Too little and the sear may not вЂњcatchвЂќ the hammer notch and you might find yourself experiencing some вЂњuncontrolled firingвЂќ as they say! The correct pressure assures solid engagement of the sear and hammer notch, helping to prevent the hammer following the slide down. A dab of light grease, or oil, makes sense there. The spring itself should be clean, the edges even and the tips bearing against the gun parts should be smooth, even polished so they move easily. As the housing slides up into the frame the sear spring flattens some, pressing the tips of the tines against where they belong. Properly installed itвЂ™s held in place by pressure from the mainspring (hammer spring) housing. They often have rough edges, mis-shaped tips and bend angles looking more like a drunken spiderвЂ™s web than the delicate curves of an original. IвЂ™d stay away from the вЂњgun show junk boxвЂќ springs as you just never know how they were made - old rusty steel beer cans maybe? IвЂ™ve вЂњfixedвЂќ lots of guns having been вЂњworked on to improve themвЂќ and tossed out poorly made sear springs. Ditto for other name-brand models from the likes of Cylinder & Slide, Clarks, Wilson, Nighthawk Custom, etc. A вЂњColtвЂќ branded spring will likely never give you any trouble. Smart guy, eh?ДЄs it is with most things with the 1911, original, high quality stock factory parts work fine. Presto, thatвЂ™s four jobs with one spring. The right tine is bent вЂњbackwardsвЂќ (toward you) forcing the grip safety outward, dropping the arm of the grip safety, blocking rearward travel of the trigger until the grip safety is pushed in. It also forces the trigger bow forward, assuring the trigger returns after being pressed. The center tine applies pressure on the bottom of the disconnector, keeping upward pressure on it. If you look at it as itвЂ™s mounted in the grip, the left tine puts pressure on the sear to keep it engaged with the hammer until itвЂ™s вЂњpushed offвЂќ by trigger pressure.

The sear spring in a 1911 is a classic example.

That rascal John Browning was a stickler for making parts that have more than one job to do if possible. ThatвЂ™s the sear spring, so hang onto your seat and here we go. I recently covered disconnector operation in a 1911 (Insider, M/A 2021) and almost immediately someone asked me to explain the вЂњfunny three-tined spring thingyвЂќ in the 1911 grip. Gunsmithing content in the magazines always generates some good questions from you all.

Hunting sear