Bent ejector rod

[geargnasher]

I dug around here a little bit but didn't find any relevant topics.

What I have is an ancient J.P. Saur and Sohn K-38 target model copy, really nice old gun that had a rough previous life. My dad shot it for 20 years or more and passed it on to me in college and I've probably put 35-40K cast boolits through it myself over the years. It's always had a slight cylinder alignment problem and leads the bottom and left side of the forcing cone, no big deal but it's not right. Last night it occured to me I'd never checked the ejector rod, and when I did, sure enough it's bent pretty badly. As the cylinder rotates it flexes the crane open and closed a bit. The crane is in good shape and doesn't appear bent but the pivot has a little bit of lateral play in it.

The question is can I take apart the ejector and straighten the rod, or is that a lost cause? It seems pretty straightforward to fix, I'm a decent amateur gunsmith and have plenty of precision measuring equipment including several certified straightedges, presses, and a good bench vise and a stack of dimensional hardwood blocks, but I've also heard that a bent ejector "ruins the gun", whatever that means.

Any tips appreciated, I'd like to get the cylinder at least rotating on an even axis again if possible.

Gear

[Mooseman]

I would try to straighten it, then possibly re-heat treat it...
I would try to tighten up the worn area in the pivot as well.

[frankenfab]

If there was a wager, I'd bet on you.[smilie=s:

I took a look at Numrich. Maybe you already did that, and the only gun they have listed is "Large Frame" Nice schematic, though....sold out of ejector rods @ $34.45.

http://www.gunpartscorp.com/catalog/Products.aspx?catid=2935

Could there be any other brand that is the same?

A couple small V blocks and indicator, plastic mallet, and I'm sure you can fix it. Or, it could be done with less...

[Char-Gar]

I have straightened a few, so it can be done. At one time Brownells sold a Powers jig to do such a thing. The trick is to support both end and put gradual pressure on the high spot. Laying it flat and whacking it with a hammer is not a very good idea.

A jig can be contrived that will support both ends with a C clamp to put the pressure on the high spot.

[geargnasher]

Cool, I think I'll give it a go, my only concerns were weakening it or not being able to control the bend correctly. I didn't know about the jig, either, never messed with DA revolvers much except for straightening the barrel and frame on my wife's Model 36 with a 30-ton press and carefully carved support blocks. Definitely not going to just smack this rod with a hammer.

I did check around for a new one but didn't have much hope or luck, didn't check Numerich though, that was a good idea and I appreciate the tip.

Gear

[geargnasher]

Fixed it. Toughest part was getting it out. The old "leather and vise with a cylinder-full of fired cases" didn't even come close. Had to resort to a stud remover socket with the three internal friction rollers and finally got it broken loose. No Loctite or rust, just tighter than Dick's hatband. Anyway, after jigging it up and spinning against a dial indicator I pinpointed the bend at the point the two pieces screwed together, so after about a dozen gentle tries of squeezing between three small blocks in the vise and rechecking I succeeded in getting it down to .001" of runout, it was about .040", somebody bent the karp out of it at some point.

I rechecked the crane pivot and it's not too wallowed out, most of the bluing is still on the moving parts so it must not bee too much looser than when new, I'm not going to worry about it at this point.

The end of the ejector pin had been peened off-center when it was fitted to the detent, so I trued it, polished it, and filed the stop on the detent to allow it to just snug up to the ejector rod when it the cylinder is locked home.

I eyeballed the timing and it looks MUCH better all the way around, I'll have to shoot it and see how it does.

Gear

[frankenfab]

Was it left hand thread?

[geargnasher]

No, it wasn't. Not being a Smith I had no idea which way it went, so I tried both. It ended up being right-hand, opposite the Smiths.

Gear

[Char-Gar]

Smith and Wesson ejector rods have been made with both right and left hand threads. They had a tendency to unscrew and jam up the sixguns, so Smith changed the direction of the threads to cylinder rotation would not untighten them. Change came about in the 50's.

[andremajic]

You pretty much fixed it exactly like kunhausen recommends in his book for s&w revolvers.

Chuck the ejector rod in a lathe or drill press with a dial indicator, checking runout. (I like a lathe with collets.)

Bend the part back away from where the high points are until there's no appreciable runout.

I fixed a cheap little .22 revolver this way. The ejector rod actually served to hold the cylinder in allignment as well, and this thing was LOCKED UP. Took about 15 minutes and easy as pie! (Don't remember the brand name.)

[geargnasher]

Smith and Wesson ejector rods have been made with both right and left hand threads. They had a tendency to unscrew and jam up the sixguns, so Smith changed the direction of the threads to cylinder rotation would not untighten them. Change came about in the 50's.

I've read that. I don't know for sure when this gun was made, probably in the '60s I'd guess, and have no way of knowing what they changed or what model year they copied. This revolver is just practically a carbon copy of a K-38 Masterpiece.

Gear

[uscra112]

You pretty much fixed it exactly like Kuhnhausen recommends in his book for s&w revolvers.

Chuck the ejector rod in a lathe or drill press with a dial indicator, checking runout. (I like a lathe with collets.)

Bend the part back away from where the high points are until there's no appreciable runout.

I fixed a cheap little .22 revolver this way. The ejector rod actually served to hold the cylinder in allignment as well, and this thing was LOCKED UP. Took about 15 minutes and easy as pie! (Don't remember the brand name.)

And I did the base pin of a "brand new" Ruger Old Army the same way. The toughest part is judging how much force to apply.

Good job on that old German revolver. Hope it treats you right in return.

Phil