pokhar wrote: ↑Fri Dec 13, 2024 12:37 am
Please find below image for reference.
Coil spring (image1 and 2) is common now in iof mark-3 onwards revolver while leaf spring (called KAMANI in general terms in hindi) is at image-3 was being used in earlier mark 1 model. Aa per my experience mark 1 never failed when fired due to more power in hammer action because of this leaf spring. To make softer the trigger pulling action they changed the spring. I might be wrong but it was my experience with both mark 1 and mark 3 revolver of IOF.
Thanks.
Actually, in the picture, the pictures #1 and #2 are Rugers, and the #3 picture is a Colt.
The coil springs in the Rugers work fine. So does the leaf spring in the Colt.
Actually, a coil spring is simply a torsion bar wound into a helix.
Back 150 years ago, making a leaf spring that had the proper tension and didn't break was more of an art than a practiced science. Springs were expensive then, and part of designing durable guns was to minimize the number of springs in the gun, which made fewer points of failure and reduced the cost.
Coil springs were made from wire, and needed heat treating just like leaf springs, so were harder to work with in older guns. Look at the 1860s-1870s era, when single shot actions were being designed for the military. The Dutch Beaumont rifle even went so far as to use a leaf spring as the firing pin/striker mainspring -- it was housed in the hollow bolt handle!
The failure to fire was simply not even having the technical expertise or care to engineer a proper coil hammer spring for the guns mentioned. It's not a failure that is attributable to the coil vs leaf spring choice of design, although one would certainly steer clear of them if failure to fire in coil spring guns is true.
Mny leaf spring guns had a small screw at the base of the hammer spring, in the grip, above the screw that attached the hammer spring to the frame, so that spring tension could be fine tuned to provide enough power to set off the primer, but not have too much tension that would make the hammer hard to cock. The same might be achieved by shimming the hammer spring in a coil spring design.
All told, however, it is true that a leaf spring has a different feel than a coil spring, regardless of whether it works or not. This is one reason why a prefer old Colt double action revolvers over Smith & Wessons (which is opposite to what most people prefer).
The ancient Webley design had its place back in 1900, but soon after, competing designs made it obsolete way back then. The Webley design is not safe with a live cartridge carried under the hammer, and must only be carried with five rounds. They are about as practical to carry as driving a Model T from Delhi to Bengaluru is. Sure, it can be done, but with modern alternatives available, why would one want to do so? When one considers the workmanship of the guns available today, this is especially true.
Of course, one could always carry a couple of Blackbeard the pirate's flintlock pistols, too.