I don't know who needs to hear this, but....

[Max Volume]

Field strip a Ruger Standard (aka Mk I) .22 pistol...getting that thinga-ma-jig back into the grip. UGH!

I do it with the muzzle pointing straight up. Then just adjust so it is in the center and easy as pie.

 

[indyblue]

I like to tinker as well, but not with any of my EDC’s. I am currently on the hunt for low cost or junky 1911's to practice some hand fitting skills where if I mess something up it’s no big deal.

I have found that this youtuber "MosinVirus" has a great series of full disassembly/reassembly videos in great detail. He explains how things work, handy techniques and procedures for a number of platforms and seems to really know what he's doing. I want to attempt to convert a 1911 to an ambi safety as a first learning experience and eventually to hand fit some parts like a new barrel or polishing sears, fitting new extractors, etc. I have no machines so I'd only attempt hand fitting operations.

I managed to do a full rebuild of my Browning BDM and it still works. Not for the faint of heart for sure but anyone with good mechanical skills should be able to do it.

 

[ditcherman]

I tinker, disassemble and modify everything.
My first time with a 1911 was slightly panic inducing but successful.

That said.....even I draw the line at my CZ 75b.

I did a 75BD that I milled, and needed to Cerakote. It was going to the Wizard anyway to get Cajun parts, so that was my backup plan. It was tedious but I was kinda proud of myself for getting it back together.

 

[indyblue]

I did a 75BD that I milled, and needed to Cerakote. It was going to the Wizard anyway to get Cajun parts, so that was my backup plan. It was tedious but I was kinda proud of myself for getting it back together.

I’ve watched several good videos on the CZ, it looks like a pretty simple platform to work on. At least, after watching some of these videos, you get a good idea of where to be careful for what parts will go boing when taken apart.

 

[ditcherman]

I’ve watched several good videos on the CZ, it looks like a pretty simple platform to work on. At least, after watching some of these videos, you get a good idea of where to be careful for what parts will go boing when taken apart.

I kept pausing and rewinding the CGW video at the workbench.

 

[Leadeye]

Looks another like mine, but it's not an original. I've thought about "aging" it.
View attachment 299991

That's a nice Richards-Mason repro. Colt made those as a production revolver when they started to run out of old 1860 parts that made up the Richards. The guns were good sellers, a William Mason design, he contributed a lot of good ideas to Colt over his time there.

 

[STFU]

Stop taking your firearms completely apart if you don't know what you're doing. No really.....stop.

Three times this week I've had to reassemble COMPLETELY stripped firearms. All the pins, springs, screws, etc. I received what I like to call "Bag O Gun."

I'm not trying to cut my profit, but seriously....

Cleaning TYPICALLY does not require full disassembly.

I'll gladly put it back together and charge for it....but if we can avoid it, it'll save you the money!

Respectfully,

Your local gunsmith

Brett, you're a good man giving excellent advice. Much Respect!

 

[PRasko]

comedic timing or the universe speaking to someone?

 

[Hookeye]

Bag one up and add a pin....just to mess w your gunsmith LMAO

 

[bobzilla]

I am usually pretty comfortable tearing into things. I tore down the old Remington Model 11. Found out it still has the original oak spring retainer plug thing (forgot the damn name, brain fried today). From 1908. But I put it all back together and it still functioned, even with a small crack at the back of the receiver. I need to find another one.

 

[BeDome]

I've been totally dis-assembling 1911s since I could rack the slide. They were meant for that. Not every cleaning, certainly. One of JMB's original design criteria included, "No tools". He succeeded, masterfully. I got in big trouble when I was about 10 for 'borrowing' my dad's tools to dis-assemble the lawn mower. My punishment was, "Stay in the garage until you get it started. Then you can come out and cut the grass, YOUNG MAN!" I got the grass cut before supper. Last one, I promise. I was about 30 when my dad came to me to complain that a mechanic was ripping him off. I went to his personal garage and found my dad's F150 with the engine completely removed from the vehicle, in pieces on the floor. No cylinder specific part were marked. We (brother) had to match wear marks on bearings to identify which cap went with which journal. In-line 6 cylinder, by the way. I remain eternally grateful to the mech... MORON for not taking apart the transmission or the carburetor (remember those?). He did not remove valves from the heads, either. Some minor block work, a new set of bearings, gaskets, rings and seals, and we had it re-assembled, re-installed and running in couple of weekends. I think just to PO me and my brother, my dad traded it immediately, because he didn't trust our work. WTF?
Moral of the story? You don't need to be a mechanic to fix mechanical things. I sorted mail at the USPS, my brother made cardboard boxes at Stone Container, at the time.

I repaired musical instruments when I discovered that the guy I hired to hot rod my old Mustang was an absolute idiot.
I had helped a little taking the engine apart, making wooden stands for pushrods, rockers and valves, connecting rods, keeping them in order.
I did wood!

Another good buddy was an International Harvester truck and tracktor mechanic (a smart guy) who helped get the parts I needed, but would not touch a pile of Ford engine parts.
He loaned me a torque wrench.

I finished the engine assembly using the Chilton's Manual. I later turned low 13s at the drags.
My experience before that included two lawn mower engines and my Johnson boat motor.

It worked out fine.

 

[blue2golf]

I do it with the muzzle pointing straight up. Then just adjust so it is in the center and easy as pie.

Good idea, I'll do that next time.

 

[cavallo]

Meh, everyone has a 1st time taking something apart. Guns, cars etc. Not everyone can reassemble properly. If they could, pro's would serve no purpose.

I had that experience with the front suspension of a 2014 Jeep Wrangler. I was sooo close to finishing the job but got to a point where I just didn't have the right tool and didn't know where to buy one. A trip on the back of a flatbed truck to a mechanic that had ALL the tools got it back on the road.

 

[Tactically Fat]

Detail stripping Ruger rimfires is a whole other ballgame from many pistols. Many of today's plastic fantastic wonder pistols are in the same genre, generally. Glock, of course, being super simple.

I detail stripped a Walther P22 one time. And guess who needed gunsmith help? *Sigh*

 

[ChalupaCabras]

The sad part is its not even that hard. It's a basic level of mechanical aptitude.