"V" springs or Coil mainsprings?

[Matabele]

Hi folks,

I'm just wondering if there is any practical difference between the two when used as the mainspring in a gun? Supposedly the V spring offers a more dynamic action, faster lock time (this must be marginal) and a consistent force over the life of the spring, although they "will" fail at some point i.e. break. By contrast the coil spring will "never" fail in terms of breakage but does gradually compress over time until it loses sufficient power to be reliable. It's also more sluggish in action apparently.

I'm curious if anyone has experienced a V mainspring from a well known brand actually break in use? I ask because I was lucky enough to inspect a Purdey 500BPE double recently, with hammers and V-springs naturally....this rifle must be 150 years old and those springs are still functioning just fine.

For your money what would you prefer to see in the action of your double rifle?

I have no dog in either race, just curious!

 

[JvW]

I had a V-spring as well as a cocking dog break on a vintage best Westley Richards 12-bore boxlock ejector on two separate occasions. As I lived in South Africa at the time, it was a real pain to set right again. The modern trend seems to be in favour of coil springs.

 

[Matabele]

Thanks for the reply, it's food for thought!

 

[Ray B]

Not experienced in how they work in long guns, but the best revolvers (Colt Pythons) use V springs while "compacts (S&W Chief Specials) use coils.

 

[Matabele]

Not experienced in how they work in long guns, but the best revolvers (Colt Pythons) use V springs while "compacts (S&W Chief Specials) use coils.

That's interesting Ray, I'm not familiar with revolvers much. It seems competition clay shotguns almost exclusively use coil springs, they need to be reliable for many thousands of rounds and where the cost of those guns they could put either style in. Personally I'm leaning towards coil springs....although if someone put a vintage best in my hands I'd put up with a broken spring every once in a while!

 

[grand veneur]

 

[Matabele]

View attachment 716021

Damn, that's a blow! Hope you were able to get it repaired easily...what gun did this belong to? Is that a top lever spring? The corrosion pits probably didn't help matters but I suppose that's the Achilles heel of even a well made spring.

 

[grand veneur]

Luckily it did not happen during a hunt.

It is the top lever spring of a double rifle caliber 600 Nitro Express built in 1926 by Auguste Francotte. The rifle will be repaired and restored.

 

[Matabele]

Luckily it did not happen during a hunt.

It is the top lever spring of a double rifle caliber 600 Nitro Express built in 1926 by Auguste Francotte. The rifle will be repaired and restored.

I'm glad it will be brought back to it's former glory

 

[Flbt]

Not experienced in how they work in long guns, but the best revolvers (Colt Pythons) use V springs while "compacts (S&W Chief Specials) use coils.

And the colt has the better trigger but less reliable action.
When they reintroduced the python they changed the trigger system

 

[Boone66]

They both break, but the coil springs can be repaired by most anyone and at minimal cost, the V springs can only be repaired by very competent gun Smith, for a significantly more price. How ever, if you know you are going abroad, you can have extra springs made and with a minimum of training and tools ( a main spring vice and turn screw) you can replace the V main spring yourself, the coil spring will normally require more tools and a vice with lead jaws, to hold the lock plate or action, depending on where the make. So, their is a trade off.

 

[Altitude sickness]

I’ve owned one Python and half a dozen S&W equivalents. Still have 3 I think.

I actually shot my Python. And found the S&W to be a better mousetrap.

 

[Wyatt Smith]

I think colt changed the V mainspring to a U mainspring when they reintroduced the Python.
Smith and Wesson had been using U mainspring for a long time now. (On the guns with no coil springs)
I think coil springs are the most reliable.

 

[rookhawk]

V-Springs are labor intensive and largely custom fitted. They used them because they could be timed by their elasticity to cooperate with auto openers, cocking dogs, etc. They are very expensive to make, equally expensive to remanufacture.

Coil springs are so, so much simpler to manufacture and tune that they are now extremely common.

Today, a V-spring is a sign of quality that has some functional advantages, but we're literally comparing a $1000 spring to a $1 coil spring.

 

[Ray B]

I actually shot my Python. And found the S&W to be a better mousetrap.

That's great if you want to trap mice.

 

[Altitude sickness]

Ray I don’t mean to demean a Colt Python if that is your favorite. The really nice Pythons were hand fitted and the triggers are very good. They are beautiful pieces of craftsmanship.

BUT, after only a few hundred rounds of .357 mag loads most go out of timing. You are relegated to using .38 special loads.

The S&W 686 of the same era is a much more reliable work horse.

No one ever carried a Python for protection. They were not reliable enough.