Maintenance Help on a RIA XT-22 22 Magnum

**Richard677** · 9th September 2019, 13:24

I'm having a difficult time disassembling my pistol after shooting for cleaning and maintenance: the provided owners manual is of little or no help. For one I have a hard time removing the recoil spring and rod once I have the slide separated from the frame. I couldn't get the recoil spring and guide rod out of its position until I took off the nut just below the barrel where the recoil rod end sticks out. I had to use a spanner tipped wrench and unscrew it then the recoil spring, guide rod and barrel would finally come out. There was no mention of this nut in the steps for maintenance take down. Should I have taken this nut off because it was not mentioned in the owners manual. I couldn't find this piece described either in the manual's schematic nor on Numrich's Gun Parts site. I put it back together and tightened it with a spanner wrench hand tight. And when I put all that back together I had considerable trouble re-inserting the take down lever because a small pin that protrudes near the left side thumb saftey left pokes out just enough the block me from pushing down on the take down lever even when I had it lined up with the half moon take down notch. I got it back together but I'm not comfotable with how hard it went. Is there a trick to re-inserting the take down lever or is it going to be tricky each time I try to do it again. Any helpful comments on either either problem would be greatly appreciated. This is a brand new pistol with only 30 rounds through it 10 rounds each in the 3 magazines provided. Thanks.

**Hawkmoon** · 9th September 2019, 14:29

Originally Posted by Richard677

And when I put all that back together I had considerable trouble re-inserting the take down lever because a small pin that protrudes near the left side thumb saftey left pokes out just enough the block me from pushing down on the take down lever even when I had it lined up with the half moon take down notch. I got it back together but I'm not comfotable with how hard it went. Is there a trick to re-inserting the take down lever or is it going to be tricky each time I try to do it again. Any helpful comments on either either problem would be greatly appreciated. This is a brand new pistol with only 30 rounds through it 10 rounds each in the 3 magazines provided. Thanks.

I'm afraid I can't help you regarding the recoil spring and guide, as I haven't yet encountered an XT 22 Magnum. However, the issue you encountered with reinserting the slide stop (which you call the "take down lever') is typical with 1911s. The small "pin" is the plunger, and it's spring-loaded. The design of the slide stop is such that it should go in by starting with the lever slightly below the at rest position, and it is inserted by pressing in and up simultaneously (at roughly 45 degrees to the surface of the receiver). Due to tolerances, it's not unheard of to encounter a slide stop that doesn't cooperate well with this procedure. When I encounter such pistols (my Colt M1991A1 Compact carry pistol is one such), I position the slide stop and then use a very small, straight-bladed screw driver to push the plunger pin into the plunger tube as I snap the slide stop lever into position.

**Richard677** · 9th September 2019, 19:23

Thank you HAWKMOON I will give that a try. One problem down one to go. By the way others on here have mentioned has anyone have one of these pistols and how does it shoot? Cranked out 30 rounds without so much as a hiccup. Kind of nice actually. I look forward to many more range outings. Get the model with the red front fiber optic sight....very nice sight picture close in.

**Hawkmoon** · 9th September 2019, 19:29

I found this on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-AbK7KXO4Q

I don't vouch for this guy or his video(s) in any way. I've never heard of him before, but this video popped up when I did a search for "1911 slide stop insertion"

**Richard677** · 10th September 2019, 12:17

Thanks again Hawkmoon. I went to that video and it helped a lot with my problem. Also did you see the video that followed your video? It shows a company that sells inserts of some space age plastic to create a barrier when re-inserting the slide stop lever. The company, ISPT , sells these barriers in several different thicknesses and all colors of the rainbow so I bought a pack of 3 for my XT-22 22Magnum for $9.99.