Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing flat springs

Ocasionally I get old firearms to repair. Many of the flat springs are missing or broken. The spring material from Brownells is too thick to be of use in many cases. One old S&W needed a trigger spring that was very thin. In the past I have made use of old Mauser follower springs. Looking for proper material to form I tried band saw blades from a shop that makes and welds the blades. The different widths and thicknesses are suitable.

My Question. The material worked and when heated could be formed. Is this material likely to hold its form and retain it's spring quality? A magnet of soft iron looses it field in a shorter time than one of hard steel. Would this be the same?

I use piano wire and guitar strings for odd shaped, small diameter round springs, and for flat stuff, I use the metal strapping material they use to band shipping crates with. If you can find some of that, grab on to it. I also will use Mauser, Remington and Winchester magazine springs when the need arises.

Bandsaw blades are pretty decent steel. So long as you properly heat treat and aneal it as appropriate for springs it should work fine. 1095 would be a typical spring steel, which is about as plane jane as you can get in a carbon steel with 0.95% carbon. Traditional bandsaw blades were a high carbon steel, which will make a fine spring. But, most bandsaw blades these days are made from a bi-metal strip, with a much harder steel used for the tooth surface and a more flexible steel for the back of blade.

I don't understand how the magnetic properties of iron and steel apply to this issue though?

Google the industrial supplier McMaster Carr. They should have all thicknesses and widths of spring steel stock. I even got some wide, 8", and thick enough to make my own hand saw, on a whim. You may have to buy a little more than you can use but I believe you'll find what you need. What thinkness, I'll check my stock. You can also get thicker and thin it.

Thank yall for your answers to my questions.

God Bless all shooters and their families
eddie

I would think a piece of hack saw blade or a piece of an old handsaw would work.

Some hack saw blades are harder on the teeth side and tend to crack when bent, but depending on the witdh of the spring needed, the teeth could be ground off. Same for a wide bandsaw blade.

For small flat springs the return spring froma set of automotive points work very well. Of course most cars don't have points anymore.
Doc

I grab old Alarm clocks at the flea market,....working or not,....good source of thin raw stock, and fun to dismantle.

Have been using my Niter Blue pot to draw sprimg temper,....

Slick, and better than old "Pine Sawdust Flash off" method, by far.

Merry Christmas, all.

GTC

Eddie. I'm not a gunsmith by any stretch of the imagination, so take this for what it cost ya.
If you have a auto salvage yard close by or some friends who scrounge, you might try a wound flat spring out of a carburator choke housing. They'er kinda thin,but may work for some applications.