Pedersoli Bess mainspring trouble

[M Kuhn]

I have a Pedersoli Bess which I love BTW. One problem is the mainspring broke after a very few shots. I purchased two replacements from Dixie at $27 each! I put one in and the other in my shooting bag. After about 75 shots the replacement spring broke and I am on the second replacement. Is this common with Pedersoli Bess's? Does anyone make a higher quality replacement spring? At $27 a pop this could get expensive if they aren't even lasting 100 shots.
It's disturbing as I really like this gun.
The last replacement I just put in seems twice as stiff as the previous replacement which makes me feel a bit better but I don't have confidence in this gun like I used to as far as using it for a survival and trekking weapon.
I'm going to be worried about that spring breaking.

 

[BrownBear]

Hmmm. Mine has several thousand shots through it with nothing like your experience. Something is out of whack. Have you checked to see if the spring is dragging on the inletting? I've seen that cause breaks in another brand. Also check the flat where the long arm of the spring rides on the lock plate. If the lock is too soft there and a groove has formed, that will also break springs. Been there done that, but not on a Pedersoli product.

If none of that fits, I'd try to work with the distributor. I see that Dixie is one but there are two others as well. One of them (maybe Cherry's?) is the warranty repair shop, IIRC. They likely will have lots more feedback on the issue.

 

[gizamo]

It might be worthwhile to look over the replacement spring when you get one. Sometimes they are ground perpendicular to the length of the spring. If not smoothed out in the same direction of the springs body..., they tend to break.

 

[Many Klatch]

I agree with Brown Bear. My Pedersoli Bess is from the 1980's and has thousands of shots through it. I recently had to get a new frizzen for it after I wore through the hardening but the main spring is still good.

Many Klatch

 

[Flintfan69]

Track sells one: LOCK-BESS-GRICE-1762-MS

Sells for $20

 

[M Kuhn]

Thanks for the responses.
It just disturbs me because I don't shoot competition at all and we can shoot rabbits and assorted small game in this state with no license year round so I use it primarily as my trekking shotgun for feeding myself on primitive treks.
It doesn't really get fired that much so i am a little shocked I have broken 2 mainsprings.
I'll try the Track Of The Wolf Grice springs rather than the Dixies. $20 bucks is more reasonable. I could buy three of those at that price and probably never have to buy another one as long as I live.
A smooth bore with bird shot is my ideal trekking weapon for small game and I'd be lost without it.
Thanks for all the responses.

 

[ebiggs1]

I have three Pedersoli’s, neither of which is a Bess, guns and the springs are the really only complaint I have with them. Actually this will keep me from buying any more Pedersoli guns. Dixie did replace a couple of the springs for free under warranty.
The ones that don’t break (frizzen spring) are so strong they could hold up a Mack truck.

 

[paulvallandigham]

You can reduce the tension on that frizzen spring by filing it on the front side( the side you see looking at the lock) to narrow the width of the upper arm. Once you have it reduced in width, then you can file or polish the cam- the part at the bottom of the frizzen that rubs against the upper spring arm, to reduce the amount of movement of the upper arm to get the frizzen open.

The bigger problem with the Bess designs, is that the Cock is too tall for most of the frizzens, so that the flint strikes the frizzen too high, and too square to the face. Sometimes you can "fix" this by cutting the front neck of the throat, then heating and bending the jaw downward to make the angle of Impact 60 degrees( flint to face of frizzen, using the bottom edge of the flint as your baseline, the centerpoint being located at the POI, and the upper axis being a line drawn from the centerpoint, to the upper rear face of the frizzen).Once the correct angle is made, the neck can be welded back together permanently.

The only caution I would add is that the CockScrew- that tightens the jaws on these hammers-- may be too tall, and will strike the top edge of the frizzen, preventing the flint from properly scraping steel off the frizzen. You may have to grind or file down the head on that screw to give clearance for the Screw head and the frizzen. If you do take off some of its length( height), use a fine file to cut a new screw slot in the screw. Some people simply drill a hole lower on the head, and use a steel rod to loosen and tighten the cockscrew on the flint. I don't know how HC this is, however.

 

[oldfart1956]

MK, something that hasn't been addressed yet is that Ped. had a bit of a problem with the mainspring in some of their Bess's. Try this; remove the lock and look carefully at the area where the mainspring lays on the tumbler. Rotate the lock thru its movement and keep an eye on that area. On my lock I noticed that the mainspring was barely "on" the tumbler in the fired position. They made some of the mainsprings a whisker too short! What happens is every time you fire the gun the cock slams down on the lockplate. (See where the cock strikes the top of the lockplate in the fired position??) What this does is "peens" the lockplate and allows the cock/tumbler to rotate further and further until the mainspring falls off the tumbler. When this happens..the mainspring snaps! Any mainspring can snap if violently released in such a manner. (like slipping out of the pliars yer using to compress one..) I found a vendor that had several mainsprings and measured them all till I found one a whisker longer than the stock spring. Problem solved. Audie..the Oldfart..

 

[Leatherbark]

Might be nothing to it, but T.O.W sells a forged mainspring for the Pedersoli Blue Ridge that may or may not be the same spring as your Pedersoli Bess...............That leads me to believe Pedersoli mainsprings are casted?........Bob

 

[oldfart1956]

Leatherbark you are correct. All the mainsprings I've seen (factory ones) for the Bess's anyway are cast springs. Not saying there might not be exceptions..but the ones I've seen have an obvious casting seam on them. I don't consider this a problem but I'd love to try a fordged one. YMHS...Audie..the Oldfart..

 

[ol vern]

Do you use a spring vice to remove & install the spring?

I have seensprings over bent by people using vicegrips to
compress the spring. That can drasticly shorten the life of
any spring.