Shiloh rifle hammer spring problem

[PJ Hardtack]

Under "hunting with a BPCR", I mentioned my 50-70 Shiloh MR throwing a shoe .....

I pulled the lock today and removed the massively thick mainspring (the rifle is a Farmingdale, not a current Bryant-made Shiloh).
I ground the both the top and bottom arms of the spring, reducing them by about 1/3 of their former thickness. I also 'feathered' the reduced width lower arm portion that bears on the trigger lever. In addition, I took out some of the curve of that portion which looked excessive.
Putting it back together, I realized that the little projection on the lower limb of the spring (it bears on a screw head that sits proud) was putting additional tension on the spring. I removed it, and Voila! - it worked, further reducing the pressure on the trigger lever.
All this halved the effort required to cock the rifle, but I was left with a hole in the lock plate ..... hmmm .....  I plugged it with a headless screw from the outside of the lock plate.

This will probably get me burned in effigy by the Shiloh crowd, but I don't knock success. I did what I thought a frontier gunsmith would do.

[wildman1]

May want ta reharden that spring. WM

[PJ Hardtack]

Wildman

Spring tempering is an art form, one I'm not familiar with. An old timer once tried to show me the colour changes as hardened and then drew the temper from a spring. I was amazed, but missed the subtle changes. If this one breaks, I'll have to do something else.

I pilled the lock from another of my Farmingdale Shilohs and yes, it has the same massive spring arms. No wonder I wasn't able to keep a one-piece firing pin from being shattered. Beats the hell out of me why anyone would put a spring that belongs in Model T or buckboard into a rifle.
My wife is unable to cock this rifle in a satisfactory manner without excesive effort and that's while standing, not from a shooting position.
I checked one of my '63s and it's the same .....  I've got work to do!

[wildman1]

I will be back at the "ranch" in 3 weeks and will post the name and author of a book that I have on making and hardening springs for BP rifles if you're interested. WM

[PJ Hardtack]

Thanks Wildman

I've decided to ship the locks from two of my Shiloh rifles back to them for 'tuning'. With the lock out of the gun, I asked my wife to try cocking the hammer. She couldn't raise it from the lowered position, let alone get it to half cock!
These springs belong under the seat of a buckboard or in a Model T, not rifles.
No wonder I was breaking the 'dog leg' firing pins after a few hundred rounds.

[rustyrelx]

I've had luck taking springs to the local shop that does car springs. They just toss them in with the rest of the metal and charge is minimal...just an idea   Don