I got an S&W 1911 a couple of years ago and planned on shooting it at a state match in few days. I'm cleaning it after a couple of weekend matches and I'm really trying to get all the grit out of it.
I decide to take the back strap off and hose it out with spray bore scrubber. I had seen someone do this before, I was essentially still a novice when it came to 1911 care and cleaning.
In my case, once the grips were off, the ambi safeties came out easy. I step back from the bench and start hosing it down with the Bore Scrubber. I'm turning the receiver this way and that, and then I hear a tinkling noise. I say whuh?, turn the receiver the other way and hear more tinkling noise. At this point I realize the noise I'm hearing is the sear, disconnect and assorted pins bouncing on the floor of the garage.
I got my big magnet out and was able to recover all the parts off the floor, then spent an hour or so downloading schematics from Brownells trying to figure out how to get it all back together.
All in all, a learning experience.
LOL. Been there, done that. I learned the best way to find parts on a floor was to dim the lights and then use a flashlight. Put the flashlight horizonal on the floor and all missing parts will cast a long shadow. Hope this helps. One more thing. I hope you don’t need this again but it’s way cool:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4P4XJTKzKEU
Just watch this video next time. There are a few differences between the M1911A1 and the recent S&W model, notably the extractor, but not enough to be any sort of a big deal.
One of the real advantages of the M1911 is its ability for a user to completely disassemble and reassemble it without any special tools or fixtures. Certainly a screwdriver is helpful for the grip screws, but the back of the sear spring can be used for that purpose if necessary.