I am not a gun smith!

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k4swb

k4swb

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I used to get up each morning, look in the mirror and say, "I am not a gun smith!"
Served me well for years, mostly. Sometimes late in the day I would forget.

This seemed to be one of those days. While working on a 1911 I lost the safety plunger, twice.
Found it the first time but the second, I have no idea where it went.

If I get one in from MidwayUSA next week (I ordered 2) and manage to get things back together I'm gonna add to I am not a gunsmith "And I can't see worth a darn any more so don't even think about it!"
 
GunnyUSMC said:
There are small AR parts somewhere in my shop. I got tired of looking for them so, now I keep extra small parts on hand.
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And eventually the missing parts usually turn up!


At my house they usually turn up when I step on them........

I actually have a disassembly tote, that's got a clear lid, and holes for my arms, that I use for small guns (with small parts), or other small stuff, that I've never taken apart before. It's kinda akwards, but saves catching a coil spring in the eye, or loosing a part for a gun that's for all intents and purposes, irreplaceable......try finding a 2 piece ejector, for Winchester 101 20ga? I dropped that one, carrying it around looking for my soda one day, and never found it.
 
I find draping a rag over a compressed spring while disassembling as a simple solution when worried about unintended energetic spontaneous disassembly.
 
k4swb said:
I used to get up each morning, look in the mirror and say, "I am not a gun smith!"
Served me well for years, mostly. Sometimes late in the day I would forget.

This seemed to be one of those days. While working on a 1911 I lost the safety plunger, twice.
Found it the first time but the second, I have no idea where it went.

If I get one in from MidwayUSA next week (I ordered 2) and manage to get things back together I'm gonna add to I am not a gunsmith "And I can't see worth a darn any more so don't even think about it!"
Click to expand...

Are you married? If so just get your wife to look for it. The shop gremlins are scared of women and will quickly return anything they have run off with to where she can find it. Sometimes you need to furnish her a flashlight because they are afraid to bring it out into bright light.
 
doubleh said:
Are you married? If so just get your wife to look for it. The shop gremlins are scared of women and will quickly return anything they have run off with to where she can find it. Sometimes you need to furnish her a flashlight because they are afraid to bring it out into bright light.
Click to expand...
That is exactly what I had her do, even supplied the flash light. Still no luck.
I've got a couple on order and she works for a larger company that owns a gun store so she's going to call them and see if they possibly have one.
 
It IS funny how things can turn up sometimes! I launched a firing pin spring out of a little Sterling .22 I was trying (in vain) to get to run reliably and it flew out into the middle of a huge deep pile carpeted room and after a while the search had to be called off. Fast forward about one year and I was back at this same house wrestling with his German Shepard who face planed me and there....one inch from my right eyeball was that spring down in the carpet! It had resisted being vacuumed up many times and I was able to retrieve it.

When you lose a small part, it only looks like it disappeared into the ether. It's strange but you always find them in the last place you look.:)
 
I disassembled a S&W 642 for a polish job. The side plate gave me a fit coming off. I was whacking the frame grip, when it finally came off. I couldn't find the hammer block for the life of me. 2 days of going through everything in the room and no luck. Found a web site with one in stock and ordered it. While waiting for it to come, I did a search online. Come to find out, S&W with a shrouded hammer, don't come with the hammer blocker. :oops:

Temporarily lost the plunger for the cylinder release. But by then I had a rare earth magnet on hand and found it withing a half an hour.
 
I have a 10" wide magnet on an adjustable pole that comes in very handy when looking for small metal parts on the shop floor. It's been a godsend!!!
 
I have used a MOJO wand type magnet successfully to locate small parts that have flown into space in my shop. they are designed to pickup spent shot shells around blinds and gun ranges. very strong magnets! also work good on car parts lost under vehicle. They look like a ski pole and are adjustable for length.

LOL I am no gunsmith either. I once looked for a 1911 small part for 2 days in my shop finally found it laying in plain view on a bookshelf that I had removed all the books looking for it!! I feel your pain. I also took apart a Browning SA-22 barrel adjustment mechanism very bad idea! lost very small spring twice in house around kitchen table(if dissembled in shop I would have never found them--wife keeps floor very clean!!) used the mojo after first loss found it, lost it again and took about 2 hours but mojo found it!!

