I received a Rough Rider for my birthday and loved it at first. I've only had rifles chambered in 22lr so having one in a handgun was neat. Anyway, I have about 400 rounds through it and it has broken on me 3 times. Every time this is this part that fails.The spring attached to the cylinder hand snaps and falls down into the internals of the gun.After fixing it the first time I let a gun smith at my shooting range look at it and he said it is definitely in safe and working condition. I've tried just purchasing the spring, but I struggle getting the spring re-attached to the cylinder hand. The first time it broke I attributed it to me "playing" with it. (Eg. putting it on half-cock and spinning the cylinder quickly, let the hammer fall on the safety bar etc.) After replacing the cylinder hand spring the first time I've been very careful only to only manipulate the gun at all when I'm firing, unloading, reloading. It worked fine for a few hundred rounds and then it broke on me again. I was doing nothing out of the ordinary. I went to eject the spent brass and I realized the cylinder was moving way to easily. Exactly the same part broke so I figured maybe my cylinder hand is out of spec. , causing the spring to break. This time I bought the hand/spring combo. It worked fine for a few hundred rounds but has once again broken on me last night. I realize this is not a S&W or even a Ruger single-six, but I was also not under the impression these guns are garbage. I'm drafting an email to send to Heritage but in the mean-time I was wondering if anyone had had similar experiences to mine? I know you get what you paid for, and I think my cousin said he paid about $150 for it - so I'm not really torn up about it. Has anyone else had issues with this gun / part before? Can you think of anything I might be doing to cause this part to fail?

Are you fanning the hammer...  or are you deliberately pulling the hammer to full cock then pressing the trigger?

Fanning the hammer, no. Deliberately pulling the hammer to full cock then pressing the trigger? I mean... that's standard protocol for charging and firing a single action revolver, right? Perhaps I'm not understanding what you mean.

Give up.  Buy a Ruger Single 6/7/9/10 and quit wasting money on parts and shipping.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDoMgV08HuY

Nope, not doing anything like that. Could it be from pulling the hammer to full cock and then putting my thumb back on the hammer and pulling the trigger and riding the hammer back down? I know not to cock it half way and then let it fall.

As you thought, spinning the cylinder is a good thing to avoid.   Ideally, after setting the hammer on the half cock notch, you'll cowboy load the cylinder - load one, skip one, load the rest of the way around to the first one -  then close the gate, and index the cylinder to the next notch, which will let you lower the hammer onto the empty chamber.  No spinning or excess movement of the cylinder involved.

As noted in posts above, fanning the hammer puts more wear and tear on the lock work in general - although not specifically just the hand - and avoiding it is a good idea as well.  

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I don't think any of that is your problem.   There's a reason that flat springs have generally been replaced by coil springs in most firearm applications.  Springs in general are tough to engineer and then manufacture properly to get consistent results in the first place, and coil springs in general will last a lot longer before taking a set and or suffering fatigue than a flat spring.

If you look at a schematic for a Ruger Single Six you'll notice the cylinder latch spring, pawl spring, hammer plunger spring and trigger spring are all coil springs, as is the mainspring for the hammer.  The gate detent spring is the only flat spring left in the whole revolver, and it is not all that critical and can be over built for what it has to do.

In the Single Six, the pawl is essentially the same as the hand in the Heritage revolver, and as you've discovered, redesigning the revolver to use a coil spring makes a significant difference in longevity.

Given that you are not abusing the pistol, and that you seem to be pretty good at replacing the spring, I'd recommend just ordering a half dozen hand springs, along with a couple hammer springs as sooner or later you'll probably break one of those as well.  It will save you some shipping and it will save you some down time.

I've never had to replace anything in my Single Six, but then again they are $580 pistols, and for four times the cost of a Heritage I expect a much higher level of reliability.   The Heritage is what it is, and for $150 or so they still offer decent performance for the money.  As you've discovered, it won't run forever without breaking, but there's also nothing  wrong with replacing a spring or two now and then to keep it running, and as long as it gets the job done for you, just keep shooting it and repair as needed.  If it gets to the point it's worn out, won't keep time, the hammer start slipping onto the half cock notch, etc, then you'll know it's time to replace it.

Quick update. I sent an email to their customer support the day I made this ticket and I have yet to hear back from them. I will call them after work.

I'd have to go along with that.

Sorry you are having problems with a birthday gun, that stinks.  Unfortunately, Heritage sort of has a reputation for putting out guns that aren't so great.  If you search around using the right keywords you'll find a whole lot of very unhappy customers with broken or crappy performing guns.  Some folks really like them but there's as many more, or more, that have problems with theirs.  I know they make rimfire revolvers and centerfire revolvers, both single action, and that one of the two they build are ok but the other are terrible, I just don't know which is which.  Hope they fix it so it stays fixed!

If you decide you want to ditch the Heritage but want the same kind of gun, I would highly recommend the Ruger.  I got my first Single Six this year, a .22LR/.22WMR convertible model, and it is just amazing.  Yes, a bit more than the Heritage but far better quality and made in America.  Good luck, I hope they fix your gun!

Heritage .22s are basically disposable guns meant for someone who just shoots every so often. I bought two for fun sake, a 9" version, and a 3.5 birdshead version. I could have bought another single six but I like trying different guns. Mine haven't broken yet but I wouldn't be surprised if they do at on point.

Update: I have not heard anything back from Heritage in email or via phone. I left a voice mail with their customer support day ago and send them an email the day I made the original post. Apparently their customer service is about as strong as their springs. I've basically given up. I ordered one other set of springs to have as a backup and I will probably just keep the revolver in the back of my safe for when my younger cousins are old enough to start learning to shoot. Oh well, more .22LR for my other guns!

That sucks, that's inexcusable.  Sorry that happened, I would put the new springs in and sell it, then add some to it and buy yourself a Ruger Single Six.  It'll last a hundred years or more and you will get way more than your money's worth in enjoyment.

I believe that Heritage was bought by Taurus some time ago with the expectation that the  quality and customer service would benefit.

Looks like that didn't happen.

Fix it, toss it in the back of the safe and buy yourself a Ruger Single Six Convertable, those revolvers are high quality, built like tanks, and Ruger Customer Service is excellent in the unlikely event you might ever need it.

I doubt you would get much for your Heritage.

They are poor quality items!