This time around I got the barrel fit properly and did a better job with the hood fit. I had made enough progress before the debacle with the barrel that correcting it was all I needed before initial range testing.

I tested in this way.

1. Loaded a magazine with factory 230gr ball ammunition, racked in one round, ejected the magazine, and fired the round. I was hoping the gun didn’t explode! After that I repeated the process looking for proper cycling, no hammer follow, and vigorous ejection. Again and again. It passed this first test.
2. Loaded another magazine with the same ammo, racked in a round, and fired until the magazine was empty and the slide locked back. I was looking for proper cycling, no hammer follow, solid feeding, and vigorous ejection. And it passed this test.
3. With another full magazine, I racked in a round and then attempted to rack it out. This time the round stuck in the ejection port. And that’s dangerous because it’s possible for the ejector to make contact with the primer and set the round off outside the chamber. I should have done this test with dummy rounds, just in case.

So it was back to the shop to see what could have been the problem, guessing it was a too long an ejector. The EGW ejector was oversized in every dimension and I had made no attempt to adjust its length before the range test. That was a mistake.

I asked about ejector length on the forums and compared this ejector to one in my Wilson Combat X-Tac. Sure enough, too long. But nothing some filing couldn’t solve.

After cycling a number of dummy rounds through the pistol, the shortened ejector worked well. And so I got started on improving the fit and blend of the parts I hadn’t quite finished up. The magwell was first because it needed more blending towards the front. And then I tackled the rear of the slide where the ejector was, once again, too long.

I’m pretty happy with how the rear of the slide, the beavertail grip safety, and the magwell fit now. They may not be up to Wilson Combat or Nighthawk standards, but they are pretty good indeed.

If you’ve started partway into this series, you can find the beginning here. Or you can continue with Part 10.