I have a Zoli Zoave and the spring seems weak. Sometimes it wont fire the cap and the hammer comes back when fired. I use 60 gr of 2f.
How can I correct this?
Thanks
Nick
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I have a Zoli Zoave and the spring seems weak. Sometimes it wont fire the cap and the hammer comes back when fired. I use 60 gr of 2f.
How can I correct this?
Thanks
Nick
The best option is just to buy a new spring.
You can take the old spring and heat it up , bend it open up a little more , and then re temper it.
But retempering a spring is not as easy as it sounds.
If you don't heat it properly , you can damage it by de tempering it.
Or if it is not re tempered properly , it can become too hard and will break.
Making or re working existing springs is one of the hardest things to do for gunsmiths.
It takes lots of practice.
Tahe it apart and put in a new spring ? Most big box stores have a spring assortment match it up, heavier than you have and give a try ??
That is a common complaint with them. The mainspring should be a flat spring. Not sure if other models are interchangeable. Try here https://www.ssfirearms.com/products....ter=mainspringQuote:
Originally Posted by fiatdad
If the hammer comes back, you might want to check the nipple too.
Look at Dixie Gunworks or Traditions for a new mainspring
I goy a new spring from Taylors and it is the same.
Then I would suspect that some of the problems are in the nipple.
If it is mushed over a little bit , that can cause misfiring.
If the hole is worn too big , it can cause the hammer to blow back when fired.
I had one lock that the spring felt weak.
I made a brass shim and installed it between the top of the spring and the lock plate.
I soldered it to the lock plate seat to compress the spring down a little bit.
It seemed to work.
But that was some Cheap Lock that I didn't want to spend a bunch of money buying another spring if I could find one.
And since the spring was hard to find.
I did not want to try Re Tempering it in case I screwed it up.
And I felt the lock was so cheap that it wasn't worth my time to try and forge a new spring for it.
errr which big box store carries flat vee springs that fit gunz???Quote:
Originally Posted by BLAHUT
Taylors
Sounds more like the nipple is the problem than the main spring.
With the hammer blowing back with a 60gr charge of 2F in the Musket, I'd look at the nipple for having too large of a flash hole.
Worn too big, someone purposely drilled it out, made too big,,what ever...the hammer shouldn't be blowing back upon firing.
The other thing too big of a flash hole on the face of the nipple will do is not supply a large enough surface for the hammer to reliably detonate the cap against.
It becomes a small edge of contact instead of a 'surface' with the flash hole in the center.
The hammer face to nipple contact angle may be less than perfect as well, the hammer striking at an angle making for misfires. But that wouldn't account for the blow back.
A weak mainspring may well be in the mix. But before any replacement or re-heat treating attempts, I would take a closer look at the nipple flash hole size. and the hammer contact angle.
On the Zoli Zouave I had for may yrs I switched out the orig factory nipple to one that took standard #11 caps. Not for any other reason than Musket caps were not to be found at the time. I never had any issues with ignition using the #11's.
It may be another way to solve the problem if the existing nipple is to blame. Smaller flash hole than the Musket caps I believe.
I bought a replacement spring for a Zoli couple months back - light - thin - soft - it fired caps tho.Quote:
Originally Posted by fiatdad
I thought he was talkin about walmart and co ????? (when he said big box store)Quote:
Originally Posted by fiatdad
Sorry , I'm late to the party. Not mentioned were the Caps. Some folks are having ignition trouble with the steel caps. Nipple contour is key. And yes, blowback is well know with the open faced nipples.