[mike c]

Hi, I have started a project of restoring an older percussion kentucky rifle, but have run into a problem. The MAINSPRING. Its broken in half and I can't seem to find a replacement. The gun looks like a Pedersoli, but has no markings anywhere indicating the actual manufacturer. I recently contacted a company and sent them a picture of the gun and mainspring I needed, they believe its a Pedersoli kentucky rifle by the looks of it but the mainspring they distribute is completely different than the one I need. Please help!!!:banghead: :banghead:

[oneshooter]

Have you tried Dixie Gun Works? $5 for the catalog is a steal!! Parts for just about any ML gun made.

Oneshooter
Livin in Texas

[mike c]

Been there no luck

[mike c]

50907

50908

50909

Here are some pictures of whats going on the first one shows the old mainspring, next to the replacement i recieved for a percussion pedersolli kentucky rifle.

[AzShooter1]

http://www.dixiegunworks.com/product_info.php?products_id=6553&osCsid=d2281a8ccdfa0aefdb247c989d54a0d1

Looking at the Dixie catalogue this spring looks like an exact duplicate. It's on page 173 and you may want to take a look at it before ordering. It's expensive.

[Loyalist Dave]

I take a gander at the Track of The Wolf catalog. You see they shoot photos of their locks 1:1 both outside and inside, so you could hold up the broken part and compare it to all of the available mainsprings that they sell, and see if one would fit the lock you're using, or if it can be modified. I've done it in the past with vintage bicentenial BP guns, and it has worked.

LD

[Plink]

If you can't find one by browsing the better black powder companies, most any black powder gunsmith or builder can make you a spring. They're not terribly hard to make, but that option will be more costly than just buying one if you can find it. Good luck and keep looking. It's bound to be out there somewhere.

[mike c]

Ordering the mainspring from dixie, one looks about right in the catalog. We'll see if it fits. Perhaps its not a Pedersoli and it might actually be a lot older than I originally thought. Since the description is as follows TP0902 Mainspring - For Charleville, 1808, 1812, 1835 Muskets and the 1817 Common Rifle and Original 1763 Charleville Musket & M

[Doc Rizzi]

when you find the right one Mike....my advice would be to buy 2 of them. If you take apart the lock to polish it or to clean it, they will sometimes break. I launched one across the garage once...no one died, but there was a huge dent in a paint can. After it ricocheted off my wife's Volvo and sent the dog howling into the house it still took me about an hour to find it.

[gezzer]

http://www.vtigunparts.com/

[mike c]

Well the 2nd dixie mainspring suggested earlier in this thread happens to be much larger than the one i need. I have also checked the track of the wolf catalog, and found no similar mainspring. What should i do????

[gezzer]

Try the link they list your rifle

[mike c]

Rifle is a mystery, no serial numbers, name or codes anywhere

[dstorm1911]

if its an older SPANISH made rifle (many flooded this country in the 1920s up into the 60s) your best bet will be to turn it over to a BP Smith to remake ya one as the Spanish rifles were all built as a cottage industry no two are actually the same, they all look the same on the outside but one make would get his springs from one source another would get his from yet another source etc... very few of them will interchange in fact I've pulled the lock on two "matched" Spanish dueling pistols (flintlocks) once and even though the exposed lock plate/frizzen etc... were identical internally they were TOTALLY different,

if your rifle is actually of spanish ancestry ya will probably never find an exact replacement main spring unless ya get very very lucky, They can be some very nice gunsbut whenit comes to repairs usually yagottaturnto custom hand fitting etc...as thats how they were made the Spanish smith used whatever parts he had available the designed the rest around those parts hand making items as needed...... all these different smiths then delivered their weekly production to the exporter who would then package and ship them etc.... This is how guns were made in Spain for centuries right up to around 1960 or so...

[mike c]

I have an uncle who owns a welding shop, would it be smart to have the spring welded back together since it is only broken in one spot?

[Plink]

Only if he knows how to retemper it. Welding will ruin the temper. Tempering springs isn't all that hard, but it does take some know how. I'm thinking a black powder gunsmith would probably be the best way to go on this one.

[Steve499]

The only way a welded and re-tempered spring could function is if it was welded using rod or wire of the exact same carbon content as the rest of the spring. More carbon in the weld would make the weld more brittle than the rest of the spring at the same temper and it would break again. Less carbon and the repaired spring would take a permanent bend at the weld.

It would be much easier to make a completely new spring, providing the maker can properly temper it, than trying to repair a broken one.

Steve

[mike c]

I'm not exactly sure what you mean by re-temper, does that simply mean reconnecting it with a weld, also, about how much would you guess a new spring would cost if it was to be made at a professional gunsmith service?

[4v50 Gary]

Mike - if you're in the East (Pennsylvania or Virginia) or Midwest (Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Tennessee), you might be able to go to one of the big meets. If you get to Friendship, Indiana during the National (Muzzle Loading) Matches, one of the sutlers or dealers might be able to fit you with one. If you go to Dixon's Gunmaker's Fair, you might meet someone who can make you one. A good blacksmith should be able to hammer out a rough spring and you can file and fit it yourself. Takes time, but it should last longer than any investment casted spring.

[arcticap]

Tempering (or re-tempering) involves treating the metal to have the same hardness and consistency so that it has the resiliency needed to function, and not break due to being too brittle or too hard.
The AmericanLongrifles website:

http://americanlongrifles.com/american-longrifles-BBS-frame.htm

has many rifle building experts and a database of archived and non-archived threads that may be searched to gain more descriptive information about how to build a mainspring. Maybe someone there can recommend an experienced builder or member who can make one for you.

[mike c]

Well after a little more searching I've realized a replacement isn't going to be an option. I guess I will try to go with having in welded at the shop, since I will not be in any of those areas with guns shows as suggested earlier.

[DaveP (UK)]

I really wouldnt recommend that! Welding temperatures can cause permanent degradation of the steel around the weld. In the case of a carbon steel one of the things that usually happens is a reduction in the carbon content of the heat affected zone. Your welded spring would most likely have a soft spot either side of a brittle spot. Not good.
Plus, by the time you'd done all this you could find that you no longer have a good pattern to base a copy on.
I would recommend you to get one made - cant you post the broken one off to someone?
Alternatively, look at http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/GunTech/NewsletterArchive.aspx?p=0&t=1&i=623
Looks good, and I nearly tried it myself last year but at the last minute I found one that I could file to suit.

[mike c]

If I was to send the spring out to have a new one duplicated, i really need to have an idea of how much it would cost, does anyone have an estimate from past experience?