Question For Mr. Bradshaw

[razor]

David, in my stainless Ruger Bisley 45 I installed a 26lb main spring. I read some where that seyfried said it really helps a Ruger single action. The problem I had was that it made the trigger pull a lot heavier. This was even with wolff springs. The pull went from about 3lbs to 4lbs. Does a Ruger really need a heavier main spring? The gun shoots very accurate, but I don't know if it is anymore accurate than when the gun had the orginial main spring. The 3lb pull was about perfect. Thanks for all the good information you have given use.

[shorty500]

definitly not mr. bradshaw but i am a David, lol. anytime you replace any spring in the firing mechanism you can see an increase in trigger pull. if gun hasnt been honed before honing now and a tuned trigger return spring can reduce the pull force back to where it was originally while maintaining the extra slap of the 26# mainspring. as does mr.bradshaw ,i use only the stock return spring and tweak it. with careful attention to details the ruger can be made to have very crisp extremely light trigger pulls with perfect reliability and tons of safety

[bradshaw]

Razor.... Let the target be your final arbiter in ascertaining which mainspring improves or hurts accuracy. The SBH which won the first International Revolver Championship used factory springs, although one leg was cut from the trigger spring. That stock revolver was good for 5-inch, 5-shot groups at 200 meters. That's Ruger iron sights in the sun.

Marginal ignition is a known detriment to accuracy. If you have a chronograph and your loads run 20 to 30 fps extreme spread, you probably have excellent ignition. As we were BLANKING primers in experimental .357 Maximums, Bill Ruger, Jr., tried the heavier Old Army cap-and-ball mainspring, which ended blanking. We switched from small pistol to small rifle primers early on, but it should be noted that blanking may also occur with a rifle primer in the presence of LIGHT INDENT. In other words, hammer fall must support the primer at the moment of critical pressure.

Ruger mainsprings and the old drop-forged S&W mainsprings do not wear out. Leastwise, not in my experience. I've had the leaf Freedom Arms mainspring go soft. Once it goes soft, it ain't coming back, and before MISFIRE sets in for good, blanking starts to set in.

I prefer carbon to stainless Ruger springs, but I can't prove why. I generally feel the carbon spring is crisper. I've tried both at 40-below zero fahrenheit, with excellent ignition. When Ruger, Jr., made the SRM prototypes, I performed trigger jobs on the five we would shoot. (At my suggestion, we kept two unfired for reference. Ruger, Jr., said this was unnecessary, but set two aside to satisfy my curiosity. The torture we put some of the SRM's through proved Ruger absolutely right.) With the heavier CB mainspring and and my bending or cutting the stock trigger springs, I got one trigger down to a clean 6-ounce break, another down to 8-ounces. This is, of course, ridiculous. As I was shooting groups at 100 and 200 yards, with many 30-shot and 48-shot groups, a good trigger was paramount. I set the triggers around 1-1/2 pounds. That is 1-to-2 pounds. In my photo of Bill Ruger, Sr., shooting SRM-2 with Leupold 4x scope, the trigger was not over 1-1/2 lbs; more like 1-pound. He shot, as I recall, a 6-inch group at 100 yards. Know that Ruger's progressive rheumatoid arthritis was well advanced. Mr. Ruger didn't bat an eye at the light trigger.

PPC competitors were notorious for limping the K-frame mainspring as a means to lighten the double action trigger. This specialization led to the exclusive use of the easily-lit Federal #100 small pistol primer.

A clean 3-pound letoff is easily achieved with either Ruger standard or CB mainspring. I use Ruger springs exclusively. The CB spring speeds LOCKTIME. How much, I don't know. I don't recall the pound rating of the respective Ruger mainsprings. You may want to re-install your Ruger spring. Remember, records set and matches won with Ruger revolvers were done with factory springs.
David Bradshaw

[jayhawker]

26 pds sounds heavy. Not familiar with "blanking"?

[bradshaw]

Jayhawker.... "BLANKING" is industry jargon for primer extrusion into the firing pin hole. Usually the result of extreme pressure, although a primer may blank (shear) from a light mainspring. Almost always ties up a revolver. Extrusion may be a partial or full shear of primer cup material. Blanking was the reason we switched from small pistol to small rifle primers for the .357 Maximum. In turn, Bill Ruger, Jr., selected the heavier Cap & Ball mainspring to reliably fire the rifle primer. For the sake of experiment,I swapped Blackhawk and C&B mainsprings in the SRM revolvers----using a variety of small pistol and small rifle primers. We experienced blanking with small pistol primers. The .357 Maximum thrives on rifle primers.
David Bradshaw

[Mark Terry]

David,

Just to be clear, "CB" springs mean the Ruger Old Army ("cap and ball" or "C&B")? I didn't realize they were heavier springs.

Also, I always thought one of the main arguments against lighter main springs was the increase in the locktime. Accuracy (or maybe precision) was decreased because more stuff and gun shaking could go on between the time the hammer started to fall and ignition. I could never evaluate that claim in practice. How big of a factor is locktime?

It also brings to mind the 'short actions'. King Gunsights made some short actions modifications (the hammer traveled less distance and therefore had a faster locktime)and if I'm not mistaken, the Dan Wesson revolvers were (and are) known for shorter locktimes.

Thanks,

[bradshaw]

Mark Terry..... you are correct, "CB" refers to the Ruger Old Army mainspring, which is stronger than the Blackhawk mainspring. Competitive shooters in some disciplines get carried away with lock time. Consider all the titanium parts and super-hard strikers----none of which I care for on a defense or hunting gun, where ignition or parts failure is serious.

Large frame Dan Wessons enjoy the fastest, least disturbing, lock time of the big revolvers. The Colt Python is the fastest, or least disturbing, of its frame class. The Interarms Virginian has a tall hammer, which falls in a long, take-forever arc. Some folk can't handle it. As a rule, it is easier to shoot a pistol with quick hammer fall. Single shots notable for fast lock time include T/C Contender and RPM break-open,, and the BF and MOA falling block pistols. Dick Casull told me that the leaf spring of his revolver provides for faster hammer fall than Ruger's coil spring.

Many other qualities come into play as the individual tries to shoot straight, among them GRIP CONFORMATION and BARREL TIME.
David Bradshaw

[jayhawker]

David,
Thanks for the explanation.