Firing pin springs

[Sturwilh]

Since a broken TD firing pin spring might have disabled a rifle/carbine, were any of the cavalry or infantry units advised to remove them?

[Tom Trevor]

I have never read that it was an order to remove the firing pin spring. Why would you? if the spring should snap it just winds back into itself and nothing would jam. I have over the years found a couple broken and the only hint was the pin was loose and not retracted by the spring.

[Dick Hosmer]

The spring was eliminated for several reasons, the main one being that the required sharp shoulder on the pin was deemed to contribute to breakage at that point. Also, the coils of the spring tended to accumulate dirt which caused rust. That said, I know of no widespread order to discard them - they just went away on their own.

[Sturwilh]

The reason for my question is the statements on pages 49 and 50 of the North Cape book by Poyer and Riesch. They indicate a broken spring would or would tend to cause the firing pin to jam in the forward position thus causing "slam fires" when the breach is closed. This would be a big problem for the shooter. I do not shoot my antique rifles so I have no idea what might happen when the spring breaks while actually firing the gun. Thanks for the details and thanks for answering my question.

[5MadFarmers]

The reason for my question is the statements on pages 49 and 50 of the North Cape book by Poyer and Riesch. They indicate a broken spring would or would tend to cause the firing pin to jam in the forward position thus causing "slam fires" when the breach is closed. This would be a big problem for the shooter. I do not shoot my antique rifles so I have no idea what might happen when the spring breaks while actually firing the gun. Thanks for the details and thanks for answering my question.

The springs were ordered removed via General Orders 26 of May 22, 1878.

The firing pin breaks were covered in Ordnance Note 47.
Slamfires caused by firing pins were covered in Ordnance Note 99. The slam fires mentioned in this note were not due to springs whereas it was possible via the breaks covered in Note 47 - two different issues.

I'll save you the suspense. With the spring removed it was found that closing the breech block with force damaged the pin hole and caused the pin to lock in the protruding position. Do not close them hard. Another problem noted was without the spring they could freeze in the forward position as was noted in Minnesota. Be careful with a frozen gun.

[Sturwilh]

The springs were ordered removed via General Orders 26 of May 22, 1878.

The firing pin breaks were covered in Ordnance Note 47.
Slamfires caused by firing pins were covered in Ordnance Note 99. The slam fires mentioned in this note were not due to springs whereas it was possible via the breaks covered in Note 47 - two different issues.

I'll save you the suspense. With the spring removed it was found that closing the breech block with force damaged the pin hole and caused the pin to lock in the protruding position. Do not close them hard. Another problem noted was without the spring they could freeze in the forward position as was noted in Minnesota. Be careful with a frozen gun.

Thanks for the additional very interesting facts.