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Where in hell did it go?

6

6.5 Fan

Ultra Member
Premium Member
Dropped the bolt stop spring from a Rem 700 yesterday**#***. Hunted for that little bugger for 20 minutes, moving everything that might be hiding it, was using a strong light to help search. After a lot of fluffies, there it was right where i had been standing. How in hell did i not see it as i hd been over that patch of floor several times.
I'm sure none of you guys ever drop stuff.....right.
 
I drop stuff all the time but I use a magnetic pick-up tool and sweep the floor. That's of course if its magnetic, if not, on my knees and a strong light.
 
Better not take up watch work lol. The near microscopic parts get held by tweezers which makes them always kind of spring loaded. They go "ping" all too often. A partial solution (real solution is experience and skill) is one of those portable vacuums. Vacuum up the area and dump the contents on a piece of paper and magnifies start sifting through. The charmed life I lead, sifting through sweepings.

Anyway, just posted as the idea might work for you.
 
I've had such things happen so many times I'm now extra careful when working with small parts. I try to make sure there is something close by underneath to catch bouncing parts before they reach the floor. But you know what they say. Sh#t happens!!!
 
I like to lay that strong light on the floor and then look for shadows. Even a teeny tiny part casts a much bigger shadow. Doesn't always work, but works more often than not.

PS - I hate that EFing part too. Not as much as I hate the ejector pin spring though. I think it was the inspiration for sending stuff to Venus.
 
Just last night I was not being careful enough with a disassembly and a trigger spring when "SPROING!" into orbit it went. I didn't see it go but I heard something over I the corner I keep my band saw. So I start carefully moving stuff about and searching high and low and sifting through the dust and swarf that collects in the corners and under machinery. Well I was about to give up finding it and started to replace machinery and things I had moved about in my search when I looked in the apron/pan below my bandsaw that catches the sawdust and there was the spring. I keep my bandsaw covered/draped but there was obviously a little area/crevice that a spring could fall into.
 
I hate that feeling of seeing something disappearing somewhere into corners of my shop. I have a cheap handheld magnetic nail sweep that I use. It wouldn't have helped in your case. I'm not sure if it saves me any time but it sure finds an amazing amount of swarf that gets missed when I do clean up.
 
The very first chapter in the very first gunsmithing book (Dunlap) I read instructed us readers to "build a glass covered box with two arm holes in the side big enough for any gun you will ever work on so those "spoingy things" will be captured inside....but I never did,,,
With my eyes the way they are now and if I hear one of those "ticks" things make when they land from being airborn , I just holler " hey can you come help me find this" now.

We did have an incident a couple months ago to that caused a little ruffle in the household. I had taken a gun apart for something or other and a couple days later started to put it back together but one screw was missing, it couldnt have gone fare from my gun desk ( it wasnt spring loaded) but obviously I hadnt heard it fall. It was big enough that I should have been able to find the damn thing but it just disappeared into thin air. After hours of moving everything in my gunroom I grumbled to the wife about it when having lunch the next day....and her off hand comment was "I didnt notice it when I vacuumed in there yesterday morning"....no need to guess where I found that fcn screw!! We have a whole new understanding on vacuuming in my gunroom.
 
I haven't had a rifle apart in quite a while but will admit to having a few close calls with small parts falling into engine areas where they don't belong.

About 10 years ago a coworker at the dealership I was at lost track of an M6 nut during reasembly of a 5.9 Cummins. Got the thing fully assembled and the nut made its presence known in #6 cylinder with much commotion on startup. After a second teardown, and new piston and head, it ran much better.
 
I feel much better knowing that i'm not alone.:) I learned long ago about disassembly inside a plastic bag if the part is small enough, that helps with springs flying across the shop. I find the arthritis in my right hand is causing me a lot of problems dealing with small parts.:confused:
 
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