Loyer

I have made some head way with my working on the Colt 1877 pistol.

I have springs on order and have re-assembled the pistol with the existing parts to become familiar with it (thanks to the kindness of Hagis).

Question: Every internal part has a nest or exact location for it with the exception of the "hand and cylinder tension spring" (usually #35 on views). It doesn't appear to nest into any other part and seems to just be pushed into the mainframe once the trigger is installed.

Exploded diagrams and even the section view isn't clear on the location of this part.

Has anyone any experience with the hand /cyl tension spring of the 1877 and it's proper installation ?

Loyer

Received my answer from a gentleman from another web site.

dfariswheel

Do you have any hair left on your head after tearing you hair out?

Have the wife, kids, and neighbors heard words they haven't heard before?

Have you considered taking it to your local watchmaker?

These old, complex Colt's can do that.

Loyer

All springs came in and with a little advice the gun is re-assembled and works well. I was lucky and only needed to replace the trigger spring and the hand spring. Still I see where it is more difficult to re-assemble than mosy guns.

I need one more thing to finally finish this restoration.....a loading gate.

I have googled it and cannot find one. Do any of the "pistolsmith" readers have one for sale?