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July 31, 2005
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It is getting hard to find replacement parts for antique Winchesters. Al Buckingham is long gone. Winchester Bob is hard to get hold of in the best of times.
I started thinking it may make sense to repair damaged parts rather than trying to replace them. On the toggle link rifles this includes carrier (lifter) and finger lever springs. Often, these springs are worn or damaged. Could a bit of welding and shaping bring them back into serviceable condition?
I call myself a collector as it sounds better than hoarder
March 12, 2023
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Bill,
I would think that repairs would be possible as long as the correct amount of tempering is maintained or restored after the welding/matching repair process. I think Brownells offers various sizes of spring steel stock, but I’m not sure of their linear dimensions or thickness.
Thanks,
Gus
May 2, 2009
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Its just the end that rides on the levers that wears so yes they can be welded up and reshaped. If your not going to be doing cowboy action shooting you can get away without reharding if you clamp the end of the spring in a vise and sink the heat from softening the spring.
Bob
WACA Life Member--- NRA Life Member---- Cody Firearms member since 1991 Researching the Winchester 1873's
Email: [email protected]
March 20, 2010
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Trying to figure out what the left lever spring on the far left may have gone to. The R & L lever spring for an 1873 are shown to the right for comparison.
1892takedown @sbcglobal.net ......NRA Endowment Life Member.....WACA Member
"God is great.....beer is good.....and people are crazy"... Billy Currington
May 2, 2009
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Chris,
The one on the left is curved the wrong way to work on a 66, 73 or 76. It looks like it would be pushing up not down if installed in one of those if you figure the end with the hole would fit to the radius of the frame.
Bob
WACA Life Member--- NRA Life Member---- Cody Firearms member since 1991 Researching the Winchester 1873's
Email: [email protected]
March 20, 2010
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Bob,
Thats what I thought too, but whats confusing is the notch on what I would presume is the bottom side is where it would bear against something. This came with a number of 73 springs and other parts I bought years ago but could never could figure out what it went to. Its seems like it doesnt have a lot of meat around the screw hole like on a 73 spring. Based on the length, I’d assumed it was for something with similar size cartridge range as the 66 or 73. The way it is designed is pretty stiff, not like a typical flat spring.
1892takedown @sbcglobal.net ......NRA Endowment Life Member.....WACA Member
"God is great.....beer is good.....and people are crazy"... Billy Currington
March 31, 2009
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Bill Hockett said
It is getting hard to find replacement parts for antique Winchesters. Al Buckingham is long gone. Winchester Bob is hard to get hold of in the best of times.I started thinking it may make sense to repair damaged parts rather than trying to replace them. On the toggle link rifles this includes carrier (lifter) and finger lever springs. Often, these springs are worn or damaged. Could a bit of welding and shaping bring them back into serviceable condition?
Get a hold of Mark Douglas at Wyoming Armory.
January 20, 2023
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I second Chuck’s suggestion that you contact Mark Douglas.
You might consider contacting Winchester Guns support department and ordering one or two of the equivalent springs for the currently produced Model 73. Although the guns are produced in metric, many if not all of their parts are produced in the metric equivalent sizes of the original.
I’ll give you an example. My Winchester Model 52C Sporting Rifle was made in New Haven in 1960. It was missing its original grip cap, cap key, and screw. I bought it in 2002, called Browning support and ordered a grip cap, key, and screw for the Miroku Model 52.
The points of the key dropped exactly into the indentations in the wooden grip.face of my rifle that had been impressed by the original key. The grip cap was an exact fit with no underlap or overlap. The hole in the grip cap aligned with the hole in the wood. The screw followed the original negative threads tapped into the wood by the original screw, without binding or cutting.
That’s what I mean by “equivalent.”
If the new springs are not exactly the same, perhaps there’s a chance they can be modified with a file and some Emory paper.
It would seem to be worth a try at little expense.
- Bill
WACA # 65205; life member, NRA; member, TGCA; member, TSRA; amateur preservationist
"I have seen wicked men and fools, a great many of both, and I believe they both get paid in the end, but the fools first." -- David Balfour, narrator and protagonist of the novel, Kidnapped, by Robert Louis Stevenson.
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