1873 Win Question ???

[rbertalotto]

I have an original 1873 Winchester (DOM 1884). Very little wear in the action.

But when the firing pin comes back to cock the hammer, there is lots of resistance as it slides over the hammer and them on closing the lever, it binds on the hammer. If I pull the hammer all the way back to remove it from contact with the firing pin, the action is smooth as glass.

It almost seems like the hammer spring is too heavy.

If I put grease on the mating surfaces, it smooths out considerable, but grease won't last during a CAS shoot.

Is there anything I'm missing here?

There is some type of set screw infront of the hammer spring attachment screw. Is this screw to adjust tension on the hammer spring?

[M. M. Wright]

Yes, that little screw bears up against the hammer spring so you can back it off and reduce the tension on the hammer. Be sure to use a correct screw driver, especially on that original. The 2 screws under the action control the detent springs on the lifter and lever and can sometimes be adjusted to help the feel of the action but doesn't sound like yours needs that.

[Shasta]

I had the same difficulty with my 1880 vintage '73. The main spring tension screw was already backed off as much as possible. I fabricated a shim by using my Dremel tool to cut a portion out of a small steel flat washer leaving it in a horseshoe shape. I then loosened the main spring retaining screw as much as possible without removing it and slipped the horseshoe shaped shim in between the mainspring and the lower tang, then tightened the mainspring screw. This spaced the mainspring up off the lower tang a bit and effectively reduced the pressure of the mainspring on the hammer, helping to alleviate excessive mainspring pressure on retraction of the firing pin. The action works smoother and the rifle still fires reliably.

SHASTA