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The spring was a kind of field expedient, they'll work without them. Might check, but if I remember right the firing pins on a Springfield are made of a 19th century ordinance bronze.
As for the condition..often the rifles are in better shape. In part because many of these were given to state militia units, who did little with them.
The 45-70 winchester, in its own way a weaker design. The earlier lever actions couldn't handle the heavier bullets as well as the springfield design.
The extractor, originally a problem, partially due to the balloon head cases. The extractor would rip into the case head, and then the soldiers would break the extractor trying to pry the mess loose with a knife. The US eventually did issue a broken case extractor, but it took a while.
For its time the Springfield was a pretty good rifle, and the rifle version was much more highly regarded than the carbine.
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