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Reading.... Seems factory spring is #20 and folks are going down to #17 on recoil and hammer springs for factory self defense rounds like my 90gr hydra shoks.... Found spring sets and individual springs at gun springs.com, midway and brownells as well most are Wolff manufacture.

Seems the interarms variants are good quality, as you know and have stated here the inox variants are / have razor sharp gotcha’s where ya least expect them.

Ordered a Brownell’s set of wolff’s “calibration” recoil and hammer springs, 3 of each weight, 17, 14, 12 I think are rates.... and a gun springs .com complete set of “all” stock springs to keep on hand.

I would like to pick up spare firing pin and extractors in time...

Good last few weeks of winter (here in Texas anyway) project.... Parts ordered, up to the ups brown shirts now to deliver.

Grateful for your help.

Stay safe. !

Well, I adopted another "senior classic" that was traded for something newer and sexier in weaponry. Nothing wrong with new and sexy, these older weapons were that once. I was "newer" once, too.

This is a Colt "Officers Match Special", 1952 vintage, in .22lr. This is another one of those oddities which have noticeable cosmetic wear on the outside, and virtually new-pristine-from-the-factory internally.

This is a heavy handgun at 43 ounces, but it looks much more massive than its direct competitor, the S&W Model 17-3, which weighs 41 ounces. Both designs go back to the early 1900s, but Smith seems to do a styling refresh every 20-30 years or so. The result is that the Smith looks slimmer and trimmer, probably due to the tapered-but-heavy barrel, and the weight added by the top rib. Between the design, and the modern grips, the Smith is definitely more comfortable, with a center of gravity lower and closer to the hand. The big, fat, untapered barrel on the Colt has plenty of weight, but poorer balance, IMHO.

The action on the Colt is tight, but after finding the threads on the cylinder detent screw rusted in place, I'll have to open it completely and check for rust or gunk before retiring it alongside Lady Di.

The heavy wear of the blued finish at the muzzle, and front and rear edges of the cylinder (the widest part of the revolver) suggests it was carried a lot in a holster, even if it was virtually unfired. The walnut grips are heavily worn, especially on the right side. This seems consistent with carrying in a holster with a flap that covers the right-side grip, but also rubs against it.

The original grips must have never been removed, because not only had the wood shrunk to where it wasn't even as wide as the frame, but the sand-blasted blued finish stuck to the wood, leaving the grip area bare. Fortunately, this is the same Colt medium frame revolver as the Python, and the standard grips from the Python snubbie are still a perfect fit, leaving the entire revolver looking less worn. The first picture shows the new grips, which aren't perfect for the purist, but a purist would never touch this revolver, correct grips or not.

Doing a bit of research, I learned that the "Special" replaced the "Masterpiece" to lower costs. The Masterpiece, with its super-fancy "royal blue" finish like the Python had, was not selling at all in that economy. They decided to cut costs on the Special by using the standard finish like their other "working" handguns had. A standard polishing was used for the barrel, and the flat areas of the frame. Everything else received a coarse sandblasting. It no longer looked as elegant and precise as before, but it shot just as well.

The mystery of who would carry this expensive target .22 in a holster for quite a long time, and yet left it basically unfired, remains a challenge to my detective skills. Theories and speculation are welcomed.

A couple more "rescues" just popped up. Maybe they're just seeking me out like feral pets. ;)

First, a 2001-vintage CZ527-M1 "American", in .223. It already has genuine CZ rings, and I picked up a upper-grade NIB Nikon scope during their 100-off sale. Mainly needs a tune-up, and some more mags. Shown here with my nearly-identical CZ527 "micro carbine".

The wood is CZ's run-of-the-mill base-level Turkish walnut, compared to the you-got-lucky-this-time walnut on the micro. I brought them both back to my LGS to show the difference between my nanolube-treated micro, and the yet-untouched new guy. With the muzzle pointed at the ceiling, the bolt on the micro will slide all the way back under its own weight when unlocked, while the M1 tries, but is really asking for a bit of a hand. Just shows the difference between a nice CZ bolt action, and another nice CZ bolt action that I also busted my ass on. :)

My other "rescue" are two of my own handguns, in padded cases, that were on the floor when 1/4 inch of melt water seeped into that part of the basement. Everything else was above the "flood plain". The vinyl-coated cases kept the liquid water out, but the foam absorbed some of the water, and then coated everything inside with condensation, like a fogged-up windshield does.

Easy enough to wipe off the water, and let the equipment air-dry overnight before checking again tomorrow. But all the thoroughly-soggy paper stuff is currently sandwiched between layers of paper towel on a marble table top, while big, heavy books, with full ammo cans holding them down are providing more pressure. Wrinkles are the biggest threat.

Not the end of the world, but it looks like I now have to get around to the storage changes I had been postponing for several years. I'm taking this seriesly, now. St Barbara does not need to use a 2x4 on me.