A weak spring.........

No, not the season, but the metal thing that makes other metal things move after you load it under force.

A spring.....

Yesterday I was doing some shooting with Heir #2.
Amongst the firearms 'o the day was my trusty little Taurus mdl 85.
In shooting this pistol, we had a few failures to fire. Primer hits, but no bangie. Pulling it down this evening the trouble was clear.

I have managed to wear out a main spring.

The coil spring that powers the hammer.... has grown weak.

Wow... that set me back. I had to think about how long I have had that pistol, and how many rounds have been through it.

It was bought about 15 years ago, when I had an FFL and a part time firearms related business. Ordered from some wholesaler, I recall paying about $150 at the time. Not bad for a stainless .38 snubby that is a decent copy of the Smith J frame.

I had expected to resell it, but that plan soon changed. Once unboxed, I tore it down and polished the moving parts. The wood had checkering which repointed nicely, although it took several hours to do. It just looked and felt like a decent and solid little carry pistol.

At the time, we had an indoor range in the basement (yes, Life was very good).
Thinking the itty bitty snubby would suit wifey poo as a purse gun, we went down to try a few rounds. If it met her pleasure, it was hers.

Wifey could shoot, when she was of a mind to. That said, I feared the snubby would be hard for her so I advised her to move up on the target. About 15 feet away, she fired three rounds at a two inch bull. I called for her to stop and safe the pistol, thinking there was a problem.

I saw only one hole, and rounds landing really far off target are no joke in a basement range.

Standing next to the target.... I was shocked to find it was one hole.... one ragged hole made by three .357" bullets, about half again as big as the slugs.

"Ok, Hon, I guess you can move back as far as you wish......"

That sweet little snubby was one of those pistols you could win bets with. It will usually put five rounds of lead into a three inch group at fifty feet, from a two inch barrel. Sell it? Like bleepin bleepedy bleep no!

How many rounds have passed down the bore since? I have no idea at all...
besides a lot. It's the only .38 I have owned in nearly a decade, and about once a year I set up the progressive to do .38's just for the Taurus. I'm guessing about 1500-2000 rounds a year, for the last ten years or so. It gets fired every time we go pistol shooting..... pretty much without fail.

Wifey poo never took a shine to it, so it stayed mine. Still is today.
I guess I'll call Brownells and order a spring kit.

I suppose it's worth fixing.............