Colt Woodsman

[Pofoo]

I was shooting my 1958 Woodsman this morning, and when I dropped a mag, I saw the recoil spring retaining latch laying on the bench.
This is the part that is pushed down by a button on top of the slide to capture the recoil spring.
This is also the part that captures the main spring, so that the pistol can be dissembled.
So, any ideas on how to break this pistol down now???

[bohoki]

you should be able to disasseble it but without that bit re attached it will be hard to reassemble

i dug mine out to test yea you dry fire, push the slide back just a little it clicks ,then take off the grips,push out that top pin by the safety ,now it will be slightly harder but you can press up the main spring housing to clear it of the lower notch then it falls out and the slide will fall off the back

no problem

uh oh now that my spring isn't retained i dont know how i'm going to be able to get it back together

help

[GM4spd]

[dfletcher]

This is the pin on the top of the slide - yes?

The pin works by pushing down on a flat of spring steel inside the slide that does the capture of the recoil spring. If you have a clear path via the hole a small punch should be able to do the trick. You'd at least be able to remove the slide and do takedown.

[bohoki]

ok i found a little screwdriver with a handle just the right size to fit in the slot pushed the spring and guide rod back and locked it in place

i wish you luck buddy

[mtenenhaus]

Pofoo, RandyD and I both posted links that might help you on your other post in the gunsmithing section.

[Pofoo]

Thanks for the help guys.

[Pofoo]

I got it fixed.
I removed the main spring housing and the slide came right off, as the main spring housing also functions as a slide stop.
The recoil spring latch needed a little tweaking, but I got it all together and it seems to function correctly.

[bohoki]

i'll explain it to anyone who reads this and doesn't know what the big deal is

its that the recoil spring guide rests on the top of mainspring housing and without the spring and rod retained the back part just will bump into the rod instead of slipping behind it during reassembly