How Many of You Kept Your Factory Springs?

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Bill Ruger made many irritating decisions in his career, the most moronic one summed up by what we said years ago. For example, we read three classics in English literature: War And Peace, The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire and the Instruction Book Warning on the side of our Ruger Security-Sixes!


Then, at the same time, the skinny wooden grips the word got out that Bill Ruger had only one tree and he was still using it to make grips! But this thread had to do with springs, and I wondered how many of you just left the factory springs in or (GASP!!), how many of you clipped a few coils or shaved some off of your flat spring.

Ruger_Security-Six_01.jpg
And, finally, do you have any horror stories? Clipped too many coils? Bought a gun with a light action only to have light primer strikes? And are there any downsides to using lighter springs?
 
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I have changed the springs in my Ruger double actions but never my S&W revolvers. I like the way my Ruger single actions are sprung. Those will be left alone.
 
You can do whatever you want with springs and grips. I have a beautiful .44Mag Vaquero that has words on the barrel telling me to read the book. If I had a big wart on the end of my nose, I could have it easily removed.
 
An elderly relative has a SP101 in .38 Special and the strength it took for the DA pull was too much. I went to the only smith I could locate in the phonebook about 20 miles north of me and discussed with him on what could be done. While he informed me that HE could not do the work (liability issue), he was willing to tell me what to do. Then, he was even kind enough to let me use his tools to clip off a couple of coils, test the pull weight, then clip a couple more. Works quite well now without breaking your finger to pull it.
On both my GP-100 (.357) and my Single Six (.22LR/Mag), no springs have been altered.
 
Bill Ruger made many irritating decisions in his career
A couple, not many.

Then, at the same time, the skinny wooden grips the word got out that Bill Ruger had only one tree and he was still using it to make grips!
That's funny, first time I've heard that one and I got a good laugh, cause it's true...
I wondered how many of you just left the factory springs in or (GASP!!), how many of you clipped a few coils or shaved some off of your flat spring.
I leave them alone, hasn't been an issue. At all.
are there any downsides to using lighter springs?
If nothing else, it will prevent you from learning how to shoot any gun you'd like. You control the trigger, you can shoot anything. If the trigger dictates what you can do with it, sounds like the trigger controling you.
Kinda.
Of course slick actions and light triggers are nice, not everything can or will be like that. You're better off learning to utilize what's there , only people I know that gripe about ruger triggers are fanboys scratching at something to criticize. But sometimes not. I personally haven't thought about respringing any of my rugers, it would be so far down the list of upgrades it wouldn't get done . ymmv.
 
Dry fire a couple thousand times to get the metal parts to mate, then Wolff springs. As long as it ignites cci or wolf primers, I’m happy.

Found the 11# spring to be the sweet spot.
 
My 4" 327 Fed SP-101 trigger was absolutely terrible when I first got it.

I got the Wolff spring set and replaced the mainspring first, then the trigger return spring. I noted that the trigger return spring made a bigger difference than the mainspring. After some light strike issues with magnum primers, I put the original mainspring back in. All is good now. I keep the original trigger return spring just in case I ever need to send the gun back. I hear they love to "unfix" good triggers.

On the other hand, the 38 Sp LCRx was nice from day one.
 
I've used reduced power springs in my Ruger DAs but always save and label the originals rather than clip springs. If you clip your spring and have light strikes you can't "unclip" it.
 
Howdy

I have way, way too many revolvers to consider changing the springs in all of them. Some are antiques so I won't consider changing the springs in them anyway.

Also, just changing springs is not an action job. The reason so many revolver manufacturers install heavy springs is to overcome internal friction in the action so all brands of primers can be ignited reliably. If one takes the time to polish parts where they rub against each other, that will reduce internal friction, and then springs can be lightened without sacrificing reliable primer ignition.

Yes, I had my CAS Colts slicked up by a professional Cowboy gunsmith years ago. He polished parts in the appropriate places, addressed the full cock notch on the hammers, and ground the springs down for a lighter hammer pull. Once he was done the trigger pull was 2 1/2 pounds, right where I like it. I might add that for many years I only use Federal primers, which do not require as heavy a firing pin strike as most other brands. Yes, I have been able to find Federal primers even during primer shortages years ago.

