Ejector guide pin question

[NeilC]

I will post pictures later today. Those that saw my CE Fox at the Southern SxS have seen this. Both the ejector guide pins are broken of and stuck in the block. I am getting ready to remove them but need to know the following:

1. How long are the pins?
2. How are the pins secured in the ejectors?

Thank you

[bbman3]

I once had a 16 ga AE with one pin broken off and lodged in its hole in barrel.Bill Schwarz removed it and put it back on extractor/ejector, but i have no idea how he did it. Bobby

[bbman3]

Neil,pins measure approx 9/16. a strong magnet might pull them out. Bobby

[NeilC]

Neil,pins measure approx 9/16. a strong magnet might pull them out. Bobby

Thanks Bobby. I suspect these are stuck in there pretty well and as I received the gun like this, there is no way of knowing how long they have been in there. I estimated the pins to be about that long but wanted to collaborate it. I will wait to see if some of the other members have comments.

[Germantown]

I had a similar problem a while ago with my 12 gauge Ithaca 2E- the right hand ejector stem had fractured and the stem also, as with your Fox gun, was lodged in the hole. I set the barrels in a padded vise, muzzles down and soaked the pin with Kroil- waited 4 days, and then after wrapping the barrel breech with a towel, tunked the barrel flat with a lead machinist's hammer- Bingo-- I replaced the brokend stem with a new one machined from D2- silver soldered in place- works like it just left the Ithaca factory in 1912!!

[NeilC]

Well, I did try and soak the pins for a few days and I had no joy that way. Ended up clamping the barrels (padded of course) to the side of a mill table and used a small center drill to start a pilot hole. I then drilled the pins (which have a .088 diameter BTW) with a #55 drill. Once I got about halfway into each of the pins, they came loose and came out. I then checked to make sure the holes were still round with a small reamer. I still have to get the other side of the pin out of the ejector though. Were they soldered in at the Fox factory as well? These look like they might be threaded in? I will be making new pins with drill rod stock of the same diameter.

[Silvers]

Neil, this has dragged on longer than I expected.

In answer to your questions, the guide pins are not threaded into the back sides of the ejectors. I believe Fox forged the ejector around the guide pin, before finish machining. Thus the best repair is done by drilling a blind hole in EXACTLY the right location, and then silver brazing a new pin in place and exactly perpendicular to the back side of the ejector. Locating the coordinates for the hole is very much easier said than done. You'll need to do it on the mill and hopefully it has a DRO. To facilitate that I made up a precision/hardened fixture (using measurements from several guns) for drilling and then holding the pin during the silver brazing. I'd recommend using mild steel for the pins as compared with oil or air hardening drill rod..... Fox factory pins are soft and easily bent to freely slide in their locating holes in the barrel breeches, and you'll want to duplicate that. How to drill adjacent to the long ejector stem? I'm surprised your instructors there at the school couldn't help. You'll need a so-called aircraft drill in exact "number size", readily available from industrial suppliers. A 6" long one will do nicely.

I don't recommend drilling completely through and tigging the new guide pin to the face of the ejector. You'll need deep weld penetration..... thus too much heat IMO, and the weld stresses are likely to bend the ejector and/or cause microcracks that may cause it fail over long use. I hope all this is helpful to you Neil. And I hope this info isn't copied by sorcerer's apprentice type readers who then post somewhere else under their own name. But I'm not holding my breath. That happens all too often and it's one of the reasons I mainly stay on the Members Forums.

Members can sign on and use the advanced search function (upper right corner) to read several past posts I did on the subject. But they won't come up except for Members. At one time I offered to do ejector guide pin replacements but, sorry to say, I've discontinued that because I just don't have the time. Silvers

[NeilC]

Thank you Silvers.

I did send you a private message as well.