Only the mechanically inept. The design is simple and so is disassembly and reassembly. Of course it does require you to READ THE DAMNED INSTRUCTIONS.
Guns you SERIOUSLY REGRETTED taking apart!
- Thread starter WVGunman
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Only the mechanically inept. The design is simple and so is disassembly and reassembly. Of course it does require you to READ THE DAMNED INSTRUCTIONS.
Rex in OTZ
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- Nov 29, 2019
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A BAM B3-1
First dissembled it in 2016 to replace piston seals.
Still in pieces today.
I have not moved on fabricating a piston spring compressor.
First dissembled it in 2016 to replace piston seals.
Still in pieces today.
I have not moved on fabricating a piston spring compressor.
Is there really a need for that???????? I thought this was the High Road
crestoncowboy
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I'd say many of us bought them second hand with no instruction and well before internet. They are a relatively old and inexpensive rimfire which is known for running pretty nasty. I know I did. I put it together and was proud until the bolt didn't come back all the way. I'm far from mechanically inept. I repair and PM multi million dollar intricate machines for a living and I sure botched the reassembly. If you have the instructions then sure its not bad.
tark
Member
I have a tie between a broomhandle Mauser C-96 and the Remington 8s and 81s, which are actually the same gun. Basic cleaning disassembly is easy for both.... but don't try a complete disassembly on the Remington's unless you really know what you are up against. The lock mechanism on the C-96 is a whore's nightmare. It is doubtless child's play for the experienced but no fun for the novice.
I'm one of those people that bought one years ago second hand without any manual. And yes without the instruction manual the first time can be a bear. And by the way I am a retired machinist/tool and die maker, quite capable of making complex tooling and machines.
mrmike7189
Member
mrmike7189
Member
My first rifle was a Marlin Model 60. Buffer broke took me days to fix it! . I also bought a Camp9. Another PITA to assemble. LMFAO reading this threadI do amateur gunsmithing as a hobby. I actually enjoy that as much or more than actually shooting. If it needs a lathe or a mill, I take it to a pro, otherwise I do it myself. I've launched a few springs/detents into limbo and destroyed one perfectly innocent 1911 sear, but in general I do OK.
I find the Mk. III mildly annoying. It's easy to get wrong and non-intuitive to correct when you do, but I don't consider it "hard", just a marginal design from a maintainability perspective.
Then a buddy presented me with a Marlin Camp 9 in a couple of bags and asked for help. It wasn't completely apart, but I wasn't sure the remaining bits were in good shape, all there, or assembled correctly; so I finished taking it all down. I eventually got it together and running like new. But... never again. NEVER again. It shared a lot of the same sandwich construction as that Levermatic, and I resorted to inventing several jigs and fixtures out brass sheet and rod to be my third and fourth hands.
Incidentally, that's where I picked up the DrDeFab moniker - I'm willing to "de-fabricate" nearly anything.
I had an HK 91. They were pretty simple.
My first shotgun I bought several years ago. A Win SXP 12 GA Marine Defender.
I had field stripped it and I had noticed looking at the bolt it was similar looking to my ARs, so I kept on going until I had that all in parts.
As I attempted to reassemble I ran into ....issues. A quick look at the manual showed I went way too far past the field strip steps.
Whoops.
After staring at it for a couple hours I made up a couple special tools from a bic pen and other stuff in a junk drawer, added an extra hand, and managed to avoid the embarrassment of taking it to the LGS.
That shotgun might be a piece of cake to someone who takes whatever apart all the time, but being in that situation was a severe sucking feeling.
I had not done that before, nor since with any firearm.
I had field stripped it and I had noticed looking at the bolt it was similar looking to my ARs, so I kept on going until I had that all in parts.
As I attempted to reassemble I ran into ....issues. A quick look at the manual showed I went way too far past the field strip steps.
Whoops.
After staring at it for a couple hours I made up a couple special tools from a bic pen and other stuff in a junk drawer, added an extra hand, and managed to avoid the embarrassment of taking it to the LGS.
That shotgun might be a piece of cake to someone who takes whatever apart all the time, but being in that situation was a severe sucking feeling.
I had not done that before, nor since with any firearm.
Pat Riot
Contributing Member
I took a High Standard Sentinel Mk IV apart a few years ago. No manual and the only YouTube videos I found were bunk. It took me a little while but I put it back together.
