Desert Eagle Conundrum- Stuck, Broken Piston

[Wompous]

Hello Everyone!

I was cleaning my desert eagle the other day when I noticed the gas piston has broken into two pieces. The cylinder is stuck in its “chamber” just underneath the barrel. It is able to rotate freely and move forward and backward by just a little bit but not enough to even break the surface. See image link below

I’ve tried:
- Lubing it up with some gun lubricant and used a fine tooth hook to try and pry it out
- Lubing it up with some BreakFree CLP-4 Cleaner and letting it sit for a while and then trying the removal with the hook
- Creating a seal on one end of the barrel while using an air compressor on the other to try and blow it out but air just flows around it
- Also tried a magnet. It would not budge, might have to purchase a stronger one.
- Got so desperate that I got the smallest drill bit I can find to try and drill a small hole in the piston to hook and pull it with the aforementioned fine tooth hook. However, the bit is not sturdy enough to apply any meaningful pressure and I was only able to create a small divot that did not provide enough leverage

I have no clue what is preventing it from coming out (carbon is my best guess) and I’m desperate for more ideas on how I may go about removing it. If anyone could provide any advice, ideas, or a solution at all I’d very much appreciate it! Thank you in advance!

Image Link: https://imgur.com/a/RAkRWno

[Bawanna]

Standby Mr. BlackCat knows those things inside and out, forward and backwards and he might have a good solution.

[Wompous]

Thank you! I'm looking forward to it, I'm stumped.

[MrBlackCat]

I replied to the message, but didn't see the thread at that time, so I will post this here with slight modification.

I am really not sure what causes that to happen. The pistons aren't terribly hard, so it can be drilled with most any cobalt bit, or maybe even a HSS if it is Titanium Nitride coated. Then you can run a screw into it just a little bit and get a pull on it.
If you live dangerously, I suppose you could fire it once with a magazine in and it will lock open leaving the piston under the barrel. If 38,000 psi won't get it out, nothing will!

And yes, carbon is the most likely reason you can't get it out... it can be very tough, but you don't notice it normally as it is so much lighter than the slide. There is a reason Desert Eagles come with those little gas port cleaning tools. I use mine often... mostly because I shoot a lot of low end 50AE in mine, which is pretty dirty ammo.



Let me know how it goes...


Good luck,
MrBlackCat

[Wompous]

Thank you MrBlackCat! There’s a good chance I had been shooting it with the piston in its current state. It’s been a couple of range trips since I’ve taken the thing apart! I will definitely be trying your suggestion with the cobalt bit. Thank you again for your response! I’ll keep you posted.

[Steamdonkey]

Thank you MrBlackCat! There’s a good chance I had been shooting it with the piston in its current state. It’s been a couple of range trips since I’ve taken the thing apart! I will definitely be trying your suggestion with the cobalt bit. Thank you again for your response! I’ll keep you posted.

I never would have guessed a DE could function normally with a captive piston. I suppose the majority of the impulse that sends the slide rearward happens during the first few mm of piston travel, so maybe it's not that crazy. Did the front of your slide have the piston stem still attached? If not, the piston would have to be protruding out of the barrel at least a little in order to cycle the slide.

Are there better solvents for carbon than CLP? Maybe Hoppes or something similar? If the drill bit approach doesn't work maybe get the world's best carbon solvent (that won't damage your barrel finish) and wiggle/twist the piston with a magnet for a while.

[MrBlackCat]

I still think shooting it once on an empty magazine would be safe enough... if that slide doesn't go back forward, that piston should be right there under the barrel in the frame. You would have to be careful not to drop the slide all the way down while releasing the barrel of course. Then the multi-tool will take care of the carbon in a few seconds.
:)

MrBlackCat

[onebigelf]

I still think shooting it once on an empty magazine would be safe enough... if that slide doesn't go back forward, that piston should be right there under the barrel in the frame. You would have to be careful not to drop the slide all the way down while releasing the barrel of course. Then the multi-tool will take care of the carbon in a few seconds.
:)

MrBlackCat

And it'll be exciting!

John

[Steamdonkey]

Any updates one this? I'm curious to know how this was resolved and what the gas port and piston looked like.