Stuck pin

[milktree]

I've got a new-to-me Browning Hi-Power with a stuck pin. It's the pin the trigger pivots on. (attached images)

I've got two Hi-Powers, so I know how easily the pin is supposed to come out. This one isn't moving.

I've tried a brass drift with some scary amount of force, that didn't work.

Can I heat the frame up in the toaster to make the metal expand? How hot is "too hot"? What about a heat gun? At what point should I give up, drill the pin out in a milling machine, and replace it? Are there other tricks to get it out?

I'd really like to do a detail strip of this gun, and remove the magazine safety (gritty!) because otherwise it shoots really well.

 

[45collector]

Forget the brass punch. Try a steel punch. Just be careful you don't slip and put a big ol gouge in the finish. Also, does it look as if the end of the pin on the left side of the frame is crimped over a bit? Do you have a proper block to steady the frame on while you hammer away on the pin?

 

[milktree]

Forget the brass punch. Try a steel punch. Just be careful you don't slip and put a big ol gouge in the finish. Also, does it look as if the end of the pin on the left side of the frame is crimped over a bit? Do you have a proper block to steady the frame on while you hammer away on the pin?

My set of punches is ... weak, I'll borrow something more studly. The pin looks like the left side is perhaps flared, and the right side isn't. I've been pushing from the right side.

Another curiosity is that the pin doesn't seem to be seated all the way. There's a groove in the middle of the pin that's supposed to be a "don't fall out" dent for the trigger spring. i.e. the spring keeps the pin in place. But the spring doesn't sit in that groove, the pin isn't in far enough.

On the other Hi-Power the pin sits flush on the left side. On this one it doesn't.

"Proper block" in this case is my workbench, the sides of the frame are flat (enough) that it doesn't move.

 

[atmay]

from some reading on 1911forums, some pins react much better tobeing pressed out, rather than punched out

 

[Greg Derr]

That pin I believe only comes out from right to left. You need really good support under the frame, no grips on the frame, I would use a steel punch a tad larger to get it started and then switch to a smaller size to get it out. Did you flip the trigger return spring off the pin groove first? That can help take pressure off the pin.

 

[milktree]

That pin I believe only comes out from right to left. You need really good support under the frame, no grips on the frame, I would use a steel punch a tad larger to get it started and then switch to a smaller size to get it out. Did you flip the trigger return spring off the pin groove first? That can help take pressure off the pin.

The pin isn't in far enough for the spring to go into the groove, it's like the pin wedged before it seated properly.

Reading elsewhere on the net suggests you're right, and it matches my observations: in left to right, out right to left.

 

[travis]

Measure the pin on both ends one end may be larger around IE as said above one way pin. Get some clp put a couple drops on it let it sit overnight. Get a GOOD solid block to put it on a lead blob ( melt a few pounds of lead and pour into a large can cool and remove wont mark you guns and makes a very stable platform for things like pin removal ). Then get a good set of punches IE stareet you don't want cheap ones then bend or snap and ruin a great gun. Then place the firearm on the block line on the punch and give it a good solid happen blow and you will be surprised. I have seen allot of guns get ruined by cheap punches.