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March 13, 2013
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Purchased my 38+P almost 20 years ago new and have not fired it until recently. ran about 50 rounds through it and it fired nice and accurate. i want to strip it down and clean it up since it has been sitting in a safe for such a long time. lost the owners manual; I did take the side cover off and the trigger mechanism seems pretty straight forward. although, how is the mainspring adjusted or removed?.....thanks check out the pics........my local gun dealer told me that there were not a lot of these little guys made...sorry about the multiple pics....don't know why that happened...tried to delete, but would not let me.
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January 24, 2009
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The mainspring is removed by cocking the hammer & using a paper clip (or equivalent) to hold the tension on the spring while the hammer is removed. On mine, the hole in the rod is drilled just short of the perfect spot, so a little finger pressure is still required to get the hammer free.
to the 
March 13, 2013
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thanks! nice pictures! i appreciate the pics. is there any way to adjust the mainspring to make the hammer fall with greater force?
June 29, 2012
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A stiffer spring should do the trick.
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January 24, 2009
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thanks! nice pictures! i appreciate the pics. is there any way to adjust the mainspring to make the hammer fall with greater force?
I don't see any adjustment on the main spring. DW may be able to make you a firmer spring once they are back up & running.
Judging from your question, are you having some FTF issues? You may try cleaning the firing pin area & then give it a light lube with Rem oil, or ATF (transmission fluid).
March 13, 2013
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Yea,
having light primer strikes in DA only. I think it is a timing issue. the firing pin does not hit the primers in the center. cylinder seems fine no play. it is lining up correctly, but it seems as though the hammer falls too quickly in DA. don't know what the cause is. maybe worn parts etc. I cleaned everything up and still getting light primer strikes. parts are impossible to find for this gun. I took gun apart again and while reassembling it the hand spring went flying. still can't find it.....oh well, i quess it's nothing but a museum piece now. I'll try to find it or fabricate a new spring. very frustrating!!!!....wish i could source parts for this.....I really love this revolver, but is starting to become more of a problem then it's worth.....rick
update: found the spring!!
March 13, 2013
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after much thought I noticed that the trigger look as though it was either worn or too much was taken off of it. as I said before it seemed as though the hammer was falling just before the cylinder would lock up. i did purchase this gun new back in 1992 so I don't know if too much was taken off in the manufacturing process or it just wore out. so I finally welded some extra material to the trigger in oreder to prolong the hammer fall. it seems to have done the trick. she is dhooting perfectly in SA and DA without any FTF.
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January 24, 2009
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Nice work with your home gunsmith fix, it sounds like you have a reliable L'il Dan once again.
March 13, 2013
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thanks. after hours of searching for parts. i realized that they are just not available for this revolver. so the only option was to DIY it. 
March 13, 2013
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anyone know what size feeler gauge for the Lil Dan?....thanks
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Dans Club
December 4, 2011
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I can't say for sure on a 'Lil Dan but most of the other guns its .006". I think that would be a safe starting point, you could go less if the gun functions OK. Check every chamber and set gap on tightest one.
Anything worth doing is worth doing well.
My father
If a man designed it, and a man built it, then a man can fix it.
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March 13, 2013
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March 21, 2013
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...I took gun apart again and while reassembling it the hand spring went flying. still can't find it.....oh well, i quess it's nothing but a museum piece now. I'll try to find it or fabricate a new spring. very frustrating!!!!....wish i could source parts for this.....I really love this revolver, but is starting to become more of a problem then it's worth.....rick
update: found the spring!!
This may or may not be of interest but FWIW. You can put your revolver in a ziplock bag when working on parts with springs that have the potential to become projectiles. That way if the spring tries to escape you only have to open the bag to retrieve it.
Coop
“In the joy of hunting is intimately woven the love of the great outdoors. The beauty of the woods, valleys, mountains, and skies feeds the soul of the sportsman where the quest of game whets only his appetite." - Saxton Pope
March 13, 2013
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what a great Idea......thanks coop! will do next time I take it apart. It took me about 3hours of searching until I finally found that little sucker.
December 27, 2010
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If you are lucky you can find a whole kit for dw lil dan has all parts including new hammer, all springs and a lot of little parts they came as extra when buying new gun.I have one with mine in box.If I see one for sale I will post it on forum,you never know what you will run across. walt
March 13, 2013
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thanks walt!! I would love to have backup parts for my lil dan........rick
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