M92 teardown and action job

[btoran]

Well, I took the plunge and completely stripped my rifle yesterday. It wasn't that bad. Of course, getting it back together is where the fun will be.

Previously, i had trimmed the mag spring and replaced the plastic mag follower with a stainless steel one. This time, i'll give it a steve's gunz action job, but before that, i rounded off the razor blade loading gate edges, gave it a thorough cleaning, and painted the mag carrier head a fluorescent green so it's easier to see when nothing is in the mag tube. Tonight I start the action job. Hopefully, I won't have to ask too much advice along the way or getting it back together.

[GasGuzzler]

I thought the crappy gate and sharp edges were normal. I guess I need to fix that on mine. Have to shove them in with my pinky and hope I don't bleed.

[donhuff]

I'm with btoran on rounding those edges around the loading hole. But I too do the last round with my pinky. And I have lost blood doing so, before smoothing it out.

After you reassemble it a few time it will get a lot easier. I did my 357 about five or six times the other day trying to get it to feed those long 360s. The last time, I think I had it back together in less than 3 minutes.

[btoran]

last night i did all the grinding per steve's video, plus eliminating the razor blade loading gate and other odds and ends. today i started reassembly, which has gone remarkably smoothly. i did take pictures of everything when i removed it and between that and steve's video, it hasn't been bad at all. at this point i have only the hammer, trigger group/ lower tang left. so in a little bit, it should be back together. i did try it and it cycles very smoothly, even prior to adding oil, and case ejection is now a thing of beauty, with cases being ejected a few inches and falling at my feet. looks good so far.

[btoran]

the gun is back together now and it is buttery smoooooooth.

mine was fine from the factory, but even so, these changes made a big difference. ejection is normal (no more space shuttle launches). the action is buttery smooth with no hitches at all (not even the first or last 1/4" of an inch). the razor blade loading gate is now smooth and since one of the mods was tailoring the loading gate spring, the gun is now easier to load too.

i can't wait to go to the range and shoot it. for me, steve's video and ejector spring was worth every penny.

i only had a few issues along the way, which i'll record here for the next person who comes along.

1. i found it very difficult to get the hammer and trigger assembly back into the gun properly. the trick (for me at least) was to never let go of the hammer and always keep pressure on it by pushing it toward the top of the gun. this seemed to get the alignment correct. i also needed to simultaneously hold the trigger toward the REAR of the gun while wiggling the lower tang into place and tapping it with a hammer toward the FRONT of the gun. the result was the tang would jump foward and i'd let go of the trigger or i would pull the trigger and pull the tang out. in the end, i simply duct taped the trigger to keep it in place while i fiddled with the hammer and tang until things aligned. i then used a small nail to get all the holes lined up exactly right before putting the screw in.

2. although a lot of people have mentioned problems with the ejector spring, i didn't have any. i used the new spring from steve's, which is longer (and thinner) than the stock spring. i didn't use the dental floss method. instead, i used a dummy round (snap cap) in the front of the bolt and let the ejector collar pass the hook. i then used a small punch to move the collar back until it was captured by the hook and carefully inserted the whole thing (snap cap and all) into the rifle. it went much easier than i thought it would.

3. like a few others, i was getting some binding on the action until i realized it was coming from the left side cartridge guide screw. i backed it out a little and noticed there was no more binding, so i carefully removed the screw, filed the end down a bit (the end is straight, not threaded), and was able to reinsert and tighten it all the way down without any binding issues.

that's my story and i'm one happy diy gunsmith.

to my wife if you ever read this, the answer to your question is "yes. i will figure out how it all goes back together again".

[donhuff]

Hooray glad it went well for you.



Getting the lower tang in is one of the harder parts of reassembly. If you tang is hard enough that you have to tap it, you can use a small sharp file and remove a little metal on the notches tangs, and grooves the guide it into place. I did this to a couple of mine to make it easier to insert the tang. I would need to grow another arm and hand if I had to hammer it into place. Because like you said, my left hand is holding the hammer up and back, while the right thumb is holding the trigger back and the right middle and index finger are holding the tang. I just barely get it started into the grooves then line up the, main spring rod, into it's hole, you'll have to let go of the hammer to do that. Then grab the hammer again and wiggle the snot out of the trigger and tang but never relax the rearward pressure on the trigger. All the while pushing the tang assy forward and watching the hammer bolt hole for alignment of all three pieces. It really quite simple, after you do it FIFTY TIMES!!!

On #3. Are you sure it was the left "guide screw" causing the hang up? If so, that is unusual. Most of the time the it is #65 in the rossi manual, the lever & breechbolt pin hole plug screw. It's pretty common for these to be a tad to long.


BTW if you look at the drawing in the manual for the correct placement of the right guide screw and guide. You'll see that the book is wrong. They show the screw going into the lever breechbolt pin hole. (the one on the right side where you drive the pin out) Then they show the right carrier screw holding the carrier through the "guide screw hole"!!! And the hole at the bottom of the receiver where the carrier ought to be bolted through, is empty! NO WONDER THESE GUNS GIVE SO MUCH TROUBLE WHEN NEW, THEY PUT THEM TOGETHER WRONG AT THE FACTORY

[btoran]

the screw that needed grinding was the uppermost one on the left side of the receiver. works great now.

i can see how the whole process would become easier if done a few times, although if i have my way, the next time won't be for a long time.

regarding the manual....i feel much better now that i only skimmed it.

[donhuff]

Yes, that "IS" the lever breechbolt pin hole plug screw.

You'r right about the manual. Aint nothing in there worth spending time on. I reference it only to get the terminology correct for parts, so that we are all talking about the same things.

[btoran]

good thing too, 'cause my next guess was going to be the retaining pin for the flux capacitor.

[NavyDoc76-80]

BTW if you look at the drawing in the manual for the correct placement of the right guide screw and guide. You'll see that the book is wrong. They show the screw going into the lever breechbolt pin hole. (the one on the right side where you drive the pin out) Then they show the right carrier screw holding the carrier through the "guide screw hole"!!! And the hole at the bottom of the receiver where the carrier ought to be bolted through, is empty! NO WONDER THESE GUNS GIVE SO MUCH TROUBLE WHEN NEW, THEY PUT THEM TOGETHER WRONG AT THE FACTORY

Thanks Don, I needed a good laugh and you supplied it!