colt mkIII ejector star question

[dieselbeef]

so ive got the cyl and when I eject the spent shells the part that pushes them out...the little star..spins on the end of the shaft that is moving thru the center of the cylinder.
I assume since it has 2 very tiny pegs it must line up on and that rod thru the center of the cyl is not rd so it cannot turn in there that the ejector star is supposed to be fixed on the end of that rod.
mine is not. before I bought a cylinder ..very costly ...since they only seem to come as an assembly...I wanted to ask and make sure from someone who has one or could tell me for sure that the star is not supposed to spin on the shaft. when you eject the shells the star doesn't always line up on the two tiny pegs and the cyl wont close.
I also guess this has something to do with the timing on the cyl since the shoe comes up to push against the little dogs on the star. altho once it sits in its nice and tight so it seems lockup is good
got the gun on a trade and since ive had a chance to get in it I can see why.

so anyplace I might get some parts? or is there a way to fix it..it seems like maybe it was peened inside somehow...

[James K]

OK, I'll tell you. The star is not supposed to spin on the ejector rod. The attachment is by thread, (the ratchet (Colt's official name) has the female threads, the rod has the male threads. If the threads are stripped, there is nothing to hold the ratchet onto the rod except Colt's good wishes.

There is no practical way to fix the problem. You might try www.gunpartscorp.com for parts, but first check to see if both sets of threads are worn. It is usually the ratchet threads that wear first, but sometimes, both are bad. Some genius with a microtorch might weld up and recut the threads, or a piece of thin brass might fill the gap, but it would not be hard to ruin both parts that way if not careful.

Jim

[dieselbeef]

I checked there for parts. The thread where the 2 pieces go together isn't the issue it is where the star is at the hammer end of the cylinder. The star spins on the shaft. Threads are good it's the actual star that pushes the spent shells out that spins on the shaft.


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[dieselbeef]

The ejector star is the ratchet yes. That's threaded? Well then for sure it's junk cuz it's wobbly and spins freely


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[dieselbeef]

Nobody knows colt?


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[tangolima]

The "star" is the ratchet. If it is spinning and wobbling on the ejector rod "the shaft", the threads cannot possibly be good.

The old parts can be repaired given enough money. The best bet is to find replacement. I would look for the whole assembly, cylinder, ejector rod and ratchet. Ratchet that has been fitted to one cylinder may not want to go in another. It may be fitted to a new cylinder, but it may not. I worked on one that couldn't.

-TL

[dieselbeef]

Once I get a cylinder ass the odds of it fitting without retiming the gun is slim. Am I right. I know this is an production built piece but parts are fitted although not hand fitted. Swapped until one worked. An ass is about 250 bucks Retiming it is ?


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[tangolima]

Cylinder ass for $250? I don't think we should be talking about this sort of things here.

-TL

[James K]

I think the word that has you bothered is an abbreviation for "assembly", not a reference to the rear of the cylinder.

It seems we have a misunderstanding, so I will try again with the basics. I will use Colt terminology to avoid confusion, then add other terms commonly used.

The CRANE is the part that swings in and out and supports the CYLINDER, (aka "DRUM") that holds the cartridges. Running through the top part of the crane is the EJECTOR ROD which is the part you push to eject the empty cartridges. The rear of the EJECTOR ROD is threaded and screwed onto the RATCHET (aka "STAR"), which has the contact points that are engaged by the HAND to turn the CYLINDER, and which actually pushes on the cartridge rims to eject the fired cases.

When properly assembled, the RATCHET is screwed to the rear of the EJECTOR ROD so it lines up with its position in the CYLINDER, and then staked to keep it in the proper position. In addition, the ratchet has a little indexing point that fits into a matching notch in the CYLINDER which should keep the RATCHET properly positioned when it is fully closed.

If the RATCHET spins on the EJECTOR ROD when the CYLINDER is open, either the threads on the EJECTOR ROD or the threads in the RATCHET are damaged (or mismatched). The RATCHET has to be removed from the EJECTOR ROD to check the threads on/in each. While there are some corrective measures, any real fix will require replacement of one or both parts.

Jim

[Tinbucket]

I'm looking at my Colt Lawman MkIII the cylinder assy is same as the Trooper.
The ejection star is part of a tube that is round except for a bit less than half has a recess the length of the tube.
It matches a press fitted, it seems, piece pressed into the rear of the cylinder. It will only fit in the cylinder one way. It will not turn. The ejection rod goe through hand screws into that tube about half way.
The small round piece of metal establishes the indexing of the star.
I can see that the round piece of metal has small teeth all around it. I don't know how hard it is pressed it but is not designed, I think to be taken our for cleaning. If that piece is missing the star and ejection rod will revolve independent of the cylinder.
The two pins make sure there is zero play with the star down on the cylinder.
The sliding tube which the star is affixed has some tiny bit of play to work withing the pressed in toothed round piece of metal that indexes the tube and star. The two pins make sure there is zero clearance, when you load and when the gun is ready to fire.
It sounds like the little round toothed piece of metal that indexes the tube and star is missing, or somehow got rounded out.

[dieselbeef]

the rod that goes thru the ratchet has the threads stripped. the star..ratchet...is also stripped and it wobbles as well. took it to a local colt smith..buying a cyl might not even work since these are fitted parts. the guy I got it from on trade is gonna get it fixed for me.
very stand up guy..bunker arms is gonna do the repair

[Dfariswheel]

The Colt Mark III and later DA revolver DO NOT have a threaded ejector and rod shaft.
That was a design feature of the older Colt's like the Official Police and earlier models.
In the 1970's Colt changed all ejector assemblies to a one-piece unit that's staked together and can't be disassembled.
All the Mark III and later model Colt's ejectors are manufactured as a one piece unit that cannot be disassembled.
If the ejector is loose on the splined shaft, the part is defective and usually can't be repaired.

Unfortunately, there are no new ejector assemblies available, and used ones will usually not fit correctly since the ejector has to be shortened at the factory when fitting to the frame to set head space and probably won't fit another frame.

A used cylinder assembly will have the same problem with not fitting correctly.

This is a tough problem to get corrected. About the only option is to get a good pistolsmith to attempt to repair the defective ejector assembly.

[dieselbeef]

thanks..it appeared to be staked but I figured it was just to keep from coming loose. ive got it at bunker arms. he builds custom 1911's and seemed like he had a good grip on how to fix it..hopefully