H&R .38 auto eject hand nightmare!

[dartswinger]

Got me an H&R .38 auto eject, according to guys in 'what's it worth' it is about 1911 vintage. The police model. My nightmare: it has a broken spring on the hand (lever) and I am trying to replace it and am trying to judge length best I can - but - where does that flat spring go on the trigger top? Does it hook into something, somewhere or just ride freely; seems to work in conjunction with lifter somehow. I got it in just right a couple times and timing is great, but only works 4 or 5 times then pops out entirely or doesn't enter its slot properly. Just how does this thing fit in there?? Would anyone have a picture, like an X-ray; showing the complete gun with all pieces in place, not just an exploded parts sheet; I have that.

[StoneChimney]

You have discovered one of the joys of timing H&R revolvers. The end of the flat hand spring rides against the nearly vertical shelf on the trigger. It needs to be longer than you think it does. Plus, the bend in the spring will help keep it in place due to tension.

We have, at times, converted those older guns to round wire springs and drilled a small hole in the top of the trigger to hold it in place.

Good luck!

[Max Donovan]

StoneChimney has it right. The spring pushes against the back side of the nearly vertical shelf on the trigger. Read the patent. It describes the hand pivot pin as the fulcrum. This is one of the few hand spring designs that made the jump from a-flat-spring-in-a-slot to a-wire-spring-in-a-hole. The trick is to cut off enough, but not too much. Max

[Jim K]

Or redesign it to use a wire V spring.

Jim

[Old Gun Guy]

Originally Posted by StoneChimney

We have, at times, converted those older guns to round wire springs and drilled a small hole in the top of the trigger to hold it in place.

Good luck!

I had to do just what StoneChimney suggested many times. The spring wire must be long enough to be able to make a bend in it. Also, I've had to drill out the very small coil spring holes in some of the sears, mainly IJ's, to accomodate a slightly larger spring.
Old Gun Guy

[Jim K]

I am going to describe this without pics and hope maybe those familiar with the older guns will understand. This is what I have done, and it works. On those guns the hand shares a pin in the trigger with the lifter. On some, the hand pin is the pin, in others there is a separate pin onto which the hand fits.

What you do is cut some metal off the bottom of the hand or the trigger so there is a gap between the hand and the adjacent part of the trigger. Use fine spring wire to make a spring. If you can get that gap wide enough to take a coil, fine; if not make a spring like a hairpin. One end of the spring is bent to the left, then shaped into a U to wrap around the back of the hand; the other end can be a U or an L to bear on the lifter. That does away with the spring touching the trigger at all, so that interface is not needed. The spring will be weaker than the original flat spring, but will work OK.

Jim

[Old Gun Guy]

Originally Posted by Jim K

What you do is cut some metal off the bottom of the hand or the trigger so there is a gap between the hand and the adjacent part of the trigger. Use fine spring wire to make a spring. If you can get that gap wide enough to take a coil, fine; if not make a spring like a hairpin. One end of the spring is bent to the left, then shaped into a U to wrap around the back of the hand; the other end can be a U or an L to bear on the lifter. That does away with the spring touching the trigger at all, so that interface is not needed. The spring will be weaker than the original flat spring, but will work OK.

Jim

I have done this procedure also, and like Jim says, it will work OK. The only thing to watch for is that the spring wire acting on the hand is not too high up on the hand to interfere with it projecting through the blast shield in its slot.
Old Gun Guy