Beretta Tomcat ... feeling sheepish

[Dibbs]

Welcome to the launch team! Most of us have been inducted, but were lucky enough to send a commodity like an AR pivot pin detent spring into low earth orbit.

I do think you were doing well by cleaning and lubing the new gun before firing. Just a bridge too far in the dark.

I'm one of the lucky ones, I guess. I played mortar team, with my first 1911 return spring and plug, of course, right into a corner of spare car parts, in the garage. Took a while,
but I finally found them. "Launch Team" , I'm going to steal that.

 

[Mark1964]

I'm one of the lucky ones, I guess. I played mortar team, with my first 1911 return spring and plug, of course, right into a corner of spare car parts, in the garage. Took a while,
but I finally found them. "Launch Team" , I'm going to steal that.

LOL, I love the "Launch Team" term and was happy to be welcomed ... but truth is I've been a secret member for decades.
It's a dang good thing I wear prescription specs and nearly always have 'em on, 'cause I am apparently a master launcher.

 

[sgt127]

I’ve posted this before. Not a Tomcat but....

An associate of mine bought three NAA mini .22lr revolvers when they first came out. He was fascinated by the little revolvers. Got home and decided to see if the insides were made as well as the outside was finished.

Took a screwdriver and began dissasembly. After a few turns of the screwdriver he heard a little "sproing". Took it apart, looked at all the pieces and went to put it back together. Nope.

Ok...he must be putting something in wrong. We’ll just take another one apart and see how the pieces all go together. A few turns of a screwdriver, heard a little "sproing" noise, got the sideplate off.

After a couple hours, he dicided he would take the third apart to see why the first two were being so difficult. Screwdriver...Now familiar little "Sproing" sound of a spring letting go inside somewhere.

After six hours, all three guns were dutifully packed in individual plastic sandwich bags and returned to my friend that owned the gun store by a bleary eyed, obscenity muttering associate of mine.

 

[brdavis9]

I joined (again: apparently I joined back in 2009: I've no memory at all of that occasion) to thank the person(s) who mentioned using a magnet.

My excuse: None. I actually watched a video a while back with a guy replacing his grips who lost the spring & plunger. So I knew. But. I forgot. I'm old. What can I say.

My story: Search post launch. I used a vacuum. I found the spring. Twice. Uh... twice? Yeah. Because I also thought I'd found the plunger via suction. (It wasn't. But it took me a while to figure out that the tiny... part... I found was probably something out of an iPhone disassembly from a year or so ago. Hey. I take stuff apart. For parts. In my defense, it fit the spring... it just didn't plunge lol.) So I lost the tiny spring three times. (I gave up on the vacuum after the 3rd sproing and ordered parts.)

The thank-you: I hadn't thought of using my trusty Harbor Freight parts tray with the plastic coated magnet to sweep for the missing parts. I found the spring (that was the third time finding it). And... I found the plunger. The Beretta one this time.

... and using a suggestion from another internet soul to use the red spray straw from a can of WD40 (a can of air works, too) when reassembling, I have a working safety again. Click click.

And when the parts I ordered arrive in a couple of days (they shipped today), I'll have three sets. (I was planning on losing at least one of the incoming sets. Nope. The red plastic pipette worked great.)

 

[ugaarguy]

Not sure how I missed this earlier, but moved from HGD to Handguns Autoloaders where it belongs.

 

[herrwalther]

My most recent launch was a buffer retainer spring out of an AR. I was absent mindly unscrewing the buffer tube, something I have done dozens of times before. And didn't put my thumb over the buffer retainer. The spring was lost to some dark hole of my at home work shop. But I did find the retainer pin. I ordered a spare parts kit off Midway that is full of "launchable" parts.

 

[Mark1964]

While I am certainly a credential member of Team Launch, for those of you familiar with the Patchworm, how about those little beads or collars or stops that make 'em caliber specific? I use Patchworms in my .22lr match rifles. The bugger about one of those little white collars rolling away or getting lost in the carpet ... they're plastic; the magnet crawl won't do the job.
I'm really glad I found out you can those little suckers for $1 each from the Patchworm people, 20/20 Concepts. Since then, I've ordered in a dozen. Now when I lose one, I try to find it ... but not for very long.

 

[jdh]

A magnet is run threw the the accumulation of debris in the shop vac before the bin is emptied for just this reason.

 

[C0untZer0]

Launched the little locking plate from my Kahr CM9 magazine and could not find it.

Luckily I had to send the CM9 back for a rampectomy and I put the mag in the gun with a broken follower and no base plate. Kahr either gave me a new magazine or replaced the follower and the plates on the bottom of the magazine.

 

[Dudedog]

I've wondered about such disappearances.
It's like there's a Bermuda triangle for parts.
Or somewhere there's a retirement community where lost springs, plungers and pins live one street over from the socks that went missing in the laundry.

At the moment a launch for any spring/small part a tiny black hole comes into being transferring the part via wormhole to another universe so no amount of searching in this universe will turn up all the missing pieces.
Sometimes if you are lucky the wormhole pair will deposit a launched part from another universe where you can find it but I have never seen more than one part come my way thru the wormhole and the only way you get one back is to launch at least two........

 

[Thunderchicken]

Disassembly and assembly, doing it inside a gallon size ziplock bag is a good safety measure.

A great idea, and like all the great ideas except pants and eating the first oyster, simple. I will offer that they make 2 1/2 gallon Ziploc bags, too. I use them for some kitchen-related stuff but they might be the slick rig for some of the larger-handed among us.

 

[Mark1964]

A great idea, and like all the great ideas except pants and eating the first oyster, simple. I will offer that they make 2 1/2 gallon Ziploc bags, too. I use them for some kitchen-related stuff but they might be the slick rig for some of the larger-handed among us.

Going to have to get me some of those big Ziplocs. I am a master at losing springs and pins.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

Thanks for welcome to the Launch Team.
The plunger and spring on this are the tiniest things I've ever launched. Was surprised I found the plunger. It hit and stuck to a magnetic parts tray. No luck re the spring, though, despite searching the carpet and bench with flashlight and magnet. Hadn't done the carpet crawl in quite a while; that was fun.
I now realize this does not diminish my Joe Gun Guy status but merely reaffirms my Gun Guy-ness.
That's my new story, and I'm sticking to it.

There are two kinds of gun guys: the ones who have taken their gunsmith a bag-o-gun to re-assemble and the ones who haven't, yet.

Welcome to the club. I disassembled a KGP-68 .32ACP and launched the firing pin assembly into an unknown dimension. It was so easy to field strip after the gunsmith showed me how - the second time.

 

[wiscoaster]

....Welcome to the club. I disassembled a KGP-68 .32ACP and launched the firing pin assembly into an unknown dimension....

Ya, but I bet you've never launched a Mosin M44 bayonet point first directly into the kitchen floor vinyl ... twice!!

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

Ya, but I bet you've never launched a Mosin M44 bayonet point first directly into the kitchen floor vinyl ... twice!!

I’m still breathing and still married so, no.