I bought my last flat 44 mainsprings from S&S, the outfit that sells a lot of Civil War gun parts and regalia.  They work well on a couple 44s I’ve married together from parts.

Redsetter wrote on Nov 10^th, 2018 at 10:40pm:


Correct me if I'm wrong. But isn't the 417 a pistol grip stock, lower tang? Since we already know Shafer's Stevens is straight stocked, wouldn't that eliminate the 417?

I will clear the air a little.  I am not a Stevens expert, so I have asked my friend Vall and he, knowing much more than me had me check several things to ensure that it was a 44.  First, I measured the thickness of the receiver to eliminate it from being in the "boy's rifle" category.  The receiver measures 1.158" thick, that eliminates it from the boy's category.  The rifle has 79XXX on the lower tang and has "44" stamped on the lower tang also.  Taking the forearm off, the face of the receiver has an "S" on one side and "0" on the other and on the bottom of the barrel under the forearm, it also is stamped 79XXX.  The barrel is completely round, no half octagon, half round like most I have looked up.  The barrel measures 26".  Also, when I took the buttstock off, I found the plunger and coil spring mainspring, not a flat type spring like older ones.  The serial number as I understand, puts it in the late production of 44's.  Both upper and lower tang screws are wood screws that screw into the buttstock, unlike some other rifles I have that have a machine screw that screws into a threaded hole on the lower tang. The rifle weighs about 7.5#.  Now, I am at the point of trying to find a coil spring at least 1.5" long, outside diameter 0.275", wire size 0.040" and a spring rate of 20-30 lbs/ft.  That is what I know.

Since we know the mainspring looks like this, and it's a straight grip, it should be a 44, unless somebody more knowledgeable can tell us different?

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I'd probably use an old screwdriver to make a spring compressor from. Split the tip of a large flat blade screwdriver, and reshape it so it's forked and fits between the strut and the retaining screw. Then a simple push on the handle would dislodge the strut from the retaining screw to allow easy removal and reinstallation.

I wonder if it had one of the speedlock springs as on the 417/418? Does the hammer have a half cock notch? I should have played with it more in the shop. Probably should have bought it but I already had a 414.

What I do with coil springs. I find a machine screw long enough to run through the coil spring and protrude a fair amount. I cut the head off and then put the screw through the coil spring. I put a nut on each end, and then chuck one end up in my battery drill. Then I run the nut down until the spring is fully compressed.
Once it's compressed I use my belt sander to take down thickness. I turn the drill on and spin the spring the opposite direction of the belt sander, while holding the coils against the belt. It takes little time to turn them down, and turning the coil spring with the drill leaves the finish smooth, but reduced. I keep a cup of water handy to cool the spring.
Once it's reduced I spin the outer nut off with my nut driver and test the spring in the gun. If it needs more I reinstall on the machine screw and work it down some more.