1911 loose ejector

[monschman]

Saturday was my second timed shooting my new 1911 and boy did it break my heart, or at least try its damndest. Between multiple failures to feed and failures to eject and stuck absoeffenlutely would not eject magazines I was actually happy with how i shot with it when it didn't screw up (few and far betweeninstances that they were)
I cleaned the gun when I came home and today gave it its first detail strip. I have come across some possible issue that may be causing my problems. Firstly is the ejector. I took the slide off and the darn thing just fell right out of the frame. I examined the ejector and it is not broken, the holes in the frame are also good and while the ejector actually sits in the holes there is absolutely no movement and no light showing between frame and ejector. Now as far as I am aware an ejector should not be a fall free part, if I am wrong please correct me and if i am wrong, how, what where why when do I repair it.
Also I have been aware since i purchsed the gun that the beavertail safety is not working. My initial guess was that the previous trigger work had bent the sear spring too much thus rendering the safety inoperable, another thought by another person was that the safety had been stoned too much and welding it up should alleviate the problem, now the sear spring looks just fine and there has been no stoning of the safety so can anyone suggest why this may be. As i have decide not to carry the gun until reliability is as close to 100% as possible the safety is not a huge issue to me, the external safety has a very positive engagement and keeping my finger off the trigger will prevent any possibility if the gun going off.
The gun is a Caspian commander chambered in 40 s&w and is otherwise something I am very happy with. I have orderd some new mags as the ones that I got with the gun are not the most reliable, I have also ordered some new springs from wolff as they are something always worth having on hand. If anyone can point me towards a good smith in the metro area i would appreciate it. I am not a fan of sending a new baby off into the wild blue yonder for undetermined periods of time so local is good. If these are things i can fix at home then by all means give me an idea what i can do

[1911fan]

The ejector should be pinned into place. As far as the rest, either Gunny or Benny would be good local choices.

[jaysong]

Sorry to read about your issues with your new baby. It sucks when you take her out and have issues right off the bat in a relationship. I am sure you will get it all worked out if you stick with her. I would strongly suggest not carrying her until you get the grip safety functioning properly. Best of luck to you. Warning: 1911's multiply quickly (like rabbits), keep an eye on your checkbook.

[monschman]

sorry i forgot to clarify, the ejector is not pinned. The frame does not have the pin hole

[justaguy]

The problem started when you bought a 1911. The quickest and easiest way to fix the problem is buy a better gun. Try Glock, I hear they work.

[Stradawhovious]

Try Glock, I hear they work.

Yup, they work great. When he switched to a glock after the issues with his 1911, first stage..... type 3 malfunction.

Yeah, they work great.

I would say to have someone look at it. No offense, but it seems that the previous owner has hacked the **** out if your new toy, and it will more than likely start running fine again with a little TLC.

[Pat]

Sounds like something you may want to contact the manufacturer/rep about. The ejector should be solidly pinned in place. The grip safety not working is reason enough to lock it up until repaired.

[hammAR]

Replacing an ejector on a 1911 is often a tricky business, and is not recommended for the home hobbyist.

The traditional way of securing the ejector to the frame is with a crosspin, however some modern manufacturers of 1911 type guns do not use this method. They instead use a locking compound, like Locktite™ to secure the ejector to the frame. In these guns, there are no holes drilled in the frame to allow for the use of a crosspin. If there is no hole drilled in the frame of your 1911 in the slide rail of the frame just above the plunger tube, then your ejector is not "pinned" in place. The removal procedure for an ejector which is not pinned involves heating the frame in the area of the ejector mounting studs. Heating of a gun frame is an undertaking for only the experienced gunsmith. If you are unsure of the method by which your ejector is held in place, consult a good qualified gunsmith.....................It also sounds like you have a series of issues on your hands. I would go through the entire fire control group and replace every spring in it at a minimum...if it were me........

I would be willing to take a look at it if you want another hack toying with it......

[Seismic Sam]

HammAR you old crusty phart - he said the ejector already FELL out!! Being a broken down old relic like me (and I think I'm more broken down than you these days....) you know perfectly well about parts falling out/off. Obviously, he needs to figure out how to get the ejector back IN the gun!!

Apart from that, I would concur that the deal you got may not have been such a good deal if the ejector was loose and the beavertail (hey HammAR, when is the next Alary's night???) safety wasn't working.

About the only other thing I can think of, and it isn't too likely with a 40 Short & Weak that has a rather small pressure window, is that the gun was tuned for some hott(er) loads and with some wimpy factory loads the gun is oversprung. Sounds to me like it's more than that, but you should check the specs on the ammo you are using regardless.

Good luck. jprifles.com might be a place to have it at least looked at by John Paul himself. He's in Hugo, and custom raceguns are his bread and butter, so a custom setup like yours might qualify for him to look at. I wouldn't bet money on it, but his work is impeccable and beyond reproach.

[JFettig]

HammAR, sounds like the ejector is the latter, since its already out.

You could loc-tite it back in. Does the ejector have the pin hole in it?

If it has the hole, and you can come across the pin, I could pop a hole in the frame on my mill.

Do you know if Caspian built the gun or if someone picked up the parts and built the gun?

And, no, I'm not a qualified nor experience gunsmith.

Jon

[hammAR]

OK, so the next time some one asks a question and I am taking vicadin and Patron, I will sit back and wait for the effen experts. Sometimes when something falls apart, it is easier to fix if you know how it was built, but then I guess that is kind of like asking for directions, and we all know that is not kosher and that SS is a local version of Carnac the Magnificent...............

[Seismic Sam]

Gimme an EFFEN break!!! I'm gonna be dead and in hell before you're even off your meds. And since when has vicodin and Patron ever been sufficient to cloud your steely wits before now??

And that was good information, BTW - but if there isn't a pin to retain the ejector, then the gun has really been hosed over by somebody.

[hammAR]

..since when has vicodin and Patron ever been sufficient to cloud your steely wits before now??.

...it's not quite as good as mescal and morphine.............and I've already been to hell.......

....if there isn't a pin to retain the ejector, then the gun has really been hosed over by somebody.

that or it's not a real 1911...........