Swapping out the hammer spring

[santee]

So, I replaced my NMV hammers spring (17 lbs.) with a 16 lbs. from Wolff. While disassembling it, I noticed the Wolff spring was longer and thicker than the Ruger spring.
I don't get it...however, it does seem a bit lighter.

[Trailrider]

Don't know for sure, but I suspect: different alloy, different heat treatment = different spring constant (k)?

[santee]

I'll buy that!

[Ten Wolves Fiveshooter]

Howdy Santee

    Who did you get the springs from, the reason I ask, is I ordered wolff hammer springs from Brownells, for my new model Vaquero, and they sent hammer springs that were too long, much longer than the springs that I had taken out, so I called Brownells and told them about it and read the numbers off the package the springs came in , and they said they were the right  ones, I didn't buy that for a minute, so I called Wolff directly, and told them what I had and if these springs were the right ones , and he said if they were longer than the ones that came out of the gun, they were the wrong ones, he said that Brownells was having a codeing problem, but this was last year, I would of thought they would have fixed it by now, any way I ordered mine from Wolff , and they sent me the short ones, the short ones for the NMV, the long hammer springs are for the Old model Vaquero and Blackhawk. Hopfully you didn't get the wrong one , but if you did you can always take off a few coils , thats the way we used to do it before they offered reduced or lighter weight hammer springs.

         
                                                               tEN wOLVES 

[Buck Rawhide]

I've got a set of Wollf springs for my NMV coming from Brownells.  When they arrive, I'll check them against the factory ones and report back.  I found a link on Brownells site talking specifically about springs for the NMV.  Hopefully, it they can publish an article about them, they have gotten the part numbers right....

I was going to get them directly from Wolff but needed some other stuff as well.

Take care,
Buck

[santee]

Mine are from Wolff. (www.gunsprings.com)
Buck, anxious to hear what you have to report.

[Buck Rawhide]

Got my spring kit in today.  I purchased the 14/30 kit.  14# hammer spring and 30oz trigger spring.  Installation was easy as expected.  The hammer spring is about 1/2" longer than the stock one but the wire must be thinner.  The trigger spring definitely has smaller wire. 
Measured the trigger pull at 2.5# so that seems good to me.  Much easier to cock the hammer as well.

Take care,
Buck

PS,  I tried the trick where you drop one of the "legs" of the trigger spring off the pin and let it hang.  Trigger would not reset with the light spring so I popped it back on and all was well.  While I was waiting for the spring kit to come in, I dropped a leg on the stock trigger spring and it dropped the pull about a pound....

[santee]

Cool. I went with the 16 lbs. because I was afraid anything lighter may give intermittant results.

Buck, Please post how it works in the field!

[Buck Rawhide]

I ran my .357 nm Vaquero today with the 14# Wolff hammer spring and the primer hits were excellent.  I am using Winchester small pistol primers in my reloads.  I also use an unsharpened pencil to test the power of my firing pin hits and use it as a gauge of how much I can (or can't) take off of a hammer spring, main spring, etc..  Just drop the pencil in the bore of the unloaded pistol and pull the trigger.  The firing pin hits the eraser end of the pencil and tries to push it out of the barrel.

With the stock spring, and the barrel held skyward, dropping the hammer would just push the pencil clear of the barrel.  Obviously plenty of hammer strike power.  With the 14# spring, the same pencil goes up 1 inch only.  However, after looking at the primer hits, I could probably still manage to drop a coil or two. On a non CAS double action Smith I have, the pencil only moves about 1/4" up and requires that I use Federal only pistol primers.  On my 1911, I could probably take game with the pencil as it flies across the room 

I will most likely leave it alone as all is well with the current setup.  Hammer cocking and trigger pull are both well within expected range.  I keep the same pencil in my gunsmith box to use as a gauge on most of my competition firearms.  Not my idea.  I got it from someone else on the net but it has served me well for a long time.

Take care,
Buck

[santee]

Thanks for the info. I never knew that trick with the pencil before now.