Bull
 
Small springs are usually the the pieces that like to fly away the most. I listen hard for their impact/direction. It helps to not have a radio cranked up!
 
A magnet on a stick is a good idea. It's amazing the amount of metal trash that you can drag out of small places and get rid of while on the hunt for a small part. When you cease to find anything then it's time to call your wife to the rescue to find your missing part. You get your part back and don't have a big mess in the cracks and crevasses for awhile.

I couldn't make a living as a gunsmith. I would have to pay my wife to to standby and find all the stuff I drop. She would wind up with all my wages. As if she doesn't already.
 
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Maybe some of us should have our bench in the bathtub, with the curtain closed, drain plugged, and no water flowing. :) (I suppose we could just install a shower curtain around our workbench in the shop.)
 
Thanks everyone for the sympathy. The darned plunger hit me right in the chest and I saw it fall into my lap but I've not seen it since. The wife took a light and a magnet and crawled all over the floor, carefully moving stuff while I watched.
No luck. Maybe Midway will come to the rescue this week. I bet I'll find it after that.

It is a 1911/.22 and I've thought about putting a wooden one in it just so I can shoot it tomorrow.
Should work, right?
 
I've had them jump in my front pockets before. After looking for hours on the floor. Then I've had some get in to cuffs on my pants one time. They have found my laces on my boots several times. There is no rime or reason as to where they decided to end up at. The best defense is work in a bag if you know things are going to fly.
 
doubleh said:
Are you married? If so just get your wife to look for it. The shop gremlins are scared of women and will quickly return anything they have run off with to where she can find it. Sometimes you need to furnish her a flashlight because they are afraid to bring it out into bright light.
Click to expand...
Good idea. I offer my kids 5 bucks if they can find the (whatever). Last time it was the bolt/slide screw for a Winchester 1200. I drop small parts enough it's a good way for my kids to earn their allowance. I never learn.
 
Has anyone tried to pick up primers with a magnet lately? They're not attracted to magnets anymore!
 
Maybe some brands, but Winchester and Remington were always made of brass.

Could it be you are thinking of shotgun battery cup primers, they have a steel body.
 
I saw that you found it. Question - Is it the whole plunger/spring assembly or just the tip that bears on the thumb safety? Both tips (safety and slide stop plungers) should be captive in the spring as the spring ends should have a slightly closed loop and the spring should have a slight kink in the middle to prevent it from flying out of the plunger tube when you disassemble the gun. That is specified in the prints, but many manufacturers skip those steps these days. That and poorly manufactured/installed plunger tubes are responsible for a fairly high percentage of the problems in the 1911.
 
It was just the detente plunger for the thumb safety. Spring and take down lever plunger stayed in the tube.
Now that I've found and fixed I'll answer the question that I'm surprised no one asked.
What brand of 1911?

Bowing head and feet shuffling, a GSG 191122. I think I'm actually going to love shooting this gun.
It has run flawlessly through 200 rounds and 50 rounds were a series of fast mag dumps just to see what would go wrong and nothing did.
I've got the trigger down to 4 lbs from slightly over 5 lbs with absolutely no creep/grit or over travel.

I'm going to take it slightly below 3 lbs before I am done. GSG 1911 22 001.JPG
 
In the past, I've tried to improve the trigger pull on a 1911 new model that has the funky trigger safety, but the toggle action of the safety thwarted a good pull. A friend brought a Kimber target model .45 to me for trigger improvements and I finally figured out how to smooth the automatic safety parts to make the trigger action lighter and without a felt "hitch" (yet still fully-functional). It's now a very sweet trigger, just as good as the older 1911 Colt National Match I have... 64oz (4 lbs) with no creep or "felt" over-travel).

It's recommended that 4 lbs. is the lowest safe pull weight that holds up well over time. There's a lot of slamming when firing a 1911 and if a pull is lightened and shortened too much, it may full-auto at some point. Better to be safe, not sorry.

(My B.I.L. had purchased the trigger sear honing kit and I got it when he passed. It WORKS great!)
 
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