When I do change springs in a S&W revolver, I never clip coils. Clipping coils results in changing the overall spring force of the spring and can be counterproductive. So yes, when I do a trigger job on one of my Smiths, I polish the parts that rub against each other, and I install Wolff reduced force springs. Generally speaking though, I am perfectly satisfied with the trigger pull of a S&W just as it left the factory. Thirty or forty or more years ago.
 
Well, Ruger got their asses sued off by morons who didn't have enough sense to operate an Old Model Blackhawk without shooting themselves. Hence the warning label, be mad at them for it, not Ruger.

I also do not think that Ruger invented the "magna" style grip panel.

I change the springs in probably 90% of my revolvers. Most guns are oversprung from the factory and that is easily rectified. Some guns need to be slicked up to remain reliable but not all.

Ruger DA and New Model single action factory triggers and actions can be acceptable but they can also be awful. There is a certain amount of creep necessary for proper transfer bar function and in the interests of mass production, it is often considerable. I prefer to have a trigger that is conducive to accurate shooting, rather than fight triggers that are not. So most of mine have been massaged in some way. The Old Models and Colt-style guns are usually pretty good. Some even rival a professionally tuned action with nothing but a spring swap.
 
I always save the original springs when I make changes. Out of 25 revolvers, the only two that still have the originals in them are a S&W Model 10 no dash from '61, and a 6" Model 19-3 from '75. Both are excellent just as they are!

When I was thinking about taking up ICORE, I lightened up the springs so much on a 325 and a 15 that I have to use Federal primers.
 
I’ve bought two used .41 Mag Rugers, a Redhawk and a Blackhawk, and both suffered from their previous owners attempts to alter trigger pull. After I got light strikes the first time shooting them both, they went back to Ruger. For $30 each they were resprung, got new transfer bars, and now both are 100 pct. reliable.

My other flock of various revolvers are also factory sprung, and with the exception of the Taurus rimfires, the trigger actions on them are all just fine for me.

Stay safe.
 
I want my guns to fire any round I put in them that comes from a factory or is assembled with quality components.

I do not select primers or ammunition with easily initiated primers to accommodate the mods I did to a gun. See sentence #1.

I have updated or changed springs in my single action revolvers, primarily in original model Vaqueros to accommodate easier, not faster, hammer engagement but I only installed slightly lighter hammer springs and replaced the trigger springs and polished up some surfaces so that both matched and the guns operated identically. But! See sentence #1

In my DA revolvers I have not changed any springs, but I am considering trying a new spring set in a couple of my J frames to lighten the trigger pull. But, I am not sure if I am going to do that though. I do have at least one of each factory spring for each of my S&W revolvers in case I ever break one or one becomes too weak.

I don’t change parts for the sake of changing parts. If a gun has an issue I do what is needed to fix that issue. If the gun will not work for me without lots of mods or updates it goes.

Somehow changing springs and swapping parts out of perfectly good and well engineered firearms parts has become the norm. I really don’t get that.
My motto is, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Years ago I bought a Colt 1991A1 pistol. Some friends of mine convinced me that I needed this beavertail, that hammer spring, this sear spring, that hammer, this trigger, yada, yada, yada...
My gun was unreliable. I kept trying this and trying that but I kept having problems.
One day my wife was in my garage while I was working on it yet again all the while complaining. She said “So how did it shoot with all its original parts?”
“Just fine”
“So why not put them back?”
Duuuuuhhhh :uhoh:
“Okay , but I have a lot of money into this and Blah...Blah...Blah...”
I put the factory parts back. Wouldn’t ya know it, the darn thing worked great! Lesson learned.

Now I only make changes where changes are truly needed.
 
I generally leave the factory springs inside my Ruger revolvers. I did try a set of Wolff springs in my first GP100, and it stopped igniting primers reliably. I re-installed the original mainspring, but left the Wolff trigger return spring in place. Lesson learned; reliable ignition is vital. Since then, I have not bothered to replace any more Ruger trigger return springs or mainsprings.

I have stoned and polished several Ruger revolver mainspring struts, including the one in that first GP100. This really smooths the action.

I have purchased Ruger revolvers that had been customized, two by Jack Weigand, one by Marc Morganti, as Gemini Customs, and one by an unknown ‘smith. These four have non-stock springs, but they all fire reliably, so I have left the springs in place.
 
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