The mainspring which came installed in this Stevens Favorite is a real beast, which had resulted in some peening of the hammer face. I thought I could get away with a bit lighter spring. I tried various strength M1911 pistol mainsprings I had laying around, which at first seemed like they could do the job. But, even the strongest of them still produced misfires at the rate of three out of fifteen rounds. The resulting inconsistent ignition could explain the slight vertical stringing at fifty yards, pictured:

[Linked Image from i.postimg.cc]

So, I reinstalled the original mainspring, which should certainly eliminate misfires, and maybe tighten groups as well. But, now the concern becomes the potential for further peening of the hammer face, and maybe even the breechblock too. I’m hoping the Black Nitride hardening of those parts will prevent that. We’ll see.


Every day’s an adventure.