I just took my 1911 apart for the first time to give it a cleaning, and as soon as I removed the slide lock pin and started sliding the slide forward to remove it, the recoil spring bulged out. Now I am trying to reinsert it and it is proving to be difficult. It needs to be compressed by about 2x and is kind of flimsy. Any tips/advice on how to easily get it back into position without it squirming all over and potentially popping back in my face? I do not have this problem with my other two semi-autos. By the way, the spring is now a bit crooked, but it is so flimsy that hopefully it doesn't really matter.

 

Disregard my post. I just watched a You Tube video and I was supposed to remove the spring from the muzzle end of the pistol before removing the slide. Doh!

 

6 minutes. That didn't take long.

Automatics have lots of fun mechanical bits but avoid the urge to go crazy disassembling. Beyond the barrel and slide that come off easily you don't need to to go further.