had to cut, taper and thin in a straight piece, and then, heat & bend just under180 degrees, quench and temper.  Flat V spring.

Polish, (no nicks, gouges, etc allowed), and install.
The first one broke immediately, too brittle, not tempered well.

The next one is still in the plus 100 year old gun, as is the matching, (mirror image), original one powering the other barrel.

Would I do it again?
Only if I had to do so, of course.

This gun, along with my great grand father's J Manton and son's, also 12 guage SXS, will be passed down to my own great grandson, the 14th generation of my family on this side of the Atlantic.