RSA, Remove Head From Ruger Ejector Rod

Any hints and/or techniques to remove the head from a RSA OEM ejector rod? Would like to swap the crescent head onto a 5" ejector rod.

Did search the internet and the forum prior.

Thanks.

Cool, been there done that. Used a Colt ejector head.

Three ways, since the rod is riveted to the knob:

1. File or grind off the rivet head at the front of the knob.
2. Drill it from the front side of the knob.
3. Drive it out, the quickest. Set the knob on top of the vise jaws with rod extending down thru the jaws but not tightened. With correct style flat punch drive the rod down and out.

Clamp the 5" rod in a padded vise or use alum or copper jaw covers. Place the crescent head on the rod tip and stake in place with a blunt center punch driven right in the middle of the front end of the rod with a good whack. It will expand the rod tip for a tight fit in the crescent head hole. You can use red lock tight too if you want.

I like the Colt head because it's much more to push against with a finger, more ergonomic than the Ruger crescent and looks cool:



The Colt head is threaded. so you can thread the end of the Ruger rod with a 6x40 threading die. Same size as Ruger grip frame screws. So if you have to buy the die, you'll have other uses for it to clean up Ruger screws. Or drill out the threads in the Colt head and stake the rod in place as above.

The Colt head will take just a little fitting to the ejector housing slot.

And here's my method to get the Ruger's crescent button or Colt button to nest up tight under the barrel when at rest, instead of dangling like the Ruger crescent button. Because the Ruger housing slot is straight and not curved like Colt's, I corrected the way the crescent button, Ruger or Colt didn't tuck up tight against the barrel when at rest. It also works for the Ruger crescent button and old round button which also kind of dangles. It may not bother some owners but it's simple to do if it does.

I grind and polish a 'cam' curve in the end of the rod/button as shown below (Colts thread together, Rugers are riveted and may need slight re-peening). The curve must 'nest' or align with the curve of the housing attachment screw when the button is up tight against the barrel in a Ruger straight slot housing. The curved surface of the end of the rod contacts the screw under tension of the return spring and it will "nest" on the screw by "camming" or turning the rod and button tight up against the barrel. Works for the Colt 'bullseye' round ejector button as well.

On my Super Single Sixes (.22 and .32) I use a Colt 22 Peacemaker button:



What's your project gun?

How did your ejector head come out?

I did several of Ruger crescent heads to the 5 inch ejector rods. All were in stainless so no need to worry about finish work.

Initially practiced on a couple of spare 4 inch round head ejectors, one punched out easily, the other required grinding away the staked area above the head. Tried using a 40 ton press but too small of a job to be effective.

Concerning ejector springs, noticed some will stack and limit ejector travel. As I use minimalist heads on the cylinder base pins on some guns to allow removal without removing the ejector housings, seems a waste of ejector travel. Also I thinned the width of the ejector rod heads.

So, I have cut/shortened the ejector springs to eliminate coil stacking and then stretch the springs by hand to obtain the necessary length. Is there a better off-the-shelf spring available? The 3.75 barrel Blackhawk does not have this issue with the shortened ejector housing.

Yeah the 3.75" barrel spring is much shorter so doesn't stack.

I just stretch the spring if I cut it. One could probably find substitute springs but stretching works too good to spend the time searching.