Have you ever tinkered with a gun and broken one of its parts, or purchased a used gun that had a missing screw and needed a replacement, or have you ever fired a gun so many times as to need a replacement recoil spring, or have you fallen down out in the woods and broken off a front sight, or maybe you left a magazine at the range only to return there and not find it where you left it? Stuff happens, parts break or wear out, or get lost (those little screws and pins holding a gun together are easy to drop and loose) and so on. What are you to do when any of that happens?
As a first resort, you would probably do what I do - contact the manufacturer to see if they have replacement parts. The thing is, as new models come out, old models go the way of the dinosaur and what you have may well be considered a fossil or at least a collector's piece. The original manufacturer may not make parts for it any longer, nor may they have any old parts left over in stock. What do you do then. I suppose you could look to online auction sights such as GunBroker.com. I just did that to look for original grips for my Ortgies pistol. Chances are that sooner or later they will come up for sale there. In the meantime I have a choice, keep firing my Ortgies with its now cracked grips and risk them falling off the pistol, or buy other than original manufacture replacement grips and use them while waiting to find replacement originals.
I already ordered a pair of other than original manufacture replacement grips. Now where on earth would i be able to find a set of grips for an Ortgies pistol? For that matter, where on earth would I be able to find gun parts for other obscure, antique, modern, and even current manufacture guns? The one place I think of when I need to find a gun part is Numrich Gun Parts.
Their website has changed in appearance since I first used it, well at least the home page has changed, but I still can navigate it fairly easily - but only because I realize it takes a bit of extra navigation in many instances. If you visit their site, here is a tip, search for the item in the search bar by the manufacturer's name but if you do not find it that way then return to their home page and click on the first letter of that manufacturers name or select from the category list relative to the part you are seeking. If you selected the first letter of the manufacturer's name, look down the list, that will come up, for the manufacturer. I don't know why it happens, but when I typed in Ortgies in the search bar, all that came up is an 'Ortgies Pocket Semi Auto Pistol Schematic W/ Parts List'. If you click on the link for it - all you get is more info for that item. When, on the other hand, I clicked on the letter O, I got a list of gun manufacturers whose names begin with O. On that list is the name Ortgies. When I clicked on Ortgies I again saw only information about an Ortgies schematic, but this time it was a very different link that displayed. When I clicked on that link, a surprising amount of available parts for Ortgies pocket pistols was displayed. Why Numrich has decided to make their website this cumbersome to navigate is beyond me but they do have a lot of parts; it is just that actually finding them listed can be a bit like going through a maze. Mind yo, it is not that way for all guns for which they sell parts, for some guns it is easier to find the available parts list.
Now if you want parts for a more popular gun, say a Marlin 336, then their will be a little more navigating involved if you use the first letter method, but finding the various parts list for a large number of Marlin models is a bit more straightforward than it would be for an Ortgies pistol. If you click on the letter M, you get a list of manufacturers beginning with that letter. Go down to marlin and click on it, then be amazed at the number of models for which they have parts and schematics. Then, take a breath, and look for the model for which you need parts on that list. Now did I just say this would be more straightforward than searching for Ortgies parts, I was wrong! Again, Numrich makes this a navigation maze. If for example you searched out M, then Marlin, then clicked on rifles, then looked down the list for a link for parts for a model 336CS you would not find it displayed as such right out! Why not? Again, Numrich has decided to hide the gun parts list under or behind a link that is labelled for a schematic. If you click on the list for the 336 - you will find a few parts. If, however, you click on the link for the 336CS Schematic, you will find not only a schematic but a long list of parts for the 336CS (the CS was one of the more popular models of the 336, but Numrich list parts for several models of the 336 - make sure you are looking at and ordering parts for the correct model for which you need them). The list of parts for the Marlin 336CS includes such things as: barrel, carrier rocker spring, ejector, extractor, breech bolt, forend, front sight complete, and so on. It is a long list. Availability for each part is listed next to the named part.
While it may not be the easiest website to search for the items you need, it is quite likely one of the biggest, if not the biggest online inventory of gun parts available at retail to the shooter. I have tried other sites to find gun parts before such as MidwayUSA, Brownells, Marstar (of Canada), GunBroker and so forth - but the one I keep looking to - the one I look to first in almost every instance of me needing a replacement part - is Numrich. I ordered my Ortgies replacement grips two days ago, and in keeping with their policy of getting out orders within two days, I received an email yesterday telling me my order had shipped already! That is pretty darned good service. In addition I have never received a wrong part from the, they have always delivered just what I have ordered. I figure I have made at least a half dozen to 10 purchases from them by now. Anything from a firing pin spring for my Ortgies, to the grips for the same, to magazines for a Marlin 44 and magazines for a Marlin Model 56 Levermatic to a pin for a Mosin Nagant M44 and I think also a 5 round magazine for a Yugoslavian SKS. There were other parts too, screws and springs though for what I cannot remember. So if you ever are in need of replacement gun parts and cannot find them at the manufacturer, or 9if the manufacturer has long since gone out of business, try Numrich. They just may have what you have your sights set on getting.
By the way, nah - they don't pay me or give me discounts for mentioning them. Why do I do it then? I do it so that you will know where to shop should you need parts. I mean, why not make a good thing known! As a matter of fact, I don't get anything from firearms manufacturers, suppliers, or related businesses when I mention their products or services on my blog. How I wish though that I got some form of pay or discounts or free stuff for mentioning them on my blog - that would be sweet.
All the best,
Glenn B
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