Friday, April 24, 2026

Disaster in the gun room

Well, it turned out not to be so bad, but it could have been pretty awful.

Yesterday, I was field stripping my Colt 1908 vest pocket .25 acp pistol, and I managed to let the mainspring guide rod, which was under tension, launch itself across the room, where it disappeared among a mass of shelves, boxes, small cabinets and general junk. The guide rod is very small, but a key part of the firing pin assembly. 

I plan on trying to find the piece today or tomorrow, but I think it's unlikely that I'm going to turn it up. I began looking for the part online, and was having trouble locating anybody who had one in stock, when I stumbled across Numrich Gun Parts. My heroes! They have the part (I ordered two, to be on the safe side), and went ahead and ordered a new recoil spring, too . I also ordered some new grips for my Colt .25 Automatic (successor to the Colt, Jr, and not to be confused with the 1908); they're black replacement grips, and will, in my opinion, look better than the gaudy Jay Scott grips that came with the pistol when I bought it a few years ago. The right grip cracked a few days ago and fell into two pieces when I was out at the range, and although I was able to glue the two pieces back together, I figured I'd go ahead and replace them (as I say, they're fairly gaudy things: plastic laminated onto wood, and made to look like stag grips).

Btw, I think it was friend and commenter Veeshir who first mentioned Numrich here a couple of years ago; I believe you said you lived near their warehouse at one time, didn't you V?

2 comments:

  1. Yes I did. It's in West Hurley, near Woodstock. Great place.
    I can't believe NY allows them to exist. You can no longer go in and browse the awesomeness though, online only.
    They used to have a billboard with a flame-throwing cannon in front on Rt 28, just south of the road that leads to Numrich.
    It would light up every 30 seconds or so. I loved it. I would take the bus to my grandmother's in Phoenicia and it would pause at a gas station in view of the billboard. I'd stop reading to watch it.
    Back when NY wasn't anti-gun.

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    1. Well, they saved my bacon, for sure. Next time I need a part, that's going to be my first stop. I already set up an account online.

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