Steel frame pin sizes - LC9S/EC9S

[HanzMcFeely]

Playing around with a couple things on my EC9S. Ruger, in their infinite wisdom on cost cutting, decided to use plastic pins in the frame. In 150 rounds i’ve had pin creep already. So i figured, lets see if i can find steel pins that will fit.

They want me to ship it back to them. Nope...not playing that game.

Frame hole measures 4.76-4.8mm diameter
Pin diameter measures 4.58-4.61mm diameter,
Pin length measures 22.76mm

Now the fun begins: finding steel dowel pins to fit.

Edit to add:

I may have something that works. Unicorp 4140 stainless black oxide coated dowel pins. 3/16”x7/8”L. Part number DP4140-187-875-F15

Sightly oversized vs standard plastic/polymer pins, a bit shorter in length

[HanzMcFeely]

Local hardware store had some steel dowels in stock. 3/16”x1”...bit too long but good/cheap enough for R&D purposes til i can get in touch with Fastenal tomorrow.

These are gonna be tight. 4.74mm converted measurement. Was shooting for 4.7mm +/- 0.02.

I suspect its going to pull the lower housing down tighter into the frame (you can see a ridge inside the holes), and may possibly tighten up the gap between frame and slide. With any luck it wont alter tolerances enough that it fails to cycle properly.

Probably gonna have to hammer them in and out.

Pros to this mod:

No pin creep
No broken pins
Less play in the trigger housing to frame
Theoretically, accuracy should improve

Potential Cons:

Potential frame damage/increased wear from deflection in the pins
Recoil could induce accelerated wear on the aluminium FCG housing holes (out of round condition)
Galvanic corrosion on the FCG housing over time due to steel pins on aluminium.
Cycling issues due to tighter slide to frame fit

[HanzMcFeely]

They fit. Trigger housing holes measure 4.8mm.

Very tight, will require a hammer to drive them in and a punch/hammer to drive them out. The plastic pins i can push out by hand

[HanzMcFeely]

Hit a snag. They will work. Minimum order for non stock pins with Unicorp is 100@$3.50 ea if i want black oxide pins to match the frame/factory coloring

[DucatiRon]

Order from McMaster Carr. Just like Fastenal and Grainger but usually smaller quantities.

[jthrelf]

Will Ruger ship you pins from the LC9s? Are they the same dimension?

[HanzMcFeely]

Will Ruger ship you pins from the LC9s? Are they the same dimension?

Nope “factory install only, send us back the pistol and we’ll fix it”.

Nope. I dont really feel like undoing my trigger job and redoing it once the return it.

Mcmaster carr doesnt carry anything in black oxide, only stainless. Fastenal is supposed to get back to me about these Unicorp pins since they are a distributor. Unicorp says these are non stock items, lead time of 2-3 weeks minimum order of 100. Trying to keep it stock looking, stainless pins on a black frame just look ridiculous

Trying to see if mcarbo or another place would take my overstock for kits if i go this route...

[JenniferG]

https://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-t...t-prod553.aspx

https://www.gunpartscorp.com/categor...in-detent-kits

[HanzMcFeely]

Thanks Jen. Not sure they’ll be in that kit, its a non stock/non standard size.

Drove the stainless steel hilman pins in last week, that was fun (full on hammered in).

I test fired a mag today of some blazer brass and one round of +p 80gr EHP carry ammo. Pistol feels much more solid in my hands. A little stiffer recoil than factory. Way tighter lockup from slide to frame. 1FTE/FTF at the end of the mag, expected that with this mag though. Defensive ammo cycled fine and recoil felt more managable. Accuracy got better, groups tightened up about 2” est. @ 10yd (still a 6” group).

Worthy upgrade for under $2. I’ll have to get the dremel or a file out and flush the ends of the pins to the frame then hit them with some cold blue or ??? Time will tell how the polymer frame holds up

[Steve_NEPhila]

Ruger has a pretty good engineering team and that part may be polymer for a reason. There may be a possibility of damage in the future and most likely it will not be covered by their warranty. Engineering is never as simple as "make it plastic so it is cheaper" for a myriad of reasons.

I would consider the LC9 and EC9 line of pistols inexpensive, lower tier items. If you want something really nice and about the same size, look at the Premium line by Kahr, PM9 and P9 pistols.