Hi all, I picked up a Hopkins and Allen 32 rimfire revolver.



It's missing the trigger, main spring and grips.

I have a trigger roughed out and some wood for the grips. I'm haveing a hard time getting the geometry of the flat spring right though.



Any ideas on the shape of it. Also, what is the notch on the bottom of the hammer for? I'm sure they put it there for some purpose, the only thing that I can see is that it might have matched up with something on the trigger, but don't see why it would have been important.



Given the condition of this gun, I don't think many people would have a problem with me converting it to centerfire. I checked and a 32 short colt will chamber in it. The bore slugs at .320"

I would make a template spring from an old and cheap hacksaw blade, do not use a bimetal blade as they will most likely crack on you by the time you have figured out all the geometry of the bends. Just grind the blade width down, or you can usually use aviation snips to cut most of it away. You can also make the width a lot less as you are only using it to find the geometry of everything. When you are happy with how it moves make a real one up.

Sorry the monitor here won't let me see the detail of the hammer notch you refer to, I'll have to look at that at home. Would it be something regarding the cylinder lock up?

The cylinder lockup is done by a different part on the off side of the hammer and it works great.

Here is how it should look roughly.

Look on the inside of the frame to see where the spring was rubbing, that will help you form the "vertical" length of the spring. Do that then play with part that goes to the hammer. I would bend my template to fit the hammer when it is cocked so you get the clearances right, then straighten it out to make the real spring.

Hopkins & Allen seem to have made some self-cocking revolvers, I wonder if the hammer notch you mention has anything to do with that?

Also, I imagine you also realize this was probably a black powder round?

Hope this helps,

Mark

If I'm seeing the notch correctly, it looks like a carry notch (keeps the hammer from resting on the case rim/primer). It should engauge the trigger when it's "at rest" and clear it when the trigger is pulled

Thanks I'll give that a try. I think it may need a link on the hammer to go to the spring first though as I don't think there isn't much clearance below the notch. It has a carry notch in the cylinder between the chambers. Yes I'm sure that the 32 rim fire was a black powder round. I checked at the gun shop and the 32 short colt will chamber. I will load with a light load of FFFg in the small case. I think that should be fine. Someone also suggested shooting a OO buck for a bullet.

That spring shape worked great. I had to put a link between the hammer and spring though. The cylinder nose was all corroded so I bored the end and soldered a bushing in, then turned it down to size. I made some grips and set the barrel. I just need to get a screw for the grips. I soldered a pin in the hammer for center fire. I just need to get some 32 short colt cases and I'll be in bussiness.





I still need to make a cylinder pin latch.