Well, the psychometricians say there are three kinds of intelligence, verbal, mathematical and visio-spatial. Putting together a 1911 is in the realm of the visio-spatial or what we call mechanical ability. When I was a wee lad my parents wanted to send me to plumber's school. Good thing I refused. I would have flunked out for sure. I hate to get rid of the gun since it shoots so well. Maybe as a last resort I will slap a 50 dollar bill on the counter at the gunsmith's and let him show me how to do it. The "how to" videos on the web somehow don't do it for me.