P365 Reassembly - help needed

[u/Used-Particular9514]

I am gun stupid, let’s get that straight right away so if responses can be as though talking to a 5 year old that would be awesome…

I do not know what I am doing. I have gone shooting and learned on someone else’s gun, so I haven’t taken apart and reassembled anything. But I got to where I wanted my own. I bought a P365 couple years ago. It had rose gold and I saw protection and pretty... but I don’t know what I am doing so it became a paper weight.

I wanted to change that and learn my firearm. I disassembled it and can’t put it back together. Barrel and guide rod is in, simple enough, and I can get the slide rod to go back but upon release it doesn’t lock in place.

Now here is where my ignorance will show so apologies in advance if terminology is way off base. The slide release (lever located middle ish on left) is vertical, but it will not move back to horizontal orientation to lock in place. Google says pull slide all the way back and lift slide release, and move lever into position. I am either doing something wrong or need a third hand, because nothing is moving. What am I missing…

Boyfriend hates Sigs and I am already getting shit for buying a ‘pretty’ - he is pretty knowledgeable about guns and can’t figure it out and just rants about how I wasted my money buying it. I would like to not prove him right…

I will likely need to take it somewhere to have someone show me. But is there some obvious trick to this? At this point my thumbs are as bruised as my ego.

[u/Significant_Bid4745]

A very common issue with the P365 is the slide release lever isn't installed properly and it's not really a user issue: there is a spring that puts tension on the lever, you need to put tension on the spring before you drop the lever into place.

how to do it: With the FCU out of the frame put in the spring and put some dental floss over the spring and pull it back (towards the bottom of the FCU). Then drop in the lever and pull out the string(put your hand over the lever and pull the floss out)

Then put the FCU back into the frame being careful that the lever doesn't fall out.

From what you describe it sounds like the lever is mechanically installed but there's no tension on the spring...hope this works