Bersa Thunder 380 Mag spring fix

[ohbythebay]

I ran across this process on another sight and decided to try it. My BT 380 (3 mags) have all gone a little soft in only 3 months. They work but sometimes the 7th round FTF's because the spring is weak. Easy to load the mags ...lol...but not like when they were factory new, 7th round was a bear....well..tried this and it worked.

I have included the link to the original thread and a link to a pictorial step by step of mag takedown and reassembly

This is a "recipe" for coil spring rejuvenation which was offered on the old Bersa Talk sites by a well known spring engineer (the lengthy theory/discussion thread is long gone). While this was offered for weak magazines springs I have had great success with this on weak recoil springs, coil trigger and hammer/main springs. (Most recently on a unavailable mainspring on a 55 year old revolver.)

"How to make a spring stiffer and stronger:

Start oven preheating to 425 degees Fahrenheit

Remove mag spring

Wipe all oil from mag spring

Stretch it out 3/4" to 1" longer (varies on other coil springs)

Put mag spring on cookie sheet and bake for 25 minutes at 425 degrees.

Let it cool back to room temp by just setting the cookie sheet out to cool (no water dousing or
other fast cooling).

Then reinstall the spring."

By all means use a new/proper spring when possible, this is just an alternative.

(special warning: you may want to make sure the wife is out on a shopping trip while you use her oven.)

Hope you find this helpful! regards jab

http://www.bersachat.com/forums/showthread.php?5019-Magazine-spring-rejuvenating-heat-treatment

http://s884.photobucket.com/user/p-t-max/library/BT380 magazine takedown?sort=6&page=1

 

[Miked7762]

Strange, the instructions for making any spring crack and shrink under load are identical...

 

[ohbythebay]

Hmmm...I didn't know that

All I do know is the mags now work like new...stiff so that getting in #7 takes some effort. They had loosened to the point where all 7 were easy...