How tightly to grip your revolver

[MartinS]

I think you can waste a lot of time and ammo trying to make someone else's way work for you, especially if your stubborn about it. Get a hunch, try it, fail, try something else.

 

[mikemyers]

.......The rebound block spring does have a tendency to want to leap away when replacing it. I found that a simple 1/4 inch wide thin screwdriver if ground so it's got a "V" point on the nose makes a great tool for putting the spring and block back into place. Grind the tip so the point of the V is in the middle and the angle between the sides is fairly open at around 120 to 130 degrees. You want the point to center in the spring but not hold firmly when you push the block back down over the spring retention pin.

This will suddenly make total sense when you have the side cover off the gun and see the workings. .........

Thanks for the suggestion. After reading this, I dug out one of my old screwdrivers that could be ground to the shape you suggested. At the same time, other people here suggested I buy the tool Brownells sells for this purpose:
http://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-t...rebound-slide-tool-sku080666000-774-2973.aspx

I've now got one of those on order, but your idea sounds far better than what Jerry Miculek suggested (using a ball point pen) or what Will tried (an old flat blade screwdriver). Jerry made it look so easy, but when Will tried it, the pen had problems and the spring got to take flying lessons. I like your idea, because the spring would be "trapped" by the pointed screwdriver, and unlikely to escape. ....I'll wait until the Brownells package arrives, but I might make up this tool anyway - at some point in the future, I want to try it, just to see how well it works for me.