52 card pickup with 1911 parts.

[Questor]

Remeber the old way of ending a kid's card game by playing 52-card pick up? You throw all the cards on the floor and pick them all up.

I was walking out of my house with a tray of 1911 parts so I could spray them down with cleaner. Bumped the door on the way out and parts went a-flyin'. One great thing about being familiar with one kind of gun is that you know when all the little parts are present and accounted for. Found them all, and all was well.

[williamlayton]

What a nightmare-I don't even want to think about that too long.
Blessings

[Mikey]

I dread the day I take the shop-vac to my gun room floor as I will no longer be able to determine what I have lost over all these years and will never be able to recover (what they hay ever) that (dog-gone) part was.  Mikey.

[Questor]

I still have strong feelings of woe when I recall the day I spilled three pounds of #8 shot on my basement floor. I spent hours sweeping, vacuuming, and picking them up, and years later I still find a few.

[44 Man]

I well remember in my younger days the first time I dis-assembled an old Colt .25 auto.  The mainspring cap went flying, NEVER to be found again!!  I've lost a couple other 'spring powered' parts over the years but have managed to find them again.  I always keep reminding myself to put my hand (or a rag) over that hole now days!  44 Man.

[Questor]

44man:

My basement sump is a little over a foot in diameter and it's in a pretty big basement with walls in it. Whenever I lose a spring loaded part, it flies into the sump. It doesn't happen often, but it's something I can count on. Feeling around in the bottom of the sump is also a great way of finding those squishy little dead mice that need to be cleaned out once in a while.

[Broom Rider]

My shop area has a built in cloaking device that activates whenever I drop or misplace a part. There's all kinds of parts missing in that little room that just have to show up someday.........or so I tell myself. They continue to elude me. For simple transport of parts, put em in tupperware. (the cooking kind, not the black shooting kind)
I've gotten to where when a part takes off for parts unknown I call Brownell's and order three replacements, one to lose, one to break and one to put in correctly.

[Questor]

BroomRider:

You apparently have a burfle infestation. They're the little creatures that come out and hide things you're looking for. Most burfles spend their summers on golf courses hiding balls, but plenty still like to stay indoors. If you've noticed more episodes of losing stuff during bad weather and on cold days, then it's a near certainty that burfles are the problem.

Fortunately I was using a Rubbermaid tray with relatively high sides. I think that helped keep parts nearby.  It did keep the little parts contained.

By the way, I've got some of the black tupperware you referred to. Some is on a kid-size Mossberg shotgun and the rest is on my Morini air pistol. I don't have anything against it. It seems to do the job durably and well. 

[hillbill]

i like to use one of those magnetic trays mechanics use to store those little parts that like to jump away. now if someone could invent a magnetic field you could put over your bench for the spring powered parts we would be in good shape.

[cgillette]

Been there done that While I was in the military that was one of the test the D.I. came up with. All the parts along from the M60 M79 50 bmg m16 and the good old 45 . Mix them up then timed us on how long it took to get them operational. A real fun time cgillette