Colt auto. grip safety question OT

[Rob W.]

OK, so this isn't about a 1911, but John Browning designed these Colts too! I've got a Colt 1903 .32 and a Colt 1908 .380 (both made about 1920). The .380 came in pieces in a box and I have reassembled it. Everything works fine except it will fire even when the grip safety is not depressed. I've taken both pistols apart to compare grips and sears and springs etc., and still can't figure out what's wrong. The grip safety on the .32 works fine and I put it back together exactly the same way as the .380. Any ideas from you gunsmith types?!

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[Rob W.]

It was a slow day here in Buzzard Gulch, so I decided to swap parts from the "good one" to the "bad one" until I could figure out where the problem was. I put in the good grip safety and mainspring and it seemed to work fine, so I tried just the good mainspring with the bad grip safety and it still seemed to work OK. I reassembled the 32 with the "bad" mainspring and it functions correctly too. I guess the one mainspring was worn or bent just enough to not work in one gun but was OK in the other. Now I need to function fire them both.