1860 Colt Mainspring question

[Shane1858]

Hello all. I am new here - and wanted to say what a wealth of information and knowledge I have encountered. Wonderful group of folks.

Mainspring broke on my 1860 Army. Recieved a replacement from DixieGunWorks - it is too short - it just barely touches the hammer roller. The bend/curve is a bit more pronounced than the one that came with the gun (15+ yrs. ago).
It appears that if both mainsprings were laid out flat - they would be approximately the same length.
Anyone ever encounter this? Should I attemt to redifine the bend on the mainspring and 'make' it work?
Would greatly appriciate any input.

Thank you.

 

[rcmodel]

Is it a real Colt 1860, or an Italian clone / copy?

If the importer is still in business, you might start there.

If it's a real 1860 Colt, I'd think those springs would be a pretty well-known standard by now.
I'd get back with Dixie again and see if they can send you the right spring.

Or try here:
http://www.coltparts.com/pt_60army.html

rcmodel

 

[Shane1858]

Thank you for the reply. It is a Italian clone. Unable to determine if Uberti or Pietta.
From Dixie I ordered the Mainspring for Reproduction Colt 1851 Navy,1860 Army, 1861 Navy and the Original 51,60, 61 & Conversion, and the 1873 Fro. So it kinda covered all the bases.

The mainspring busted 10 years ago - I just hung it on the wall, as I was hooked on my 1858 Rem. Then happened to be on Dixie's site and saw they had basically everthing to rebuild the 1860 for next to nothing...

 

[rcmodel]

I've run into that before on SAA clones.

Too short, they won't work at all, and too long they bind up and won't work either until you cut them & fit them to the gun.

Unfortunately, I think they had some guy with a hand-drill putting the mainspring screw holes wherever he felt like it that day.
Then cut the spring to match the hole.

Your only hope is to find one that is too long and cut it down on the end to fit.

You might call Dixie and discuss it with them. Maybe they can hand-pick a longer one out of stock or something.

rcmodel

 

[scrat]

Very good idea. I would be calling up Dixie or VTI gun parts

 

[Shane1858]

Thank you. I have emailed Dixie's customer service. We'll see what happens.

 

[TheWall]

DGW

I have dealt with Dixie Gun Works on several occasions and they are very good (at least in my experience). They should be able to get you the right part.

Let us know what happens.

 

[Chawbaccer]

If you mail Dixie the old spring they will match it up, good folks to deal with.