Making a Spring for an Original Pistol

"A couple of years ago I purchased an original pistol with Birmingham Proof Markings and a bad mainspring. Initial research lead me to believe it to be an Officers Pistol, yet a message from a collector the UK advised although Proof Marked in Birmingham doesn't necessarily mean it was manufactured in Birmingham. It was more likely to be a commoners pistol and possibly of Belgium origin having been only proofed in Birmingham. With the above information given, a broken mainspring and no source for an original mainspring, it was obvious, I was going to have to make a spring. Lucky for all of us, Dixie Gun Works carries spring material at reasonable price. Upon receiving the spring material I began to cut out the springs basic shape on the band saw. I was a little at odds with how to make the claw for the spring to fit over the lower pivot stud of the stirrup, so I requested some advice. I received some good advise about making a swage block from a chunk of iron, by drilling a hole and cutting the block through the middle of the hole to make two halves of a swage block. Ultimately decided to take advantage of an arbor press and make a die for it out of a grade 5 bolt by grinding a groove in the bolt. Using a roll pin and the modified bolt, I stacked the spring on top of the roll pin and the modified bolt on top of the spring. Using the arbor press, I pressed the spring around the roll pin, note the spring was heated to assist it in bending. The pictures below show the roughing out of the spring. The spring was finished out and polished, before hardening and tempering. Hardening was done using a torch, heating to a dull red and quenching in oil. Tempering was done by placing a wire around the spring and suspending it in a lead pot full of molten lead for approximately an hour at 600 degrees. Once the new made spring was installed, the back action lock functioned like new again. 

A $6 book called "Simplified V Springs" by Kit Ravenshear can be ordered with the spring material."