Alignment and slave pins (right) can prevent a lot of fumbling with numerous small parts and springs during reassembly.

A lot of guns come into a gunsmith shop for one reason or another. Some are easier to work on than others. Some you look forward to workin' on, while others you hate to see come through the door.

My all-time least favorite gun was not a particular brand or model. In fact, it wasn't a specific caliber or gauge, or even firearm type. The gun that caused me to cringe whenever I walked up to the counter to meet the customer was the "bag gun." If you've not worked in a gunshop, you've probably never even heard of a bag gun.

Bag gun is the term gunsmiths have given to any firearm brought into the shop in a bag or box. Normally, the owner had disassembled the gun for cleaning or other work, and the poor soul then discovered that he couldn't figure out how in the heck to get the darn gun back together.

Often, this would be a source of embarrassment for the owner. Frequently, he would sit on his collection of parts for years before working up the courage to bring the gun into the shop. I've also had more than one person with a bag gun go to great lengths to make sure I understood that it was not he who had taken the gun apart. It was always "the kid" or his "idiot brother-in-law."

I remember one fellow who went on at length about how his son-in-law disassembled his favorite Browning A-5 shotgun and then couldn't get it back together. Of course, he could do it, but he just didn't have time right then to take care of it, so he dropped it by the shop.

After he left, my partner looked over at me with a grin on his face and told me he knew the fellow's family. He had two daughters, neither of whom was married. In reality, there was no son-in-law.

There are a number of ways to avoid a bag gun. The first is to make sure you have a good instructional guide or manual if you're not completely sure of how the gun goes together. There are a number of good assembly/disassembly guides available. Two of the best are the two-volume set published by the National Rifle Association--one volume on pistols and revolvers and the other on rifles and shotguns--and the beautifully done guide dealing exclusively with military arms by Stuart Mowbray and Joe Puleo entitled A Collector's Guide to Military Rifle Disassembly and Reassembly. Both are excellent and provide step-by-step instructions that even an idiot brother-in-law could understand. Both are available just about anywhere firearms books are sold.

A lot of problems in reassembly can be avoided simply by carefully studying the relationship of the parts as you disassemble the gun. Spend the time to look closely at the parts and their relationship before you take them out of the gun. If something looks strange, weird, or confusing, make a simple drawing. Better yet, take a digital photograph of that portion of the gun. A drawing or photograph can often provide just the clues you need later to get the gun back together quickly and easily.

Reassembly is also made easier with the use of a couple of simple tools. I have to admit that it took me years to finally realize just how handy and helpful these tools are. However, once you use them, you'll never want to be without them.