Re-tempering a coil spring?

[hornady308]

I have a .45 half-stock percussion rifle that was made by Bob Tingle. It is very accurate and is a blast to shoot, but the coil spring in the lock has reached the end of the road. I might be able to substitute a TC coil spring, but was wondering it I could just re-temper the spring. I have nothing to lose, so I'll probably give it a try this weekend. I'm am not an expert spring maker, but I have made a number of flat springs and found it to be relatively easy. The spring/lock and rifle look like this...
282602

282603

I'm planning to heat it to dark red and quench in oil. If it doesn't work or breaks, then it's on to plan B (getting some wire of appropriate size and learning how to make coil springs).

Any help is appreciated. If I do end up having to make my own, where do you recommend getting the wire?

Thanks

[fc60]

Greetings,

For a temporary fix, stretch the spring to it's original free length and temper at 450 degrees F for one hour.

Cheers,

Dave

[45DUDE]

Greetings,

For a temporary fix, stretch the spring to it's original free length and temper at 450 degrees F for one hour.

Cheers,

Dave

When the hour is up do you drop in oil or let air cool? Could you add shims?

[Moleman-]

If you have a lathe you can use it to make a similar spring out of music wire. Basically trial and error to find what size arbor you need to use to form the coil diameter you want because of springback and the style and setup of how the wire is bent. Drill a wire sized hole in the arbor, hand turn the chuck over a couple times to form two close loops, then engage the thread lever and turn however many coils you need ending with two turns for the closed end. Grind the ends and stress relieve. If you're wanting open end, then just omit the two loops at the start. In the pics the original spring we needed more of is the dirty one in the middle.

[375RUGER]

After the quench, a good way to temper small parts like that, is to bring your lead pot up to temp (450F) and immerse the spring. 1/2-1 hour is plenty for thin sections like a spring or extractor. Wire brush any lead off when you pull it out of the pot.

[beshears]

Measure OD and ID and wire size and length, Then call Wolf Springs.

[Texas by God]

The old way was to beat a tin can into a trough deep enough to submerge the spring in oil. Heat the spring in dim light till it goes orange then drop it in the oil. Then light the remaining oil and let it burn till gone. After a while compress it in a vice to test it.
At least that’s how I understood it......

[James Wisner]

Like what beshears said.
Measure the OD, and ID of the spring and diameter of the wire.
Drop me a PM as I have LOTS of coil spring stock, I may have one that will fit, just will need to trim to length.

Texas by God
I have kept a old Baby Moon Hub cap just for that purpose.
Years ago I bought a 55 gal drum of Light oil for the quench oil and also use it for dipping the hot blued parts in.
You can also use Mineral oil as the quench and the burn off temp is only about 75 degrees higher than most of that type of light oil.

Now with a good furnace, I quench in a 5 gallon bucket that has a removable screen, dry off, temper, roto blast, tumble, oil and they are good to go
Have lost track of how many flat arched, and vee springs I have made over the years

J Wisner

[uscra112]

measure od and id and wire size and length, then call wolf springs.

^^^^this^^^^

[Cap'n Morgan]

Re-tempering a coil spring is really not worth the hassle - the hit or miss window is too narrow. Like 45dude suggested, check if there's room for a shim when the spring is compressed. Otherwise get a new one.