Brass Frame Remington

[shortstart]

Well, it looks like I have a really cute little paper weight. I picked up a brass frame 63 Remington today. CVA by ASM. I wouldn't normally touch an ASM but it was darned near free so I took the chance. Oh, by the way way, it was fully loaded. Grease, primers and all. I did check the bore and it looked okay. Any how, took it home fired it and went off to clean what looked like years of crud. It stripped it down to the last screw, reassembled it and after a couple of cocking cycles the hand spring broke. What chance do you think I have of getting a hand and spring from Dixie that will work in this thing. There stuff is for Pietta's I think.

 

[bpd303]

Hand springs are easy to make out of bobby pins.

 

[garra]

Looks like this vendor has some parts, they at least list items for this manufacturer.
http://vtigunparts.com/store/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=83&cat=ASM+1858+1863+pocket

 

[shortstart]

Thank you very much for the answer. I will be on the phone tomorrow. One more question. VTI lists the hand/spring as an assembly and also lists the spring separately. I looked at the old hand and it appears that the spring is peened in place. How do you get it out without ruining the hand? Thanks to all for the replies. This place is GREAT!

 

[garra]

I would wait to see how it comes from VTI as they list it as an spring/hand assembly. If you are trying to save the old hand and you remove remnants of the old spring, the question now is how do you attach a replacement spring from another source. Not being able to see what you're up against is really limiting any advise.

Was the link I sent for the correct model?

 

[Robert an saa fan]

bpd303 gave good advice to replace the hand spring with one made from a bobby pin. If the hand that was in the little Remington was timing well before the spring broke IMO it is best to replace the spring.

Your CVA ASM hand is quite small so it can be more difficult to work with than ones from larger revolvers. I put the hand top in a lead strip padded vise and then slowly, as gently as possible, drive a very thin knife blade into the hand spring slot. Usually this frees up the broken spring allowing you to drive or pull it out. Then the new bobby pin spring or a store bought one can be installed and peen-ed firmly into place.

Sometimes I have to use a slightly thicker knife blade after starting with a very thin blade. So far have not broken the back off a hand spring slot. YMMV and someone else may have a better way to do this.

 

[wolfundrabe]

You could always do a coil spring and plunger conversion and never worry about it breaking again. I don't think I ever seen it done on a little 1863.

 

[shortstart]

I found a place called "Deer Creek Products" that carries parts for CVA (ASM) products. They had the hand assembly. Hopefully, anew one won't affect the timing. Have to wait and see. Thanks to all. I'll let you know how it works out.

 

[crockett]

It seems to me that the spring just keeps the hand in place and the shape of the hand is what regulates the timing, so if the timing is okay I would just change the spring and leave the hand alone.

 

[wolfundrabe]

I agree, the tolerance for error allowed in the spring may as well be light years compared to the hand itself.

Keep the hand, replace the spring. If you replace the hand you will need to judiciously copy the old one assuming it was correct in the first place.

 

[Zonie]

The length of the hand from the pivot to the end is critical in determining how far the cylinder rotates with each cock of the hammer.

If it was working right before, the best thing to do is to try to drive the remnants of the old spring out of the little groove and force the new spring in place.

If the hand is replaced, the new one will be too long so plan on carefully filing and futzing around with it.
This involves a lot of "file a little, then try it. Then file a little, then try it......

 

[crockett]

If the new hand is done wrong it could wear the racket- major troubles. I'd at least START by just changing the spring.

 

[M. De Land]

I made a new hand spring this year for a .36 cal model 1862 Police revolver.
These little guns are quite small as well being five shooters.
The back of the spring slot in the hand broke off mine as I tried to slightly wedge it open with a knife edge.
What I finally did was drill a small hole seat in the slot with the back broken off for a piece of piano wire spring shaped the same as the flat spring was.
I flattened the back side of the spring a bit that will ride in the hand mortice for more bearing surface and soldered it into the seating hole.
Works great and will never break again.

 

[shortstart]

I gotta tell you gentlemen, the knowledge and experience on this forum is worth it's weight in gold to me. I really appreciate the replies.
I do understand the Internal workings of single action handguns but have never attempted to time one. Don't think I'll start now. I did manage to remove the stub of the old spring and fashion a replacement from a bobby pin. In the process of recrimping I managed to launch the hand into orbit. Landing where? No clue. After a day and a half of searching, it was found. I also found the broken off piece of the spring. It had broken right at the small bend. I think it was too long and broke from being jammed into the top of the slot. I'm waiting for the new hand to show up but I agree with Zonie and M.D. And will try to use the old hand and the new spring. The idea of making one out of music wire is a good idea. But, as a gentleman from the future will be heard to say, " A man's got to know his limitations". Thanks to all! Stay tuned.

 

[shortstart]

IT WORKS!!! For now. The spring is a wee bit loose in the slot. At least it seems to be the right length. Any ideas on how to hold this little bugger in order to tighten it up. It's kind of like the old wet noodle up the wildcat's butt. Tough to hold the cat and the noodle at the same time. Ideas will be appreciated.

 

[M. De Land]

I'd put a bit of red lock-tite on the base slot, put it in a vice and let it set overnight.
It will stay put very well then.
I use the Red lock-tite (permanent) quite a bit in areas that solder is not as conducive to use.
It is probably as strong as soft solder and no heat is required.

 

[shortstart]

Thanks M.D.. Good idea. If I remember the red lock tite is still removable. No telling how long this fix will last.

 

[Zonie]

The various Loc-Tite's are rather strange stuff.

They require clean, bare steel to activate and harden them.

Make sure that both parts are absolutely grease, wax or oil free by using acetone, MEK, lacquer thinner, disk brake cleaner or denatured alcohol.

Loc-Tite also requires some pressure applied to it to cause it to harden.

Heat will cause it to soften and loose its grip but it must be heated to over 300°F for this to happen.

An alternate approach would be to epoxy the spring in place but this also requires totally oil free surfaces to create a good bond.

 

[shortstart]

It's finally fixed and works perfectly. I received the replacement spring from Dear Creek Products and instead of fitting it, I removed the spring and installed it in the original hand. Loctite secured it. Problem solved!! Thanks to everyone that helped me get this done.