UPDATE TO: A bad sound from a gun is...............

[Rockrivr1]

.....when you have it apart for cleaning and after one slight miscalculation you hear TWANG and catch a spring flying into the stratosphere out of the corner of your eye. Of course you don't see the exact trajectory of that spring and no real clue where to start looking for it. Then after two hours of looking unsuccessfully for it you become completely frustrated and just give up finding it. Now I'm sitting in front of a computer screen looking for a replacement online. Hard part is it's a spring from an old gun and I'm not even sure what it looks like......

 

[Tomfromhull]

Sorry for your loss

 

[LoginName]

You could be taking it apart while sitting butt ass naked in one corner of a completely empty 12'x12' room painted
pure white, and if there's a pencil eraser sized hole in the floor at the farthest corner, that's where the spring will go.

 

[greencobra]

Been there, done that...I feel your pain

 

[RoterTeufel]

have you tried:

https://www.gunpartscorp.com/

They have diagrams for different guns - even some old ones.

 

[pastera]

Been there, done that...I feel your pain

Butt ass naked in a white room? Dude you seriously know how to party. Are you related to Attila?

 

[MSant]

Have you tried sweeping the riom with a good sized magnet?

 

[mac1911]

I use a old speaker magnet and get it as many places as I can. Although I usually find them after I finally fix the gun and sell it!

 

[Katie-B]

.....when you have it apart for cleaning and after one slight miscalculation you hear TWANG and catch a spring flying into the stratosphere out of the corner of your eye. Of course you don't see the exact trajectory of that spring and no real clue where to start looking for it. Then after two hours of looking unsuccessfully for it you become completely frustrated and just give up finding it. Now I'm sitting in front of a computer screen looking for a replacement online. Hard part is it's a spring from an old gun and I'm not even sure what it looks like......

If you can determine what you need…it might be something I can help with.

 

[teaser452]

You could be taking it apart while sitting butt ass naked in one corner of a completely empty 12'x12' room painted
pure white, and if there's a pencil eraser sized hole in the floor at the farthest corner, that's where the spring will go.

So true! That EXACT thing happened to me once. Thankfully, the wifey has eagle eyes.

 

[MachineHead]

Lol, had a similar problem a couple months ago while changing the extractor for an 870. Headlamp lights always help when cleaning or modifying any firearm.

 

[pastera]

And for complete disclosure, last year I lost the trigger spring on my black powder rifle - dropped a primer into the works and couldn't shake it out. Disassembly went fine but the spring decided to retire into the wood pile. No amount of searching even with a magnet helped.

Internet has some great resources on making springs

 

[Spanz]

put a strong magnet on the end of a stick and sweep the ground in the general direction it flew

 

[jefftk]

I managed to launch the tiny spring from the hammer assembly (sear spring maybe?), about the size of a pin-head, from my j-frame 642 on to my carpeted floor while installing a trigger kit.... I'm still amazed I was able to find it.

 

[willbdavis]

At least you didn't take your eye out (kid)

 

[HorizontalHunter]

I use a old speaker magnet and get it as many places as I can. Although I usually find them after I finally fix the gun and sell it!

Another thing you can try is to set a flashlight on the floor and slowly move it in the general area of where the spring went. You may not see the spring but your eyes might pick up the shadow.

Bob

 

[LonelyMountainArms]

Sounds like how I wound up making a replacement safety catch plunger for my Colt 1908 on my watchmaker's lathe - launching the original while taking the gun apart for cleaning. You can't buy one - no one carries it. So I got someone on ColtForum to take a picture and a few measurements and made it.

 

[copterdoctor]

How old is old? These people have parts for old guns.
http://www.ssfirearms.com/

 

[Radtekk]

Had that happen to me taking apart a Marlin 60 a few years back. Thought the pins holding the carrier assembly together would tap out once I removed the circlips. Missed one of the clips, the third "whack" with the hammer exploded the parts all over my garage. C-Pher won the Karma for the gun...

 

[fencer]

It will probably be fine.... I usually have a few extra parts when I re assemble my guns anyway....

Give it a try. What is the worst that can happen?

 

[smokey-seven]

For manuals and schematics:

http://12160.info/group/rise-of-the-reds/page/4gun-manual-for-nearly-every-firearm-on-the-planet


then Gun Parts: http://www.gunpartscorp.com/

 

[45collector]

I've done that many times.
If you're working with a handgun, get a one gallon ziplock freezer bag and do everything you need to do inside there. You can still see what you're doing and the chances of losing parts drops. For a long gun, just be real damn careful.

 

[IPSC_DRL]

Super bright light. I have a magnet with an led in the center on a extendable wand. Works great for checking remote corners of the basement


Good luck.

 

[mremski]

.....when you have it apart for cleaning and after one slight miscalculation you hear TWANG and catch a spring flying into the stratosphere out of the corner of your eye. Of course you don't see the exact trajectory of that spring and no real clue where to start looking for it. Then after two hours of looking unsuccessfully for it you become completely frustrated and just give up finding it. Now I'm sitting in front of a computer screen looking for a replacement online. Hard part is it's a spring from an old gun and I'm not even sure what it looks like......

Heh. 1911 thumb safety plunger. If it's magnetic, use a magnet and look in the hardest place for it to get to. 99% that's where it is.

 

[knfmn]

Sorry about your loss. As others have said, Numrich is always a good choice.

My favorite story about a gun coming completely apart dates back to when I was about 15-16. My step-dad had gotten an old Savage pistol (I believe it was a model 1907 variant) and couldn't figure out how to take it down to give it a good cleaning. I was holding the pistol with the slide locked back looking at it while I talked to him. He said something about having had a pistol in the past that took down by pulling back on the hammer and rotating the back of the slide. I immediately decided to try that and the entire gun came apart into what seemed like a million pieces at the time! I was mildly horrified...lol.

 

[Shovelheddrew]

I have done this. I will up the game with taking a iPhone apart and re assembling. That is a chore.

 

[thormx538]

I launched a detent across the basement last night when building a 308 lower. After much searching, I found it. I got back to my bench and felt my chair wheel roll over something on the carpet. It was another takedown pin detent, obviously launched into orbit during another build at some other point in time hahaha.

 

[drgrant]

lol all that and we don't know what the gun is

 

[chaser001]

put a bright flashlight on the floor and look for shadows; it's saved me from having to look for replacement parts on lots of stuff over the years.

 

[bob68]

try guns and gun parts. phone # 413 732 9938. they are located at 983 westfield street in west springfield ma. site is [email protected]. i have had luck with them at times.


bob