The backstory: I have a commercial Colt 1911 Government Model made in 1917. Someone had cut the lanyard loop off of the mainspring housing, apparently with diagonal cutters. So I found a replacement. Last month I tried to remove the parts out of the mainspring housing, only the mainspring cap would not come out. Apparently it had been in so long that it wore itself a groove or a ring or something. So I gave up trying to get it out and a friend has a friend who is a 1911 expert who gave him the parts I needed. I got the parts the other day.
Now here’s the issue: I put the mainspring pin, mainspring, and mainspring cap into the housing and easily inserted the mainspring cap pin. It was a piece of cake to assemble the new unit. When I assembled the gun before (with the old MS housing assembly) the hammer cocked but would not release. This time (with the new MS assembly) the hammer can be pulled back but it will not stay cocked.
I’m sure I’m doing something wrong with the sear spring. (For the benefit of those who are reading this thread out of general interest, the sear spring is a flat piece of spring steel with three prongs on it. Its purpose is to engage the hammer and, when the trigger is pulled, to release it only to catch the hammer again when the action cycles.)
How exactly do I insert the sear spring such that the gun functions as it is supposed to? Is there some sort of ‘trick’ to it? (Aside from putting a rubber band around the grip safety before disassembly!)
