I am debating on picking up a .22 pistol for practice.  My buddy has a P22 that he is willing to let go.  I took it to the range last night and it was a jam-o-matic.  The slide did not want to move forward after firing (about 1 in 10 times).  I called my buddy and he said "oh yeah I shot about 2k rounds thru it while on vaction and did not get a chance to clean it yet'.

I get to the range today and do a tear down, I wipe the parts, add some oil and try putting the bugger back together.  That guide rod/spring combo is a major pain to get back on.  I tried for about 30 minutes before I threw it back into the pistol bag.  I was told 'yeah there is a trick I will show you on Monday' to gettting it back together.

Is it really that hard to reassemble?  I may not pick this up if every time I clean it I spend 20 minutes chasing the guide rod around the house.

Slide a section of cleaning rod or other sized plastic rod through the hole in the front of the slide. Slip the guide rod spring on that and assemble away.

I had to google that shit the ONE time I took mine apart.

I just found this link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2oIZOyfDLc

I tried this method and still had a few problems (the slide did not want to go back far enough).  I will try it again when I get home from work.