Does anybody else seem to have issues doing it? I always manage to bend it over and/or destroy it in the process.
Is it kosher to red-locktite it in?
It's OK to Loctite, epoxy or super glue it. Many (I'm one) prefer to pin them. Is it the pin that you're bending?
Yes, just the pin. Unfortunately, I don't have a punch small enough to poke all the way through it to mark the front peg of the ejector.
I just used some red lock-tite... hopefully if I need to remove it, I can just heat it up.
The front ejector leg needs a notch filed so the pin can lock it down. With the ejector held in place a scribe can mark or scratch the location through the hole on the left side. With a small file, round or triangular the notch can be started. Re-insert and check location, file some more. The goal is to have the notch located such that the pin is pulling it down, meaning the notch is on the high side. The pin should be driven from the right side to the left so it only has to be driven a short distance past the leg. If once done you wish to secure it, a drop of Loctite #290 can be added.
+ one on what BIGJON said, file the notch slow, start a tad high with the notch. I used little files to do this, started with a triangular to start the cut and used a little round file to do the rest and went real slow, kept putting in the ejector in and shining a flash light through the hole to see how much farther to go. Take your time, and when you think your getting close to the pin making it through, don't rap it too hard, if there is not enough room you'll bend the pin. By filing the notch a wee bit higher than the hole, you'll be finishing up by filing just the bottom of the notch in the ejector, when the pin finally can get past the leg with a little rap, the pin will be pulling the ejector down. Just go slow, you can't put metal back on the ejector leg. Take your time, no hurry. I have also messed this up a couple times, I was in a hurry. You do need to have something to make a mark on the leg to start with, anything small, sharp and hard enough to make a mark on the leg will do.
Oddly enough, the one last night was actually hanging before it got to the ejector leg... not sure where, or if that hole didn't get properly drilled, but being as how I had nothing that could fit in it (hind-sight I could have used a paper clip or something)... I just continued to lightly tap at it until it deformed and bent.
Oh well... lots of loc-tite in there now.
I bought a bit of stainless steel 1/16" ID tube at a hobby shop that I use as a guide to keep ejector pins from bending while I tap them in.
Traxxis;
Drilling nearly always causes problems.
I set the frame up on a fixture plate; locate the frame hole C/L in the milling machine, and use a 1/16th centercutting end mill. You get a perfect fit everytime. The endmill will not walk off the leg. I like 1/16th roll pins for the constant tension they exert.
Stan:
All you need is a heavy pin or sharp dental explorer to score the front leg
of the ejector. It will give you a 1/4 moon shaped line on the front side of
the front leg... remove the ejector ,put it with the nose vertical in a vise
and use an oval shaped or round 1/16" file if you can find one and file a
groove perpendicular to the ejector leg to clear the ejector pin, by matching
the curve of the 1/4 moon shaped score line. Leave the bottom of the groove at
the cuved score line slightly high so you can "sneak up" on the bottom contour
and have a "slight " bit of downward pressure on the front leg. Drive the pin
in from the long side. I check the groove first with a 1/16" Starrett punch to
make sure it will pass before driving in the pin and folding and possibly
folding it over(ha... ask me how I know to do this!)... simple if you take
your time and don't rush.
Quote:
Oddly enough, the one last night was actually hanging before it got to the
ejector leg...
One cause of this can be re-using the same pin without re-chamfering the ends. The punch used to remove the pin can flatten the end and, if that same end goes in first, its sharp edge can cause a problem.
After removing a drive pin I plan on re-using, I just dub off the edges after tapping it out - so I don't forget to do it.
I guess I wasn't clear, but these were all brand new parts... from the frame to the pins.
Therefore, when I was referring to the it not being drilled all the way, I meant from the factory.
IF, in fact, that is the case, then some remedial work needs to be done. But, first, are you certain that the hole is not through drilled? - if you can see both ends of he hole, and they appear to be of the same size, then it is drilled through.
Maybe it's time to call in a machinist [download the dwgs, 1st]. Just trying to push a 1/16" end mill through by yourself probably won't hack it.
On two Colt's I've owned, counting the original ejectors which are always loose, replacing with two more "gunsmith" fit... they have all come loose with use.
So, that's 4 pinned ejectors that were loose. The last time I used Red Loctite and it's rock solid. It's only been 3-4,000 rounds so time will tell how "glue" works.
Maybe it will be better?