Ejector help

[Spitfire001]

I got a 1911 and just found out that one of the 2 pins that hold the ejector
is broke(front pin), anybody have this happen to them if so how hard is it to fix?????

[John]

You mean the front leg of the ejector is broken, I assume. Well, fixing it can be a little frustrating. First of all, you need to drive out the pin holding that leg in the frame, the pin is located in the frame rails. Then, you need to remove the broken leg. If you are lucky, it may just drop off and be done with it. Otherwise, you may need to drill it.

Installing the new ejector is relatively easy. Just put it in place and put the pin back in, IF THE FRONT LEG has a cut for the pin to pass through. If it doesn't then you will have to put the ejector in, hold it in place and use a nail or something similar to mark the leg where it needs to be filed in order to let the pin go through. Use a small triangular file, and go VERY slowly. One or two passes at a time and check again until the pin goes through.

[Spitfire001]

Thank you for the help

[niemi24s]

Can't think of anything that would cause the front (or rear) leg of an ejector to break. Make sure the new ejector makes no contact with the slide. When installed, you should be able to see daylight along the top & sides of the ejector when the slide's in battery and the ejector's in its clearance groove in the slide.

File the notch in the front leg a tiny bit higher than you think it should be. If the notch gets filed too low, the ejector won't be held down against the receiver top. As John wisely advised - go VERY slowly and test fit often. One wrong swipe with a sharp file and your new ejector will either sit high or move up & down. Regards

[John Harrison]

I have fixed 6 of these cases over the years. It's not very common and can happen for a variety of reasons. I haven't been lucky enough to have the broken keg fall out, after removal of the cross pin, so I've had to extract them all. I would go at it, in the following manner:

Strip the frame and remove the cross pin, then use a strong magnifier to inspect for evidence of loctite being used in the ejector pin hole. If you see any sign of it, I'd use a propane torch and warm up the area of the pin to 300-400 degrees. Not enough to change color of the steel, but enough to degrade the bond of the loctite. Next, flood the cross pin bore and the top of the broken pin with a good penetrating oil like Kroil. After letting it sit for a day or so, blow the area clear with compressed air. Hold the frame upside down and tap what would normally be the top of the frame with a non-marring hammer, near the broken ejector leg. I'd use a brass hammer and I'd strike flat to the top, staying away from the edge of the slide rail as much as possible. The intent would be to apply some inertia to the frame and try to dislodge the pin from it's hole. If you can get the pin to walk out of it's hole enough to grab it with vise grips, you're golden. If you can't see evidence that the pin is moving after a dozen good taps, stop before you peen down the frame rail.

If you aren't moving the pin by now, it's probably time to evaluate your skills with precision machining. I remove broken pins by clamping the frame in my mill, top side up, level with the table. Then using gauge pins, I find the center of the rear ejector hole, then move the table the right distance to center me over the front ejector hole. I use a .125" end mill and slowly machine away the pin from the top down, until it's gone and I have a clean hole. I would not use a drill, as the break at the top will most likely be ragged and at an angle, causing a drill bit to walk off center as it cuts.

Hope this helps you..........

[Spitfire001]

I ended up using the drill press to drill a small hole and used a screw to get it out. I appreciate all the detailed help