Took my .357 Blackhawk apart to put in a new spring kit...couldn't get it back together! Had to take it to my gunsmith, who had a good laugh about it, to put it back together for me. Anyway, the trigger pull is great now!

...probably the second time too.

Ruger Mk III
Remington Nylon 66.

I had so many Ruger 22 autos come in in a paper sack that people thought I was a bootlegger. "My danged brother-in-law took it apart!" I would take them back in the shop, put them together, and then rattle a bunch of tools, bang a hammer a few times, turn on a machine or two, and splash a little water on my face, and then come out all exhausted looking, and charge them $12.50.

On the Nylons, I had a special cardboard box with a hole in the bottom. I set it on the bench, ran the muzzle through the hole, and then removed the receiver sleeve in the box so it would catch all the spring-loaded parts that fly out of both sides.

On-the-job training.

JLF

I learned to leave them dern Roogurs alone after the first time. Now the Nylon 66 is another story. Waylon said it best in his version of 'Black Rose'.

"The devil made me do it the first time, the second time I done it on my own".

No, there has NOT been a 3rd time and I pray there never will be.

Murphy

it comes to Nylon 66s. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1464421620439551/

to replace the mainspring of Colt Detective Special. Gun shop salesman supplied the third hand.

When I explained my problem, his eyes lit up with recognition. It wasn't the first time he had heard about "Third Hand Syndrome."

Scribe (who has a Cobra now)

My father and grandfather were both gunsmiths for a time, so I learned some of these tricks at a fairly young age. The first trick is to find an exploded drawing and study if before disassembly. The biggest challenge I've had recently was a Browning B-78 that needed it's firing pin replaced. Wound up using the internet to find tips to put it back together. Made a life-long friend in college when he could not figure out how to get his Ruger Mark II together and I showed him how easy it is with the right approach.

....passed along to me a Charter Arms 38 in 6 different baggies, and told me to see what I could do. I worked on it for a while on Sunday, and Monday I threatened to choke him so hard his balls would burst. I'll finish the task, but I'm not going to talk to him for a while.