Kansas City Area Smith?

[milesc2]

Does anyone know a good luger smith in the Kansas City area? I recently had the ejector break on my 1916 DWM luger so I bought a replacement part that I believed to be original. I had to do a lot of hand fitting on the top edge to get it to move freely in the frame. But after it was installed it did not have enough spring tension to push the actual ejector face down far enough. I then heated the part with a torch and put more of a bow in it and it's working now but looks like hell. I have ordered a new ejector and am wanting to find someone more skilled than me to install it.
I'm stumped why I'm having so much trouble with this part as it seems simple enough. I just don't want to destroy or mar another 50 dollar part. Hopefully the first replacement I got was just out of spec somehow.

Thanks in advance.
-Miles

[mrerick]

Tom Heller is the best Luger gunsmith that is near you. He's over in Eastern Missouri in St. Charles, IIRC...

[milesc2]

Unfortunately Tom appears to be three hours from my home. I guess I could mail him the upper assembly but I would rather avoid doing that.

Thanks for the suggestion though!

[Edward Tinker]

Originally Posted by milesc2

Unfortunately Tom appears to be three hours from my home. I guess I could mail him the upper assembly but I would rather avoid doing that.

Thanks for the suggestion though!

well, you're going to have trouble finding a smith who knows lugers - its simply not a gun that they see every day, week or month in my opinion. I think just finding someone who works on S&W or colts is a lot harder than it used to be

Mailing an upper is like $7 one way, a lot easier than finding someone who is guessing what should be done.

[rhuff]

I don't know how many folks on this forum have left off a Luger with a "gunsmith" that said he was familiar with Lugers, only to get back a disastrous(read:expensive)mess. I have been there and done that.

You are $$$ ahead to use someone that DOES know about Lugers and has worked on them for years....plus has parts available. A three hour drive is a "piece of cake"!!! I have done it many times to take 1911s and BHPs to a true expert on said guns. Make a day trip and do something fun along the way.

[milesc2]

Point taken. I'm going to see how the new ejector fits first. If I have trouble it will be in the mail to Tom. I'm beginning to think the first ejector I received was out of spec and didn't have enough bow to it. I believe that's why it fit but would not depress all the way without a small amount of pressure applied to it.

Thanks for the advice \ warning about regular smiths!

[DonVoigt]

The ejector is a "spring", you can't just heat it and expect it to work for long.
It would have to be re-tempered as would any spring.

Fitting the ejector is not rocket science, as you found out; the sides frequently "rub" and need to be relieved- especially on reproduction/replacement ejectors. New made ejectors will often not even "click" in due to the wedge and locking boss being in the wrong place or shape or just too far out of spec.

Try buying an original from Tom or someone who has them. After market/used/unknown source ejectors are a major "head ache"!

Where did/are you getting the replacements?
Your experience may help others avoid a similar issue.

[milesc2]

I agree with you Don, heating the part was not the best solution. I did it out of frustration and I also wanted to see if putting more of a bow in the spring would make it function correctly (the new shape seems to be correct). Thats why I want to get it fixed with a new part as soon as possible.

I ordered the first part from a GunBroker seller named "What". (It was the only straw colored one I could find) It appears to be original but was a tad to tall but I believe the bigger issue was that it was flat and not bowed enough to provide enough spring tension. http://www.gunbroker.com/item/614814117

I have ordered the second replacement from Numrich Gun Parts (Hopefully this was not a mistake as well) Has anybody had any luck with them? I guess I will know soon enough...

As always thanks for the input.

[mrerick]

Miles, you can probably count the number of professional gunsmiths with real experience working on Lugers on your hands. Tom would be one of them. I wish I lived only 3 hours away from him!

[DonVoigt]

You're absolutely correct, that ejector was too "flat".

I've fitted several reproductions, I don't know where they all came from, maybe Numrich, I bought a couple from Sarco for sure. All required fitting- both in width and to get them to latch in.

Best of luck on an aggravating, tedious but "do-able" job.

Thanks for posting the info.

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by milesc2

I have ordered the second replacement from Numrich Gun Parts (Hopefully this was not a mistake as well) Has anybody had any luck with them?

I have posted my experience with a Numrich sear spring for a Mauser C96. It was not heat treated, tempered, and probably not even spring steel. It didn't work. At the first rack of the bolt it deformed and stayed that way.

I got an original from Alvin which is still working after several dozens of rounds through it.

[milesc2]

Sheepherder,

Thanks for the Numeric info. I just finished rebuilding a C96 Bolo as well. It's an amazing piece of craftsmanship! If your are looking for any other C96 parts Serco has a pretty impressive line of new production parts. All have fit perfectly in my experience, very high quality stuff.

-Miles

[milesc2]

I forgot to ask if I would be able to "Straw" the new ejector in my oven at 450 for 20 min? Do you think that that temperature would be enough to damage the tempering of the part? Also I fitted my first ejector with a stone but have heard scratching a spring can make it prone to breakage. Does this apply to the luger ejector?

[ithacaartist]

Using the big oven at a temp that is beyond what is necessary to develop the straw color is trickier than it needs to be. You'll have to watch the parts like a hawk and pretty much snatch them out and quench them at the right tone. But this IMO risks uneven results due to vafying thicknesses in each piece, inconsistent color when comparing individual pieces, and over-temping beyond what's needed, which will yield another color.

You don't have to worry about this kind of heating because it's not quite hot enough to make the steel non-magnetic, at which point it does lose all temper.

My tried-and-true technique involves the toaster oven. There is a mark on the dial which will achieve the exact temp needed to straw, which I established by increasing the setting bit by bit until perfect results were achieved. The trial and error will be unnecessary next time once you've made the mark.

I use a small container filled with sand, in which the parts are immersed. This shields them from direct radiation from the heating element, avoiding any overheating therefrom. Bring the sand to the right temp throughout by leaving it for a half hour or so before the parts are shuffled down into it. This will ensure an even heating of the medium, and all portions of all parts will be heated to the same level/color. No need to quench because the parts won't be worked on by heat that is conducted internally, and obviously can't get any hotter once removed.

De-greasing is quite important for even color. Anyway, it's easy, and you should give it a try! Worst case, re-polish and start over.

[cirelaw]

Impressive!

[ithacaartist]

Here is a handy picture showing the various colors achieved when heating steel.

[4 Scale]

I have found prepping and then re-strawing parts on 'shooters'to be a very enjoyable task, and one where the home gunsmith can achieve results comparable to the pros with a modicum of effort. As I recall a search will reveal several threads describing the techniques.

[milesc2]

All,

The ejector from Numrich arrived today and it was a drop in fit! It is now working perfectly. I cannot tell if the part is original or reproduction but it appears to never have been fitted to any gun. It also has a much more noticeable "bow" than the first part I received.

Thanks for all the help and advice.
-Miles