I'm at the age and station in life where I don't mind admitting when I "screw up" now and then. Which leads me to post this bit of trivia as a reminder of the obvious.
I have a pair of safety glasses in my gun cleaning kit and by virtue of habit put them on whenever I am about to clean one of my firearms. That is particularly important, I submit, when cleaning a 1911-design with a recoil spring plug.
Early this morning, I was cleaning a 1911 and forgot that I had fitted it with an 18-pound recoil spring rather than one of the 16-pounders I commonly use. During reassembly of the piece, while compressing the spring to secure it behind the barrel bushing, the spring's extra two pounds of strength must have caused me to lose my grip on the plug. Naturally, the plug was immediately launched by the 18 pounds of pressure behind it, striking my safety glasses and ricocheting across the work bench and onto the floor.
Since, due to recent surgery to repair a detached retina, I currently have only one eye with 20/20 (corrected) vision, it would have ruined my entire day to have it damaged by an errant recoil spring plug.
Moral of the story: Don't forget to wear your safety glasses when cleaning your guns.
Thus endeth the lesson for the day.
