Ever Find Yourself in Posession of a "Bucket Gun"?

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I dissembled the trigger group of my Ruger 10/22 once.

I never did get that bolt hold open spring back in there. But I have decided that it really doesn't need it anyway. :p
 
I had the sideplate off a smith model 64 and pulled the cylinder arm out, causing the spring that loads it to pop off. took about a week of tinkering to get it back together, but Im very familiar with the internals of a K-frame now so I don't consider it a negative experience.
 
Never try to strip a Browning BL-22. I sweated bullets for a week before I got it back together. DW was on my case 'cuz it's her gun.
 
Tinkering with electronics and fine components (like manual typewriters) ever since I was five years old gave me more than enough headache before I ever got into guns. My mantra now is "find instructions, put removed parts in chronological order on the table, and do all work inside a white garbage bag." :)
 
I almost pulled my hair out last night trying to get the trigger of a Hi Power back in after removing the magazine safety disconnect. This is a ten minute job - plus an hour of rotating, sliding, shoving, cursing to get the trigger to slide back into the frame. Of course, once the stars align it pops right back in with no fuss.
 
I get a lot of "zip lock" guns in the shop. I seem to average about 2 a month. Guys take pistols apart and I end up getting them in a zip lock baggie. I end up getting my parts book out and taking inventory of the parts I have and then I reassemble. Ruger Mark 1,2,3 are common as well as High standards, and Winchester 94's. I have had several side by side shotguns come in with the entire firing system in parts.

I have gotten a few Smith revolvers in over the years in pieces, one of which was a home brew trigger job. The owner had EVERY part polished all over like a mirror. He didn't understand where to polish so he polished every surface...excessively. He got the single action sear notch buffed to beat the band. Basically he destroyed the internal parts by rounding or buffing through hard surfaces. I ended up buying all the guts and then doing a proper trigger job for him.

Cheers
Mac.
 
I only take guns apart just enough to clean them thoroughly and not to the point at which I don't have the correct tools to put it back together again. Just not that brave.
 
Nope, but I fear if I ever attempt to replace the firing pin spring in my father's Ruger Mark I it will end up a bucket gun. Fortunately, or unfortunately, I've been unable to drive the pin out to get at it. I'm probably going to just replace the entire assembly. Ruger confirmed to me that a Mark II assembly will work in a Mark I, so I'll just buy the whole thing online. That gun has been one problem after another. I fixed the feeding problem, and no sooner than that it started doing light strikes. The ears on the recoil spring assembly also started to bend out, though I fixed that with pliars. So I'm looking at replacing both the mainspring and the recoil spring.
 
A good friend (who's a member here but hardly ever posts) found a Ruger standard model at a garage sale in a milk carton in parts, practically free. He got it put together, and it was a red medallion model. Later on, he needed a washing machine and traded the pistol. :(

My gunsmith is a cranky old sort. He told me of one guy who brought a revolver in in a plastic bag. "My wife took this apart to clean it and I don't have time to put it together again." :rolleyes: Funny part was, the guy had even removed the barrel.

On a related note, I have a Homelite chainsaw I've owned for 20 years or so. Twice, while trying to replace the starter rope, I've removed the wrong screws and Sproiiiinnng goes the starter spring. :cuss:

A couple of nails in the workbench and a couple of hours of patient work got it back in there.
 
then the whole thing explodes into a pile of parts which you have no idea what to do with

The best argument against "detail stripping", there is no need to do it unless the gun is broken.
 
Funny this thread has come up. I happen to have a H&R revolver in a bucket right now. The lifter broke so I figured I'd take it apart and do some other work while I looked for a new lifter.
What a PITA this little revolver is. I still can't find a lifter for it....:rolleyes:
 
I disassembled an Erma .22 Luger and couldn't get it together. Kept it in a box and would get it out at least once a month to work on it. It took 5 years, but finally got it together. I then test fired it and sold it. Whew!!
 
I've had all of my guns torn completely down several times each for various reasons. I've never had any trouble with re-assembly.
However, I currently have an old single barrel shotgun (Harrington & Richards I think) that's broke down in my "barrel". I took it apart to perform a home park job, and in the process of blasting broke the trigger return spring.
 
I have one currently in Baggies, if that counts, but it's just from sheer procrastination that I haven't put it back together yet. I have other .40's to shoot and don't really need it together at the moment while I work up an aluminum trigger for it, and would have to tear it back down again to install the trigger, so why bother?

I have had numerous bucket motorcycles and milk crate cars and even an Igloo cooler puppy over the years, and most of them turned out just fine. (The jury's still out on the dog, we think she has OCD from drain bamage...)
 
I had a Series 80 Colt that I completely took apart, then got real sick for 6 months and during that time we moved. Many parts were never found, but with Brownell's and a couple of diagrams I made it into a great shooter.

then the whole thing explodes into a pile of parts which you have no idea what to do with

The best argument against "detail stripping", there is no need to do it unless the gun is broken.
Click to expand...

I disagree - everyone should know how to detail strip their guns. A neighbor brought his Colt 1911 over as he'd went over on his ATV and the gun was full of sand. He had no idea how to do a detail strip but I did so I did it for him. Somebody's got to know! :)
 
I've completely torn down most of my guns. The biggest problem I've had is lost springs. I have Bic lighter and music wire springs in a few of my guns. :)
 
Nope, I figure if I can detail strip (into evey last piece it will coma appart into) my H&K usp tactical .45, throw it into a bucket of solvent for an hour, then re-assembel it, I can take appart pretty much anything.
 
+1 for youtube. Saved my bacon trying to get my Ruger MKI back together. As much as I practiced I never could get the hang of that thing. Traded it for a Beretta Neos and never looked back.
 
I think we have all had something or things that ended up in a bucket,,how else did we learn to tinker,,And I only take mine apart far enough to clean them after shooting.

And on your missing spring I'm not sure what it looks like but if it's a simple coil with legs just make your own,,,I have never made one for a real gun before but since I also collect old BB/Air guns that have missing springs/broken parts I have learned to make some items that I needed to operate them again,,,Just find some wire thats spring steel and make your own,,,And old style carb return springs are great,,,as long as they have enough straight wire.
 
I was given an old Colt Police Positive. It is semi-assembled-but not functioning- while I root around for my copies of Kuhnhausen's manual, J.B. Wood's book and the NRA Disassembly/Assembly guides. I recall the string we had here a while back on
"Home Gunsmithing Booboos", one of which was "Working on a gun without proper manuals and instructions."
Then there are Those Moments. Some years ago the mainspring on one of my remington M1858s broke. I tried replacing it the "Right" way, clamping the revolver in a vise, no go, then one evening I was fiddling around with, held the revolver in one hand, the spring in a needlenoise pliers in the other and-Voila!
 
I disassembled the trigger on my 10/22 and it was close to being a bucket gun, but I finally got it back together.

I had to take my AK-47 to my gunsmith to fix the spring I messed up when replacing the safety/fire lever.

What did you older guys do before youtube?
 
My grandfather had a cigar box part full of old watches. One rainy Saturday when I was probably 10 or 11, "we" took one apart. At a certain point, "we" had a sproing! moment. We never did get that watch back together, but I learned a valuable lesson that day.

Since then, I've put back together a lot of things that others have taken apart, but (knock on wood) have never taken apart something that I cannot put back together. Of course, I never became a watchmaker, either. :) Clint Eastwood said "A man's got to know his limitations", but my grandfather had taught me that lesson a half a decade earlier.

Wise man, my grandfather.
 
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