Looking for suggestions or tricks in seating that pesky flat leaf recoil spring back into the slide. After an hour of frustration I finally took it downto the smith at the range who said it was one of the most difficult reassembly he has dealt with. Also got the same feedback from several YouTube videos. Any guidance/ideas welcome.

Another subject has anyone had problems reassembling a 320 takedown pin so the mag safely block retracts and allows the mag to be reinserted? Neither of these two guns are as easy as my 229,226,239,etc to deal with! Thanks

I just took mine down to see. I got it back together in about 15 seconds. Basically I inch the rod through the spring while keeping it straight with my fingers. Once you get passed about 2/3rds of the coils the spring stays straight and you just slide it in the rest of the way. The important part is to go slow at first and use your fingers to keep the spring from bending.

As yes, the P938 "Sig Slinky". A real PITA to compress and install.

Get a piece of dowel from Home Depot or your local equivalent. Use the dowel as a guide to stop the spring bending. About three or four inches are all you need. Some folks use a cleaning rod instead of the dowel. Just be careful when you are using the cleaning rod as a slip could mar the guns' finish.

I insert my cleaning rod through the hole in the slide, brace the rod handle against my chest while simultaneously pulling the spring and guide against the opposite end and then slowly release the tension on the rod (by leaning back) until the spring and guide pops into place. It works for me.

No experience with the 938, but out of curiosity, can a captive recoil spring be made or are there captive systems available?

 
I use a cut off piece of a cleaning rod, about 3" long. Insert from the front until it comes in contact with the guide rod, so the spring is continuously "rodded". As you push in with the guide rod, let the cleaning rod (or dowel) back itself out.
 

Thanks for the good ideas. Crazy that you even have to go through this for a high end piece.

I use the dowel method but would not need it if the spring had round cross section coils rather than the flat coils that hurt fingers due to their sharpness and pinching tendency. When I grab the spring I hold it with a thin piece of leather.

Follow/up: just returned from the range after 250 rounds and did a detail cleaning. Used the dowell aid and it worked great. First time trying it I got it in less than a minute. Sig should give instructions on this. Thanks again everyone!

It gets better with practice. Take it out and reinstall it about 15-20 times and you'll not complain about it ever again.

Bawahhahaha!

A method that worked for me was:
Cut a small square piece of clear plastic like the stuff that berries come wrapped in 2" will do. Wrap it around the spring and hold it between the thumb and first finger.... Then push the spring in place. After the spring is set just pull out the plastic.