correspondingly strong—producing
a heavier double-action pull than
people like me care for. Anyway,
my larger point is you undertake
the spring project at your own risk
because you’re going to void the
warranty on your gun.
Ruger does an excellent job of
describing the disassembly and
reassembly processes you’ll need
for the job, and even I was able to
accomplish them without too much
trouble. If you no longer have your
manual, you can download it at
ruger.com—and of course there are
multiple YouTube videos explaining
th ese procedures.
Replacing the mainspring is super
easy. Ruger supplies a disassembly
pi n in the grip, but if you’ve lost it, a
small punch or Allen wrench will do.
Cock the hammer, stick the pin or
tool in the hole at the bottom of the
hammer strut, trapping the spring
and allowing that assembly to be
removed. (Do yourself a favor here:
Grab your phone and take a picture
showing the position of the strut and
seat, and how they sit in the frame.)
The Wilson kit comes with main-
springs of eight, 10 and 12 pounds.
Ruger uses a 12-pound spring in
the GP100, and I replaced it with
Wilson’s 10 -pounder.
To replace the trigger return
spring, after removing the main-
spring you have to remove the ham-
mer and the trigger guard assembly.
Again, Ruger’s directions are solid.
The only difficulty I encountered
was one mentioned in the manual.
The trigger guard lock plunger on
my gun was stubborn. I had to place
the revolver in a padded vise (pad-
ded!), and tap on the plunger lightly
with a punch and small hammer.
That budged it and allowed me to
swing out the trigger guard assem-
bly. To replace the spring, drive out
th e smallpinat thebackof the
< Replacing the grips was easy. Remove the “foot” (lower l.) to enable the
new grip to slide on. Install the Altamont’s locator pin through the rubber
portion and pop in the wood inserts.< To replace the mainspring, remove the grips, cock the hammer and insert a
tool of some sort to trap the spring. Then simply withdraw it from the frame.
The Wilson kit comes with several different weight springs to try.< To get at the trigger return spring, remove the hammer and trigger guard
assembly. The spring is behind the plunger at the rear of the assembly. Drive
outthesmallpin,removethestockspringandinstalloneofthenewones.WWW.HANDGUNS.COM OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2019 HANDGUNS 13