I've been lucky

[randyt]

A while ago I was shooting a old pre war colt woodsman I just picked up. I took a few shots and something didn't seem right. Some parts fell out of the slide. A tiny button and small take down spring, tiny parts.
I thought aww crap. Couldnt find them. Pretty tough to find on the internet as well. It dawned on me to use a magnet. I crawled around in the grass and dirt with a long flat magnet. I found those parts

Today I pulled my trade musket a part and a lock bolt slipped out into the grass. That flat magnet came to the rescue again.

 

[Cascadian]

Luck is a gift, but common sense enough to use a magnet isn't bad either.

 

[Aklogcabin]

Good on you man. Luck n listening to your gut feeling. My buddy reloaded up some 7mm mags for me. I went target shooting. The bolt pushed in , didn't glide in. I ejected the case. And only the case. We were in long grass n the case I ejected got away from me. So figured I'd pick it up with the rest I would probably drop after my round up.
The next bullet felt the same . After 2 round I figured they didn't get shouldered correctly. But the bolt locked down fine. N came back up n actet fine after running it half way through a cycle.
But my gut feeling n a bit of luck made me remove the bolt n go through my gun. I found the bullet from the first round stuck in the barrel. Luck , common sense, experience or just your gut feeling.

 

[Spikedriver]

Good on you man. Luck n listening to your gut feeling. My buddy reloaded up some 7mm mags for me. I went target shooting. The bolt pushed in , didn't glide in. I ejected the case. And only the case. We were in long grass n the case I ejected got away from me. So figured I'd pick it up with the rest I would probably drop after my round up.
The next bullet felt the same . After 2 round I figured they didn't get shouldered correctly. But the bolt locked down fine. N came back up n actet fine after running it half way through a cycle.
But my gut feeling n a bit of luck made me remove the bolt n go through my gun. I found the bullet from the first round stuck in the barrel. Luck , common sense, experience or just your gut feeling.

I had that happen with a handload for my 25-'06. One of my hunting buddies worked it up for me. I chambered it and it went in hard. Right away I went to eject it and the case came out without the bullet, and powder went all over the inside of the action. So I went off to clean it and punched the bullet out with the cleaning rod. My buddy had forgotten to adjust his dies to match my rifle, the OAL was set to seat the bullet touching the grooves on his custom rifle...

 

[Aklogcabin]

Yeppers, I don't think he resized the shoulder.

 

[Peanut]

All the years I serviced CT's and MRI's I always carried a magnet attached to a telescoping rod. Small nuts/screws/bolts were often dropped. I still keep one with my tools to this day, actually two, one much larger than the other.

Edit to add... You can buy them any length or strength....

https://www.harborfreight.com/18-inch-telescoping-magnet-37187.html
PITTSBURGH AUTOMOTIVE - 18 In. Telescoping Magnet
Retrieve lost nuts and bolts with this telescoping magnet
$3.79

On amerzit... DAYSLIVES 2PCS Telescoping Magnetic Pick Up Tool Extendable 31" 20 lb Telescopic Magnet Stick
$12.99