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Richland Arms Spring ??

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Stony Broke

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Went to a gun show last weekend and picked up a Richland Arms percussion rifle...just because it didn't look too bad and was cheap. It sat around here for a few days, and I broke it all down and cleaned it all up and did some minor repairs. The barrel looks like it should shoot okay as there isn't any pitting in it. I tried popping a couple caps just to make sure the flash channel was clear, and it took two drops of the hammer on each one to make them go off...so I am assuming the lock spring is too weak. I thought it felt a little weak, but this sure confirmed it.
Anyone out there have any idea where I could find another spring? I know the company went out of business in the 80's, but thought maybe someone would know of a source of parts for one.
 
I owned several Richland Arms items back in the day, and had to replace springs on just about all of them. I found I could use similar springs from most manufacturers. It always took some judicious filing and fitting, of course. S&S is a good supplier if memory serves.

But you might want to check first to see if you're using the right caps. My experience has been that when it takes two hits to fire it's usually because of ill-fitting caps. The first seats them properly and the second ignites them. Worth checking out.
 
Homesteader is correct. When it takes two falls of the hammer to get the cap to fire, the problem is ill fitting caps. The most likely problem is the nipple being mushroomed at the top so the cap doesn't fit until the first fall of the hammer pushed the cap into position. Then the second fall of the hammer sets the cap off.

There have been lots of threads on this forum about the two strike cap firing. First fix is to carefully put the nipple into your simple hand held lathe. Tighten the chuck on the shoulder of the nipple, not the threads. Most of us call it our electric drill. Using a small file, remove a bit of material from the top of the nipple until the cap is fully seated and still held firmly in place. The second fix would be to replace the nipple. Measure the threads. The threads may be metric.
 
I put a new nipple on the rifle after I cleaned everything, and I'm using regular old CCI #11 caps. Thanks for the suggestions...the first thing I checked was cap fit, and they are seating properly. I'm thinking maybe I can possibly shim up the spring some and get a little more out of it, if I can't find a suitable replacement.
 
You probably should have included the nipple change along with the minor repairs. You might want to try Remington caps. They have thinner skirts, but may be harder to find on the shelves of the local gun store.

Still, two hammer falls indicate more of a cap to nipple issue than a mainspring issue. I would try some file reduction on the nipple. Then you might not need to work the hammer through two cycles to get the gun to fire.

You can put a wedge in to increase the stiffness. It can also put more stress on the bend of the spring. Use hard wood and a small wedge close to the bend. You should try to keep the arms of the spring as long as possible. You want just enough increase in tension to set off the cap. Even if the wedge works, looking for a replacement spring is a good idea.

An extreme repair would be to anneal the spring to open up the spring. Of course you will need to harden and temper the spring. If you go the route of spreading open the spring, be sure to make a drawing of the present spring opening so you can see what changes you are making and compare your spring to full sized springs in the Track of the Wolf catalog..
 
Before spending money on a mainspring that might be very hard to find, I would take that brand new nipple, chuck it in an electric drill and file the cone down a thousandth of an inch or two.
(With the drill running at a slow speed, lay a flat file against the side of the cone and give it a few forward strokes.)

Although the cap may be seeming to fit the nipple, in almost all cases when multiple strikes by the hammer is needed to fire the cap, the cap is not seating all the way down. The fact that the cap will fire after the first hammer blow indicates the hammer (and mainspring) have enough power to fire the cap if it is fully seated.
 
I had a wretched Richland Arms Flintlock back in the olden days that had a similar limp lock problem. I bought a replacement flintlock that solved the ignition problem with no trouble at all.
You may find that the lock on your rifle was standard lock available from a number of sourcesIf you could photograph the spring and took accurate measurements you might find there are a lot of springs that would fit you lock.


I would also like to hear if you have any good luck with your Ricjland Arms rifle because mine was more than a lemon, A grapefruit comes to mind. I doubt very much R Arms people had a proprietary gun lock. I think they were parts assemblers which is OK I guess but it might indicate that somewhere there are a bunch less limp springs.

Sometimes rifles that are hesitant to fire are because the cap is too tight and the first shot pushes it in place and the second "shot: fires it.

Dutch Schoultz

Went to a gun show last weekend and picked up a Richland Arms percussion rifle...just because it didn't look too bad and was cheap. It sat around here for a few days, and I broke it all down and cleaned it all up and did some minor repairs. The barrel looks like it should shoot okay as there isn't any pitting in it. I tried popping a couple caps just to make sure the flash channel was clear, and it took two drops of the hammer on each one to make them go off...so I am assuming the lock spring is too weak. I thought it felt a little weak, but this sure confirmed it.
Anyone out there have any idea where I could find another spring? I know the company went out of business in the 80's, but thought maybe someone would know of a source of parts for one.
 
I have a Richland Arms Hawken rifle and it is an Investarms made rifle from Italy. Same company that makes the Lyman. Guessing parts should be available through Investarms. Greg :)
 
I took the lock apart, cleaned and lubed it. I also did a slight tweak to the hammer to change the angle it struck the cap, and now it fires every time. I needed to change out the sights also as they were nothing you would expect to use to shoot accurately. Hopefully I can tweak the sights to make them align as they should be and make the rifle shoot where I point it. I don't even know why I bought this thing, as I have a lot of quality muzzleloaders now...but I guess it's just another thing for an old retired guy to play with. Thanks for the help guys !!
 
I had one of those a while back. It was a pretty good rifle for the cost. The one I had had a serious knot and crack through the center of the stock. I repaired and refinished it. The target picture is from the first time shooting it after refinish.

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