On a related note, I was once reassembling a Davis derringer after replacing a broken selector. Of course, as I was about finished and was installing the mainspring, the guide pin sproinged out and I heard it bounce on the hardwood floor.

I searched and hunted and moved furniture and combed through floor sweepings with a magnet for days to no avail. Finally I broke down and ordered a new part. When I sold my workshop and moved several year later, lo-and-behold, there was the guide pin. It had flown ten feet away, through a closet door and skittered underneath a dusty bookcase. It lay there for a decade amidst the dust bunnies while I waited for the Davis derringer to appreciate enough to recover my costs. I'm sorry to report it never happened and I'm still in a financial hole.


I know, I know - what I paid for the new parts plus shipping is about what that gun was worth, but I just couldn't abide having a non-working gun I knew I could fix. I've used the plastic bag trick for disassembly AND reassembly ever since.