I got a Russian 91 from someone else. When it was time to change the coil I found he built me a couple could so I decided to use one of those and worry about wicking the first time. I put the coil on. I had some trouble wrapping it around the posts but I finally got it. I bent the end until the legs fell off. Then I test fired it. The first time was fine 1.2 ohms. Then the second time to hear up the coil good something on one of the posts sizzled and sparked. After that the ohms were 1.4 stable.
Any idea of what happened?
I'd recoil it. What happened was that you had a loose connection on the post/wire contact. When you fired it up the high current sparked and welded the wire to the post. That created a stable connection (for a while). You can expect strange things to happen down the road as that tiny weld begins to break down.
When you run the wire around the screw, take it around the screw in a U shape to increase wire contact. I'e seen coil building videos where the wire is just run in a straight line under the screw. That can allow the wire to "squeeze" out to the edge when the screw is tightened. A full wrap prevents that. Don't cross the leads over each other when you wrap it around the screw, but wrap it as far as you can without overlapping the wire.
