Ejector rod slightly bent

[RalphK22]

The ejector rod on my 29-2 seems to have a very slight bend to it. When the cylinder is swung away from the frame and spun, the ejector rod end runs slightly off center. This seems to give a "hitch" on 2 charge holes when they are coming into battery. Is there anyway to remedy this, short of replacing the ejector rod? Will it do any harm if I just let it be? My 29 is nickel so that, I am sure, will make it harder to find a replacement.

 

[kingranch]

MidwayUSA — Shooting Supplies, Reloading, Gunsmithing, Hunting, Ammunition, Gun Parts & Rifle Scopes

Watch Larry Potterfield's video..."and that's the way it is!"

Go to ---> Smith and Wesson (last one down)--->click it.

 

[dpsix]

Ralph, If you can't straighten the bent one, and a nickle replacement isn't available, Brownells would probably have a stainless rod that you could polish to look like nickle.

 

[SW CQB 45]

a 29-1 was brought to me with a bent ejector rod.

this one had reverse threads and no replacements were available.

I used flat surface, installed the center rod in the ejector rod (resistance felt) and then used a nylon mallet and tapped on the high spots to the point where the center rod was moving with no resistance.

re installed and the action smoothed up on the affected cylinders.

 

[haggis]

I had a 625-6 with a slightly bent ejector rod. Three adjacent charge holes had about 2 pounds higher trigger pull. I cobbled together this rig to measure total indicated runout (TIR) on the ejector rod installed in the cylinder.

This was a bit of overkill, but I already had the dial indicator, and the rest of the rig was mostly scrap.

The original TIR for the ejector rod was about 0.025". After a series of small taps on the high side, I managed to get down to 0.003" TIR, which cured the trigger pull difference.

The reason for straightening the assembly is that the female threads on the back ejector part may be off axis, so installing a new front rod won't fix the problem.

You can roll the cylinder assembly on a flat surface and eyeball the out-of-round, and probably get close enough to true to fix your problem. Like I said, I only did it my way to find out which values of TIR were excessive and which were not.

Buck

 

[chief38]

If you disassemble the ejector rod from the cylinder and gently chuck it in a drill press, it will help you see exactly where the rod needs to be adjusted as you manually rotate the chuck. Sometimes you can correct the out of round rod with your hand, and sometimes you need to tap it with a nylon hammer. When it looks true while turning it in the chuck, you are good to go. I have yet to have to replace one, as straightening them is a relatively easy task as long as you have some patience and make gentle corrections while using common sense.

I do have a dial indicator gauge as shown above, but I doubt you will actually need it as the poster above has indicated (over kill). It can't hurt, but sometimes they drive you nuts! Ask me how I know - LOL!!

Chief38

 

[dant]

all depends on just "how bent"... usually can be tapped back ,( made true) in a variety of different ways, again, all determined by "how bent".....doubt very seriously that you need a new one..........an able 'smith or armorer can do this for you.

 

[RalphK22]

Thanks guys, I got it straightened up. I don't have dial indicators or a lathe, but I do have a drill press and a wood mill ( sort of like a milling machine for wood). I gave the drill press a go first, clamped up a block of wood, drilled a 15/64th in hole in the wood ( that is about the dia. of the knurled end of the rod) then chucked up the ejector rod and watched how much it was off when centered above the hole. I then tapped it with a brass hammer to true it up. I then tried something I had once read about how to true up a bent drill bit, With the ejector rod chucked up, I ran the drill press at about 500 rpms and gently tapped the ejector rod as it rotated. It may not be 100%, but I would say it is 99%. It took the little hang up out of my cylinder when rotated. Thank you all again, you gave me the confidence to give it a try.