Loose ejector rod

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ike1518

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I have a new S&W 66-8 with a 2 3/4” barrel. It shoots fine but the ejector rod needs tightening after a range session. I have other S&W revolvers and I don’t have this problem.

What is the best way to correct this? Apparently tightening by hand is not enough but not being very mechanical I wonder if I’ll put on too much tension if I use pliers or something similar. Maybe I should try blue loc-tite?
 
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ike1518 said:
I have a new S&W 66-8 with a 2 3/4” barrel. It shoots fine but the ejector rod needs tightening after a range session. I have other S&W revolvers and I don’t have this problem.

What is the best way to correct this? Apparently tightening by hand is not enough but not being very mechanical I wonder if I’ll put on too much tension if I use pliers or something similar. Maybe I should try blue loc-tite?
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I'm no expert but I learned a trick on the forums. Take the yoke screw out and remove cylinder & yoke. Put two or three empty cases in the cylinder which protects the ejector star.Take a wooden (spring type) clothes pin & clip it on the ejector rod. Use vise grips to clamp down on the clothes pin and turn the cylinder with your hand to tighten. If it continues to come loose and you want to use loc-tite use the weakest one sparingly. Purple? I used loc-tite on my loose ejector rod and needed to install cylinder shims later and I was cussing myself out when trying to get the ejector rod out again.
 
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The last time that happened to me, I put a little dab of clear nail polish on the threads, let it dry, then screwed the extractor rod back into place. It seems to do the job, and it will unscrew if you ever need to unscrew it. Do not use Loctite. Left hand threaded extractor rods are not supposed to unscrew in normal use but I’m here to tell you that they can.

Some say that an electric drill chuck makes a good tool for tightening and loosening extractor rods. I have not used a chuck that way. If you do that, I would wrap some Scotch tape around the rod to prevent scratching it.
 
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I use a drill chuck to remove tighten rods all the time. In fact I have a loose chuck and key and a selection of fired brass on my bench. If clean with no burrs a chuck will not mar a rod. Just don't go all Manila Gorilla tightening it up. Just firm pressure will do it.

You can buy a junk 3/8 or 1/2 drill at a pawn shop and remove the chuck way cheaper than any of the tools sold for this and a chuck works better.
 
Brownell's has a handy tool just for this. Well worth the money and the design makes it difficult to put too much torque on to the rod. Leave the assembly in the yoke, put shell casings in the cylinder and slide the tool down toward the cylinder and tighten with the provided wrench. If you tighten it down it will not slip.

The drill chuck also works well and will not slip if tightened properly.
 

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You have received good info using the drill chuck idea or the Brownells tool but never use pliers! (I use the tool) The nail polish works well but loctite may cause you issues in the future if disassembly is necessary.
 
I have used Pliers, "BUT" with a fairly thick piece of leather around the rod. Never let the metal part of the Pliers touch the rod.

When a rod continues to loosen up time after time, it could be some lube has gotten into the threads. A good cleaning with a Parts Cleaner, and them compressed air blown into the threads and the female part of the rod to clean everything off. Then reassemble and snug as discussed.
 
I removed the ejector rod to clean it and then when I went to reassemble I see this black plastic part near the firearm. Is this part of the ejector assembly or is it just some random part from something else?

I tried to insert it ahead of the threaded end of the ejector rod but it didn’t want to reassemble and , though I am not very mechanical, I do know not try to force parts together.
 

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ike1518 said:
I removed the ejector rod to clean it and then when I went to reassemble I see this black plastic part near the firearm. Is this part of the ejector assembly or is it just some random part from something else?

I tried to insert it ahead of the threaded end of the ejector rod but it didn’t want to reassemble and , though I am not very mechanical, I do know not try to force parts together.
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Never seen a part like that in a revolver as for the extractor I used a padded bench vice and empty casings. Clean threads with alcohol and hand tight.
 
Update: I was never able to satisfactorily keep the extractor rod tightened so I sent it in to Smith and Wesson for repair. I got it back this week and took it out for a range session and shot a mix of 38 Special and 357 Magnum rounds and the rod stayed tight. So far, so good.
 
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