A Bad Day With The Guns

K

KyJim

New member
Nope, it was not a bad shooting day. In fact, I didn't get to the range today and, as the saying goes, even a bad day at the range is better than a good day at the office.

I took some time to do periodic maintenance (applying lube and rust preventive) on some of my handguns today. I took the base plate off a new Sig magazine and the spring sent the metal insert portion of the base plate flying and it landed who knows where. I looked for 20 minutes and couldn't find it. Top Gun apparently has them on back order. Then I buggered up a pair of rubberized grips on a revolver getting the screw out. I may or may not be able to salvage them. Then, on another set of grips in a 1911, the grip screw bushings came out with one of the grip panels. So, I was using some pliers to hold the bushing still in my grip panel while also trying to use a hex key to take out the stupid screws. The pliers slipped and caused the hex key flying who knows where, probably with the mag base plate insert. Oh, I almost forgot. The bushing was ruined. :(

So, I have some clean and protected handguns but I'm down one magazine, one hex key, possibly a set of revolver grips, and a couple of bushings on a 1911 which puts the gun out of commission until I get some more.

Moral of the story -- if you have more than X amount of guns, don't try to do your maintenance on all of them at the same time. :)
 
I try to spread out my maintenance for that very reason. If you have a lot to do, you get hurried, and if you get hurried, mistakes happen.

I try to clean one gun at a time, and set up a movie or a TV show on my Xbox (Netflix, Hulu, HBO-Go, etc.) and really take it slow and easy.

Good luck getting everything fixed up! Not a bad excuse to grab a new magazine, maybe? Then when you eventually find the metal base piece you're one magazine up!
 
Not a bad excuse to grab a new magazine, maybe? Then when you eventually find the metal base piece you're one magazine up!
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Yep, I was going to replace the rubber revolver grips so I'm not that motivated to try to salvage them. The hex key showed up so I better hurry and order that magazine before the metal insert pops up, too.
 
and a couple of bushings on a 1911 which puts the gun out of commission until I get some more.
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That shouldn't put the gun out of commission. I've had bushings come out on mine before and I just leave them in the grip until reassembly. Later, when I was properly prepared with threadlock I installed them and the next day judiciously worked the screw loose (luckily) and then pulled, degreased and re-threadlocked the bushing into place. No probs since. Not a bad idea to have extra bushings on hand though.
 
My son stored his guns (at moms house) in a closet and I just picked him and the guns up this weekend. Now I have 3 rifles (one a BP, oh joy!) and a shotgun to do complete takedowns on. I have never seen guns go sour so fast. 1 year in a closet with some very light shooting in dry weather and they all look like they are 20 years without service.
I hope my experience goes better than the OP's. I probably have 6-7 hours of cleaning and maintenance (have to show the boy at the same time) ahead of me.
 
Well,you have a lttle fixing to do.
But,likely you won't have rust to regret.

Over time,I have discovered just how important a good vise is.

Proper padded jaws,of course,and no,don't crush the magazine,but consider,what if you had you workpiece held in stable fashion,and two hands to use ....you aren't wasting one hand holding the workpiece.

I am suggesting many operations will go better if step one is"place in padded vise jaws"
 
I've had days like that, too - sometimes, you just need to put the mechanical stuff away and go organize your sock drawer instead!
 
As a couple of you suggested, I just quit, did something else and finished up this evening. No rust anywhere as I do try to do this periodically. In the future, I'm just going to make sure I don't put it off and don't try to do them all at once.

That shouldn't put the gun out of commission. I've had bushings come out on mine before and I just leave them in the grip until reassembly. Later, when I was properly prepared with threadlock I installed them and the next day judiciously worked the screw loose (luckily) and then pulled, degreased and re-threadlocked the bushing into place. No probs since. Not a bad idea to have extra bushings on hand though.
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Great suggestion but too late. I'll keep it in mind next time. :D
 
Even a bad day with the guns is better than a good day at work. :p One time I was cleaning a suppressor. I decided to be in a hurry so I was using some comressed air while reassembling. If I hold the air nozzle carefully, I can attenuate the stregnth of the blast. Well I accidentally blew the O ring out of the recoil booster assembly. I watched as it flew in slow motion across my shop. Seeing where it landed (kinda) I walked over to it muttering obsceneties. Where it actually landed though was in a GIANT spider web (blew through it really) in a dark and creepy corner. NOPE! NOT WORTH IT! I pleaded with Knights Armament to send me another. They sent me three. :)
 
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