Editor's Note (added): The following NOTE from the original Colt instructions is very important. I have had dozens, perhaps hundreds, of telephone calls, letters, and emails from people who could not put their Woodsman back together, and the cause has almost always been due to the recoil spring having been knocked out of its captured position. The assembly lock is easily jarred loose from the recoil spring guide, thereby allowing the recoil spring to expand to the rear of the slide. To someone who doesn't know what it is supposed to look like, that condition will look perfectly normal, but in fact the pistol cannot be re-assembled until the recoil spring is re-captured by the assembly lock. That is not easy to do, but it can be done with patience, some mechanical aptitude, and a tool with which to compress the recoil spring back into the slide so the assembly lock can be re-engaged in the recoil spring guide. I use a small, flat bladed screwdriver for that tool.
NOTE: If, at any time, during the taking apart or assembling, the recoil spring should jar off from the assembly lock, it should be again pressed into its forward position and held secure by pressing down the assembly lock plunger.