HELP!!!!! Webley MK1 Mainspring broken

F

forwardsh

Member
Rating - 95.5%
21   1   0
Hello everyone,

I bought a webley mk1 a few months back from a fellow CGNer that was in great working condition and shot great for me. The finish was almost completely gone so I took it to a local gunsmith to get reblued. He took 1.5 months longer than promised to get it finished but on top of that he damaged the revolver in many places during the work. To start there are scratches on the frame from where his screwdriver slipped, the hinge screw is visibly stripped and bare metal is exposed, the opposite side of the hinge pin was beaten with a hammer and visibly peened along with corresponding internals damage, under the grip panels there are marks from him using metal pliers and tools while fumbling to insert the mainspring. The light in his shop was low so I couldn't see most of the stuff til I took it home. After cocking the action a few times at home the mainspring snapped in half. Upon inspection it broke at a point he notched with his pliers during his rebuild of the revolver.

I can't for the life of me find a replacement part online. What can I do and what should I do here? The shop isn't open until Tuesday so until then I cannot contact the gunsmith to address the issue.

Thanks for your time, pictures included at the link below.
https://imgur.com/a/LZ3WzTo
 
Last edited:
Do you have pics of the webley before dropping to smith? Seems like the smith is an amateur. None the less i would give the smith the opportunity to correct it including replacing broken parts and screws. Of he or she wont make good if it was me personally i would bring them to small claims but thats just me
 
I unfortunately don't have any pics from before giving it to the smith (luckily a fresh blue shows new scratches very clearly); I got it, put about 200 rounds through it and sent it off for refinishing after having it in my hands for only two weeks. I might have screwed up not taking pics beforehand but that is a lesson learned. My top concern is finding a source for the replacement part ASAP as I don't trust this guy to get me the parts.
 
Webley MKI to MKVI main springs are all the same just the MK4 to MKVI are better steel .
might find one on ebay.com.

numrich used to sell them to but not sure if they still ship up here. check marstar to. and gun broker.
main springs do not need pliers to take in and out.
there abit tricky and can pinch your fingers but i never use tools to take them in or out.
 
Last edited:
Mk. VI spring is US$8.95 at Gun Parts Corp.
Probably other sources.

As far as the finish goes, a modern hot caustic blue isn't really appropriate. Have it gently blasted and then blued using the hot water process. It will look much better.
 
dingus said:
Webley MKI to MKVI main springs are all the same just the MK4 to MKVI are better steel .
might find one on ebay.com.

numrich used to sell them to but not sure if they still ship up here. check marstar to.
Click to expand...

I have a mkVI mainspring from numrich that I preemptively ordered months ago but it triples the trigger pull. I'm sure that keeping it in and using it will break further parts in the revolver (particularly the hammer stirrup or its screw) and I don't know of a way to lighten a leaf springs pull. As well the MkI mainspring has a peg on its side to fix it in place to a rib going across the grip plate area
https://imgur.com/a/01tSbhe
broken Mk1 spring on top, mkIV spring underneath
I am $2200 in on this revolver so far so I feel it is understandable that I don't want to risk substituting parts from other models; a spring is a shot in the dark to replace but adding in other parts to replace will just make this a broken wallhanger that I will have no hope of repairing
 
Well that don't sound like they sent you a original webley MKVI spring as all mine have that pin on the side to fit in the hole your talking about.
in the MKI they never changed that in MKI to MKVI . I can show you a picture of a original webley MKVI spring it has that tit on its side for that hole and its the same size in thickness and length. and the MKVI springs I have had don't increase trigger pull.

looking at your pictures that spring is not a original webley MKVI spring. im not sure WTF they sent you there might be some modern copy but its not the right length even.
A MKVI spring looks just like your MKI spring so get pictures before you order any more parts.
 
Last edited:
I suspect flare pistol, rather than grenade launcher.
No locating pin on it?
A V spring can be thinned down, keeping a tapering buggy whip shape to each leaf. Not hard to do.
 
forwardsh said:
looking at the page on numrich it appears they sell the spring with the same part number (A suffix for pistol, B suffix for launcher) as a "grenade launcher mainspring"
I think that might be the issue there. I will try contacting numrich to verify if they made an error or not.
https://www.gunpartscorp.com/products/204080A
Click to expand...


Could be just like the modern made webley latch springs they sell they need fitting they are not original parts.
Try and find and original MKVI one it will pop right in no fitting or work required.
Tiriaq is right you can shape the one you have down and add a side pin but its a lot of work.
If you look at your original MKI spring you will see the bottom end has a lip on it and your Numrich one don't.
 
tiriaq said:
I suspect flare pistol, rather than grenade launcher.
No locating pin on it?
A V spring can be thinned down, keeping a tapering buggy whip shape to each leaf. Not hard to do.
Click to expand...

Alright, I will try that. Thank you. There is no pin on my alternative spring at all; when installed the V rests against the inside of the frame back strap.
In regards to re-profiling the leaf spring which of these two grinding patterns would be correct to lighten the spring? I am assuming that you mean material removal from the sides of the spring of course.
https://imgur.com/a/WPG35aY
 
No, I mean removal of material from the faces of the leaves, tapering from the bend toward the ends. Grinding marks should be lengthwise. You could taper the top arm from the sides as well. Go easy, go slow, don't overheat, smooth, even taper.
 
tiriaq said:
No, I mean removal of material from the faces of the leaves, tapering from the bend toward the ends. Grinding marks should be lengthwise. You could taper the top arm from the sides as well. Go easy, go slow, don't overheat, smooth, even taper.
Click to expand...

Alright, I'll give it a shot. Thanks for your time.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom