The ejector is loose on my Gold Cup.
How do I remove and install a new one?
I see one pin in the front and nothing in the rear (where it's loosest). Do I simply knock the front pin out and pull straight up? And do I glue (Loc-Tite) the new ejctor and pin it in place?
I like to pin AND loc-tite ejectors.
You may have some trouble getting the old one out. Make sure to try to pull it straight out, and not rock it, otherwise if could break off with the legs in it.
Once you get the shorter, back leg out, you can then vice it and rotate it as you pull it out.
This is of course after you get the pin out.
You are fortunate to have a 1911 with a pinned ejector. Many modern 1911s don't have this.
The problem is that the pin hole is crossed drilled though the frame that makes it tricky to replace a pinned ejector.
Then the pin tends to pull the back post out of the frame hole.
You can remove the 1/16 pin with a drive pin punch and Loctite everthing OR just put a drop of blue Loctite on the rear post while it is installed and allow the fluid to wick into the frame hole. Then hold the ejector against the frame while the Loctite sets.
Blue Loctite 242 reaches 50% strength in about 30 minutes.
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...do I glue (Loc-Tite) the new ejector and pin in place?
Insure the 1/16" pin punch used to remove the pin has a slight chamfer to avoid enlarging the hole. Tap the pin to the right just far enough to clear the front leg. No real need to take it all the way out.
If you choose to use Loc-Tite, do NOT use it on the pin. Just the ejector. If the pin is not tight in its hole, try a new pin. If the new pin is not tight, bend it very slightly in the middle.
I can wiggle the rear left and right a fair amount.
I'd estimate a good 20 thousandths.
Is that much slop between rear leg and frame hole normal?
The front won't wiggle left or right much more than 5-6 thousandths and none fore and aft.
Is it possible (likely?) the rear leg is broken?
If I drive the pin out, seems like the ejector is loose enough I could pull it out with my fingers.
I'm not sure I have a punch to fit the pin hole though. Wonder if I could substitute with a drill bit?
Colt uses a roll pins so the pin probably isn't loose because it expands in the hole. Some manufactures’ use dowel pins.
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Wonder if I could substitute with a drill bit?
No, a 1/16 spring pin expands larger than 1/16 inch and is designed to work with a 1/16 hole. A 1/16 drill bit is the same size as the hole. A 1/16 drive puch is undersized a bit to drive out a 1/16 pin. You should buy a 1/16 drive pin punch because it is smaller than 1/16 inch.
Thanks Eric, it's not the pin that loose, it is the ejector I can pull it out with my fingers once pin is out.
If it's a roll pin, be sure to use a proper roll pin punch (with a bump on the end) or you'll goober up the pin. Brownell's has them, and I've found them in your better specialty tool places and serious hardware stores.
Robs right on,
I use this punch set from Brownells
If I order and install a new ejector, how the heck do i drill it properly?
Center punch it while in the frame, pull and drill, or drill while its in the frame?
Some fitters install the ejector. Then drive a pin through the hole to mark the ejector. Then they use a jewelers' file to notch the front post to allow the pin to extent past the front extractor pin.
I warned you that it was tricky...
I just thought that since this is a new GC you may want to call Colt to have them fix the extractor.
Yea... that would be MUCH easier...
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I just thought that since this is a new GC you may want to call Colt to
have them fix the extractor.
Yes, I've thought of that, but now that I know the pin is "notched" I think I can handle it... I think...
After marking the spot to file the notch on the front leg, file it a teeny bit higher than you think it needs to be. That'll help prevent the notch from getting filed too far down which will lead to either a loose ejector or one that that fits a little above the frame when the pin is installed.
Whatever you do, don't try to drill the notch with the ejector installed. If the drill tip catches and breaks off deep in the hole you'll have a mess on your hands. In addition, the drill may tend to enlarge the hole as it'll be pushed off-center by the leg.
Push out the roll pin. Wiggle out the ejector. Flip it over in a vice and tap on the bottom of the leg with a hammer. The bottom of the leg will spread making the fit tighter. If you go too much sand the end of the leg down with some emery paper. Replace ejector .
I don't recommend this too much anymore as alot of Ejectors are made from MIM and the leg can break. But it should be fine with a colt.
What's the best way to get this out? Drill and pick??
Sorry about your tough luck... However you decide so remove the post it may be held in with Loctite. Heating with a propane torch with melt the Loctite away if present... None of my Colts have Loctite there but I don't know how they install today.
Put it in a drill press and use a small bit. It probably will break loose from the drill and heat. If not, work up in bit size until it can be grabbed with the smallest "Easy Out"
I don't have an easy-out near that small.
So the "MacGiver" in me has me thinking like this;
I DO have a #6 (#4??) tap for scope base mounting. I might even have smaller taps in the set in the garage.
Wonder if I drill and tap it, then run a machine screw into it as a "grab point" for the vise grips?
If it isn't lose enough to simply pull out then, I'll apply some heat with the pencil torch
Sound like a good plan?
If all that fails, I have a Dremel...
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...how long is the rear ejector peg?
Pin diameter is about 0.096", pin length is about 0.085" and hole is about 1/8" deep according to the blueprints. Rotsa ruck!
If you try your plan to drill & tap it and are successful in drilling and getting the tap started, be careful not to break the tip of the tap off. If that happens, you'll have a real mess on your hands because taps are quite hard.
And a #6 tap is too big, as its tap drill diameter (0.107 or 0.113") is larger than the pin (about 0.096"). Here's some other tap & drill sizes:
* 4-48, 0.0935" or #42 * 4-40, 0.0890" or #43 * 3-56, 0.0810" or #46 * 3-48, 0.0785" or #47 * 2-64 & 2-56. 0.0700" or #50
Next idea... drill it, micro grind some slots use a jeweler's screw driver to spin. I have plenty of those and cut/grind the blade to fit as needed.
But... I also want to play around with ejector styles and angles.
So I'm ordering some "generic" MIM ejectors from CDNN as "sacrificial" experiment parts.
Not to mention some practical experience when I install a "quality" ejector
BTW, the pin holding the ejector doesn't look like a roll pin to me. It looks solid.
I'd try drilling before cutting a slot. If you cut the slot first and then later on find you need to drill, the slot might make it harder to keep the drill centered or maybe catch the drill bit and break it.
After you get it out and want to experiment with different ejector nose styles, consider making test ejectors out of brass stock from your local hobby shop put together by soft soldering. For maybe $6 in brass you could probably make 6 or 8 ejectors like this:
Lots cheaper than store-bought ones and they'll last long enough to get to see how each affects the ejection.
As far as fabricating an ejector from brass, would it take the pounding long enough to try plenty rounds without peening in short order?
Cheap ejector are available from CDNN for 5 bucks.
http://www.cdnninvestments.com/1945acfulsiz.html
If I remember, after about 5 shots the brass ejectors got their sharp noses peened over a little bit. But making brass ones hardly seems worth the effort if you can get (some sort of) steel ones for only $5.
P.S.: I also have a dim recollection of Log Man posting some clever method for removing a broken ejector pin a year or two ago that might have involved some sort of welding process I'd never heard of. Maybe a search of his posts would turn up something.
It wasn't no picnic... but it's out.
After all my "bright ideas" failed... I finally had to chuck it up on the drill press.
I had to drill the peg paper thin, then "fold" it out with a tiny punch I made from a jeweler's screw driver.