“I had a Jam-O-matic once, but took it apart ... found a bent ejector. Replaced the ejector and no more jams. ... feel like the ejector was some sort of inferior metal,...
...who would try to make a living from spare parts from other guns?...” [FLT-bird, post 31]
“Perhaps you could get a machinist ... with gun experience to make you a new part out of stainless....” [Redcitizen, post 42]
Jack First Inc has been selling gun parts since 1954: factory new, used, aftermarket new-made. They specialize in newly manufactured parts for old, obsolete, out-of-production guns, dating back to the Remington New Model cap-and-ball revolvers (1860s) at least.
They’ve offered replacement cocking handles for Remington’s Nylon 66 for many years: made out of aluminum. Less costly than a one-time custom job by just about any machine shop, as Redcitizen has discovered.
They might even have ejectors for the S&W autoloader one presumes FLT-bird is referring to as the “Jam-o-matic.” Early S&W recoil-operated pistols starting with the 39 have long had a reputation for fussy operation, hence the nickname.
If memory serves, the 39 ejector wasn’t a real beefy part. And posters are quite correct in noting the occasional failure of quality control. Possibly due to improper heat-treating. S&W used steel and aluminum alloy in those, not the low-temp casting alloy commonly called “pot metal” with the trade name of zamak. It’s mostly zinc. But if FLT-bird and chuckles bought theirs used, all bets are off. Anything can happen when it comes to used guns. Literally.
Machine shops are quite capable of fashioning a part of the proper shape & dimensions, but when it comes to tempering and heat treating, they are at a disadvantage. Proper heat treatment is vital to the proper functioning and wear resistance of many gun parts. The staff at Jack First contains some folks with many years of experience in shooting and gun repair; they’ve gone to extensive lengths to develop and apply proper heat-treating.
Now that I think about it, that gunsmith charged me less than 20 bucks and he had the cocking handle replaced fairly quickly and it was made of aluminum so it is entirely possible he got it from Jack First inc.
All this time I assumed he made a replacement for me. Well I probably was wrong.
But thanks for letting me know about Jack First inc. I know a guy who may need parts more frequently than myself.
Thank you for the tip! I was actually talking about one of the first guns I ever bought, a keltec P11 I’ve long since gotten rid of but I’m a collector and I bought a Husqvarna M-40 a while back that is a problem child due to having hot sub machine gun ammo run through it while in Swedish military service. Needless to say, Husqvarna is not making spare parts for it. I’ll give Jack’s a chanc to see if they can fabricate a part or two for me to get the old girl working again.