Indicators A Part Is About To Break?

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HGM22

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Are there any indicators that a part is about to break? Obviously if a part is heavily peened that's not good, but what about the less obvious signs?

I ask because a video I was watching mentioned that the trigger spring on a pistol got really light-feeling a few hundred rounds before breaking. If there are other potential signs that would be good to know, especially in a carry gun. And yes, I know preventative maintenance is the best defense, but parts do wear out before they are supposed to too.
 
Cracks.

Unless you thoroughly clean a part and examine under magnification, you won't see a crack until it is quite big and probably too late. Especially, around the locking lugs.
 
mentioned that the trigger spring on a pistol got really light-feeling a few hundred rounds before breaking.
Click to expand...

A change in anything mechanical is a sure sign that something has changed.

Trigger got lighter? Probably be a good idea to check it and find out why.

Trigger got heavier? Probably be a good idea to check it and find out why.

Slide got easier to rack? Probably be a good idea to check it and find out why.

Slide got harder to rack? Probably be a good idea to check it and find out why.

Magazine got easier to load? Probably be a good idea to check it and find out why.

Magazine got harder to load? Probably be a good idea to check it and find out why.

Magazine got easier to insert? Probably be a good idea to check it and find out why.

Magazine got harder to insert? Probably be a good idea to check it and find out why.

Safety got easier to apply? Probably be a good idea to check it and find out why.

Safety got harder to apply? Probably be a good idea to check it and find out why.

Etc, etc, etc.
 
I've never had a trigger spring or any other spring give me any tactile warning that it was about to break.

You can either wait for them to break, or replace them on a schedule.
 
Good topic! A few weeks back, I was shooting my Garand at my local range. I noticed right away my groups were opening up maybe about twice as wide as I've been getting consistently before that. Now, I have been having some problems with the rear sight coming loose. Checked that. Nope. I started to wonder if I was just "off" that morning but everything felt good. A few enblocs later, my Garand stove piped a round which has never happened.

It may have been the very next clip, but I fired a round, aimed and squeezed the trigger and it was completely slack. Dumbfounded, I charged the op rod only to find it had come completely off and was now behind the bolt. It was still in the track but had somehow disengaged from the lug. I had to move the bolt back with a screwdriver and pulled the spent casing. Unloading the remaining rounds was a PITA (in hindsight, should have turned it over and field stripped it).

Left the range and immediately took it to my LGS who keeps a gunsmith on staff. A few days later, he calls, tells me my op-rod was worn so he TIG welded it and recut it for me. Charged me 45 bucks which sure beats replacing the op rod. These guys are great btw.

So the long and short of it is my rifle was acting funny and maybe I should have known it. I think as the op Rod was getting ready to fail, it was affecting the rifle's accuracy. Probably resulted in the stove piped round to boot. I suspect I would not have been able to diagnose the problem and the op Rod would have gone eventually anyway but at least I was able to get it serviced and looked over by what seems like a very competent smith.

Looking forward to getting back in the firing line and seeing how she does now.
 
That's a hard question to answer and give a definitive solution. For a trigger spring you could probably build a jig and setup some way to test the spring with a high degree of precision but at that point you will have invested a bunch of time and money into testing a part you could just replace for a couple bucks.
 
Some parts may give warning, others work perfectly up to the point of failure. I was shooting sporting clays last weekend, gun (45 year old Fox B SxS) working perfectly up to the next to last station. Called for the birds (report double) and the right barrel failed to fire; the trigger felt like either the barrel didn't cock, or the sear would not release.

Got home, disassembled the action, and the hammer on the right barrel had fractured where the hammer pin passed through it.
 
For the M1911, examine your fired brass. If you see a U-shaped mark on the brass, this is an indicator your pistol is stopping on the link -- that is the barrel is not slamming into the frame at the end of it's rearward travel, but is being brought up short by the link.

Your barrel is already ruined, but has not yet failed. Get a new barrel, and a pack of links and try until the barrel touches the frame before the link is fully extended.
 
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