Installing Gunslinger spring kit

[a__l__a__n]

I installed the Gunslinger spring kit on my Interarms Rossi model 92 last night. For me this was not an easy task. I started around 8:30pm and finally had the gun back together and working at 1:30am. I'm not particularly adept with tools (and not particularly well equipped). But I was unable to locate a nearby gunsmith willing to take the job. So, armed with this youtube video and a couple of web sites showing pictures of the process, I embarked.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Gx7-k8W2eA
http://www.nevadashooters.com/showthread.php?t=32786
http://www.rossi-rifleman.com/viewtopic ... =543#p3514

The first few steps were no problem. I first ran into difficulty getting a pin to go through the hole in the rod inside the main trigger spring. At first, everything I tried was not strong enough. Finally I cut the barb off a fish hook and used the straight portion as a pin. That might have worked, except I couldn't get to the hole with the spring compressed. If I pulled the trigger all the way back, the hole disappeared into the slot holding the end of the rod. If I just pulled the trigger part of the way back, just before the hole disappeared, I couldn't get the pin into the hole because coils of the spring were in the way. At one point I actually did manage to get it inserted, but the spring was too strong and it bent the tip of the pin. In the end, I just disassembled without the pin.

My second problem was removing the lower tang. It's *extremely* tight. My hands are still sore from working it back and forth in tiny increments while pulling out (and similarly on reassembly...) Mine was nowhere near as easy as the one in the video. But after maybe 10 minutes or so of painfully wiggling it around and pulling, it finally came out. (Going back in was much harder - and took much longer. More on that in a minute.)

My third problem was replacing the trigger spring. Actually replacing it was easy... but it didn't work. Positioned just like the video and the pictures, tightened thoroughly, it provided NO tension on the trigger. So I removed it and reinstalled the original.

Installing the ejector spring was also a challenge. I ended up doing it differently from the video and the picture. After examining the "after" picture at the nevadashooters.com link, I decided to position the collar in its final position, started the spring in from the front, and compressed the spring with the ejector rod as I pushed the ejector rod in from the front. Then I inserted the small bolt to hold it in place, and was back on track.

Two more challenges awaited me. First was getting the new trigger spring onto the rod. I had my fish hook pin ready to hold it in place if I could ever get it there! After many attempts to compress it with my hands, I had a better idea. I just compressed it slightly on the rod, and inserted the pin to hold that compression. Then I twisted it to "screw" it in against the pin until it was completely on the rod. Much easier!

The final challenge was the hardest: re-installing the lower tang (did I tell you it was tight?) with the hammer assembly, and getting them aligned on the screw hole. Both the nevadashooters.com site and the video say that the hammer needs to be back during this process. But every time I got the lower tang aligned (ten minutes of pain each trial), the hammer assembly was completely misaligned (no sign of the hole in the hammer piece). So I had to back out the lower tang and try again. After at least two hours of trial and error, I finally tried it with the hammer and trigger forward rather than back - and it aligned.

After reinstalling the stock, I loaded some dummy rounds and worked the action. Everything works. The best part is that ejected rounds pop up a few inches and drop straight down. No more dings in the ceiling! Wonderful! There are still some tight spots in the action though. Especially, the last "crunch" as the bolt goes backward is rougher than I'd like. I see that the bolt has a kind of cam action against the top of the hammer during this phase, and that's probably the source of the roughness. That's also the time when the carrier comes up so maybe there's something in that machinery that needs to be cleaned up.

I have some J-B bore cleaning compound and had intended to use it to slick up the moving parts. But I'm not eager to take this thing apart again any time soon. I probably need to add some lubrication though. I may get some white lithium grease and see if that does some good.

I'm sure someone more adept with tools would have found better ways to do some of these things. But I learned a lot by doing it. The improvement in the ejection operation is worth all the trouble. I reload, so I've got to be able to find the empty brass!

Anyway, maybe my experience will help someone else one day.

[joec]

I'm using the Gunslinger spring kit in mine also. I installed mine though while I applied the Steve Gunz tune up from the DVD the first time. I struggled all the way through it but since then I've broke down the gun a couple of times as I like to clean it completely about once a year. I liked the fact it didn't launch my brass 20' behind me and now either drops it at my feet or my hat brim catches it. Of course Steve spring methods will do the same but still prefer new springs to cutting them.