Once on a desert shooting trip my buddy took his Ruger Mk 1 apart and couldn’t get it back together. I figured it out and got it running but decided that day that I would never buy one.
Once on a desert shooting trip my buddy took his Ruger Mk 1 apart and couldn’t get it back together. I figured it out and got it running but decided that day that I would never buy one.
Batty67
Member
My briefly owned Ruger PC 40. I made the major mistake of cocking it while partially disassembled. A massive no-no. Could not get it to unlock and found out (online) to never ever do this as then you I you have to take apart the entire trigger assembly. The latter takes 3 hands and superior gunsmithing skills. I paid to have it uncocked.
MI2600
Member
Man Rule 3: Real men do not read instructions...we are very intuitive.
PS: YouTube doesn't count as cheating.
PS: YouTube doesn't count as cheating.
bdickens
Member
I used to make a pretty good living taking stuff apart and putting back together. Fixed many things no one else around could, largely because I would READ THE DAMNED INSTRUCTIONS. Still, those Ruger. 22 pistols are a royal PITA.
my Ruger MK2 Standard was mildly annoying the first couple times I did it. I took the action completely apart a few years ago on an old Stevens Favorite .22 rifle, and boy - figuring out how to get that thing to go back together was not easy. It only took a few hours of playing with it to get it back together, but I recall thinking I really wished I had not taken it apart in the first place. Only one that ever made me think that.
lysanderxiii
Member
Grendel P-12.
Don't take it apart. That clock spring is a pain.
Don't take it apart. That clock spring is a pain.
WestKentucky
Member
Model 56 isn’t much better.
Add to the list the Ruger 9shot automatic, and the Winchester rifle I fixed for a coworker. If they could figure out a way to make guns work without springs...
.38 Special
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I disassembled a German air rifle once. Still have most of the parts.
entropy
Member
An Iver Johnson top-break .22 when I was 10, the budding gunsmith. I had planned on putting it back together, (I don't doubt I could have) , but my Mom found the Baggie I had it in, and threw it out not realizing what it was. Even worse, it had been her dad's gun he'd given my Dad as a wedding present. I wish I'd have never taken it apart.
mine was a highpoint. Someone at the range counter had one that failed, from a loose screw or pin. We opened it up and it fell apart like a BB gun. Took a few minutes, but I don't think i'll try again. The Ruger MK's really arent that bad, you just have to know where the hammer spur needs to be. For those unfamiliar, the MK 3 added a mag disconnect, and LCI to make it even more fun. EDIT. I forgot the Kimber compact 1911. Special tools, stuff not lining up, springs not working right. That one was way harder than the HP, or the MK3.
commygun
Member
"I disassembled a German air rifle once. Still have most of the parts."
Great stuff.
Great stuff.
JTHunter
Member
The Keltec PMR-30 pistol in .22 Mag has its own problems. The one time I took it apart (after its initial shooting) I almost lost this little piece of plastic about 1/4" x 3/16" that is a buffer/shock absorber. It is a pale manila (yellow/tan) color and as thin as a dime. Very hard to see and so light, it doesn't take much wind to blow it away.
OP
OP
WVGunman
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- Feb 26, 2014
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Perhaps it's something in the water at Kel-Tec. I took apart my Sub2000 to put in a feed ramp (a part not included from the factory!) and was very intimidated by the multitude of tiny springs and parts inside. I had the sense not to mess with anything but what I was there to do, but man, I could see that project going wrong in a hurry!
Regarding the Ruger Mark series that loom so large in this thread, my problem was as much getting the parts TO fit as understanding how they fit. There is a short round bar attached to the bottom half (the grip) that goes through a hole in the upper and holds the two together. After getting this out it would. not. go. back. in. the. hole! I tried sanding the bar, I tried sanding the hole, I tried using tons of oil. I tried hitting it with a plastic hammer, and finally in desperation, with a real hammer (damaging the gun's finish). If I hadn't taken it out in the first place I would've sworn the bar was too big for that hole. I can't remember how I eventually did it; probably a combination of everything mentioned, repeated several times. I do know I was permanently soured on both that gun and ALL Ruger Mark series ever since. But Ruger made up for it by inventing the SR-22.
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