Sidewinder hammer spring failure and replacement

Oddball · May-11-19 07:05

My 2.5" Sidewinder has started to have frequent fail-to-fires. There's a noticeable indent on the rim of the ammo, doesn't look much different than the rims from ammo fired from my Wasp.
If I put those same rounds in my Wasp they'll fire and that gun has been *** near 100% reliable with CCI & Gold Dot ammo.
It wasn't this unreliable new so my questions are, do the springs on theses guns have a unusually limited life and if so can I buy and replace these myself?
This gun does have a lot of rounds through it because its frequently the only gun I can carry so I practice with it often. My situation requires at times I be very discreet.

grayelky · May-11-19 11:05

If you have the skill set to replace the spring, contact NAA and they will likely send you one. If not, send them the gun, and they will take care of it.I think the hammer spring can be replaced without removing the side plate. You might check out youtube for some videos and then make your decision. I am sure there will be a couple of remarks on here to help guide you.

OV-1D · May-11-19 12:05

Say Grayelky while were talking about springs have you noticed two different types of springs in our NAA's ,spring steel and cast steel ending up in different models . No rhyme or reason for any given model I've found in both . Mind ya some of my NAA's a preowned but I've found the cast springs to be a much better product over time being the spring steel loses tension over time ,quickly also with the amount of shooting . So do you have any reflections on this ?

grayelky · May-11-19 15:05

Sorry, OV, but no can help. I have only been inside 1 mini, and it was VERY recently. Never had a reason to.

RICKS PLACE · May-11-19 16:05

While I have never yet had to do it, It appears the hammer spring can be replaced on the Magnum frame w/o removing the side plate. I keep a spare spring just for such a problem. I know the hammer has got harder to cock on the guns for the last couple years as I have given a couple of new B/W's to family members as birthday/Xmas presents. I also have a newer PUG which is much harder to cock than my old B/W. Call NAA, talk to one of the smiths. He/she can probably give you good info on putting in a new one or sending it back for a complete overhaul. Some years back, I had an old rimfire Smith&Wesson start to misfire. Replaced the hammer spring. Didn't help, turned out it was just out of time enough to hit off the mark. A gunsmith fixed it. As I have stated in many posts, the rimfire is an iffy means of firing a cartridge. But, it is what we have. Another reason I carry a B/W "AND" a Pug.

Canoeal · May-11-19 20:05

Quote from: grayelky on May-11-19 11:05
If you have the skill set to replace the spring, contact NAA and they will likely send you one. If not, send them the gun, and they will take care of it.I think the hammer spring can be replaced without removing the side plate. You might check out youtube for some videos and then make your decision. I am sure there will be a couple of remarks on here to help guide you.

If they won't and I am sure they will, either send you a new one or fix the gun, Wolfe Springs., In PA can sell you one...

Oddball · May-12-19 08:05

Thanks for all the responses. Next day off I'll look around on YouTube and see if I can find a video. As long as I don't have to take the side plate off I'll give it a shot myself.

OV-1D · May-12-19 12:05

Oddball it's really quite easy ,piece of cake .

Boisesteve · May-13-19 08:05

Howdy Oddball,
Kinda like OV sez, it's pretty easy. There's video of the job that's easy to find online, and that's what I did. On the 22mag-size minis, there's plenty of room in the frame for the spring to be easily fit, using just a sturdy needle-nose pliers and a minimum of tongue-biting and bad words. Watch the video, take the grips off, give the insides a look-see to get an idea of how the spring engages the hammer and the nub on the frame, and go at it. I did the job easily on my first 22mag mini; I'd bought it used and after a while started to get light hammer strikes and failed ignition. The new spring completely solved it. They're inexpensive, and NAA shipped them out to me fast. While I was at it, I also replaced the spring on my first mini, a 22LR that I've had since they first came out in the 80's. There was MUCH less room in that smaller frame for me to manipulate the spring, and it required many more bad words and tongue bites to get 'er in place, but I eventually succeeded there too.
What I don't want to do is get into the works under the sideplate. Thankfully the tiny parts in there seem to be robust enough for their tasks and haven't failed me yet.
Good luck, and if you do the spring work, let us know how it went. Steve in Boise

Oddball · May-13-19 08:05

Thanks for all the replies and encouragement. I'm going to give this a shot as it looks like I can do everything just by taking off the grips. If it doesn't work I'm only out $3 for the spring. Actually $6 because I ordered two. Seems like a good idea to keep an extra around since I shoot mine so much.
I like the reactions I get at the range when I hit the 25yd gong with the little thing. I've probably sold a few when people see the accuracy these are capable of.

Oddball · May-27-19 10:05

I think I've found the problem. Old spring vs new spring. I'm off to the range.

bill_deshivs · May-27-19 13:05

Springs can't be cast. Perhaps some have rougher edges than others, and this is what you are referring to.
Regardless-properly made springs should not lose strength.
Usually, there is something else amiss- like dirty chambers that don't allow the cartridges to seat fully, a chipped or deformed firing pin, etc.

Dragon 1 · May-27-19 14:05

That's not good

Oddball · May-27-19 19:05

Well it seems the spring was only part of the problem. My failure rate before the spring replacement was almost 20%. Now its about 5% which is still too high.
I'm using Gold Dot ammo and everything else feeds it 100%.
Except for this one round. After 1000s of rounds of Gold Dot this is the first dud I had.

Oddball · May-27-19 19:05

FYI that bad round was tried several times in the Sidewinder and then several times in a S&W 351PD which has never failed to fire in the first 500 rounds I've fired through it. A mix of MiniMags and Gold Dots.

Canoeal · May-27-19 19:05

Quote from: bill_deshivs on May-27-19 13:05
Springs can't be cast. Perhaps some have rougher edges than others, and this is what you are referring to.
Regardless-properly made springs should not lose strength.
Usually, there is something else amiss- like dirty chambers that don't allow the cartridges to seat fully, a chipped or deformed firing pin, etc.

I think he was referring to the difference in the bend...JMHO...

Oddball · May-27-19 20:05

Yep. The difference in the bend is noticeable. Especially when you try to install the new one. The old one came out really easily. The new one *** near broke a good pair of pliers trying to get it in.

bearcatter · May-28-19 08:05

I've seen posts online about even coil springs settling. Photos that show a used coil mainspring next to a brand new one, and the used is always noticeably shorter. Flat springs are no different in losing their original shape. Even in a brand new gun, the springs will have settled some just from being under a light load sitting in the box. Engineering takes this into account, making the settled length the correct size. One reason triggers and hammers are easier after some use and time.

Dragon 1 · May-29-19 06:05

Yes I think that you're right it's bad Ammo it's got to be even though Gold Dot is premium stuff sometimes it just happens maybe it's just not enough powder around the rim. I remember when I had talk to Wayne Martin many years ago he told me he loves CCI because they put powder around the entire rim. That was many years ago I don't know about today I think I'm gonna be trying some of this new Hornady 45 grain. I've sold in my shop sidewinders and I've never had any problems and saw my customers use these guns on a regular basis. I really do believe what was said it's probably bad ammo it is one out of the whole box it's got to be just a lemon thank God you have a revolver you can just cock it to the next cylinder and keep on going. Good luck to you but if you do have to send it back at least you know the North American arms customer service is very very good.