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My antique Colt project stalled for months over a single spring
I took in an old Colt revolver for a trigger job last fall. The main spring was worn out and needed a specific part. I ordered it from a supplier, but they said it would take weeks. Weeks turned into months, and the gun just sat on my bench. I called around to other shops, but no one had it in stock. When it finally came, I was so happy to wrap things up. How do you handle these long waits for tiny parts?
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the_rowan8mo ago
Was it one of those flat mainsprings for an older model, or something more obscure? I once waited half a year for a single firing pin, and the worst part was knowing the fix would take five minutes. How do you stop yourself from calling the supplier every other day?
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kellyjones8mo ago
Webley mainsprings are coiled, not flat. Flat springs are common in antique European revolvers, so it's an easy mix-up. That kind of wait really makes you appreciate how simple the final fix is, though.
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keith_lane8mo ago
Actually a coiled mainspring for an old Webley. The wait makes you nuts, doesn't it? I set a calendar reminder to call every two weeks just to feel like I'm doing something.
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kellyjones4mo ago
I read somewhere that Webley actually kept the same mainspring design going all the way back to the late 1800s (like, pre-Mark I). It kind of blew my mind that their tooling probably hadn't changed in over a century. I mean, that kind of consistency makes sourcing parts a nightmare but it's also weirdly cool.
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