Prof Young
New member
Smoke Pole Shooters:
A quick recap:
I built a CVA Hawken pistol from a kit I bought at auction.
The percussion caps took multiple strikes to fire.
I was trying to modify the main spring and lost it in the man cave. (I swear I looked everywhere it could possibly be and all the places it's couldn't possibly be.)
I bought a new spring via Midwest Gun Works.
Okay so . . .
I installed that spring today and the stronger spring causes the caps to percuss 90% of the time on the first strike. TA DA!
Now if you want to know how to install a main spring in a Hawnk pistol, I can tell you how I did it. It's a v-shaped leaf spring with a shallow hook on one end and a nub on one side to hold it in place. The trick is to get the spring compressed far enough to install it in the gun, and then be able to release the tension. I put mine in a bench vise and clamped it shut. Then I use a small crescent wrench (adjustable spanner for our English friends) as a clamp to hold the spring shut. Slipped it into place in the guns hammer mechanism. Woorggled (That's a technical term for wiggled.) the wrench off and ta da. It worked. Oh, and as a precaution I tied a long string to the v part of the spring just in case it decided to go "sproong" and disappear into the netherworld.
I'm confident that I'm going to have a good time shooting this gun. I've enjoyed the process enough that I looked on-ine at prices, thinking I'd buy another kit and do another build. New, they are a bit more than I expected, but now I know what to tell my honey I want as a present.
Life is good.
Prof Young
A quick recap:
I built a CVA Hawken pistol from a kit I bought at auction.
The percussion caps took multiple strikes to fire.
I was trying to modify the main spring and lost it in the man cave. (I swear I looked everywhere it could possibly be and all the places it's couldn't possibly be.)
I bought a new spring via Midwest Gun Works.
Okay so . . .
I installed that spring today and the stronger spring causes the caps to percuss 90% of the time on the first strike. TA DA!
Now if you want to know how to install a main spring in a Hawnk pistol, I can tell you how I did it. It's a v-shaped leaf spring with a shallow hook on one end and a nub on one side to hold it in place. The trick is to get the spring compressed far enough to install it in the gun, and then be able to release the tension. I put mine in a bench vise and clamped it shut. Then I use a small crescent wrench (adjustable spanner for our English friends) as a clamp to hold the spring shut. Slipped it into place in the guns hammer mechanism. Woorggled (That's a technical term for wiggled.) the wrench off and ta da. It worked. Oh, and as a precaution I tied a long string to the v part of the spring just in case it decided to go "sproong" and disappear into the netherworld.
I'm confident that I'm going to have a good time shooting this gun. I've enjoyed the process enough that I looked on-ine at prices, thinking I'd buy another kit and do another build. New, they are a bit more than I expected, but now I know what to tell my honey I want as a present.
Life is good.
Prof Young