Walther GSP Ejector Problem

This is a Walther GSP in .32 S&W Long. I purchased it new just a few years ago. In that time, I have broken the ejector 3 times now. Two times, I was just shooting the pistol when it either stopped ejecting the casings, or on the most recent occurrence, I saw the broken piece on the bench. The part is not that expensive, but since I cannot replace it myself, sending it in for repair is a major hassle. the third time happened when trying to remove a jammed round, so that one was on me.

I shot 1.4 grains of Bullseye Powder primarily, but used 1.8 grains for the 50 yard targets for a while. I did not own a chronograph at the time, so no idea what velocity the 1.8 gr BE was pushing, but the typical 1.4 BE's were between 600 and 650 fps. I was warned that I was probable shooting too hot of a load. With that in mind, I stopped loading the 1.8 gr BE and just dealt with 50 yds with the 1.4 BE Loads. When the Covid shortages hit and I could not find Bullseye, I switched to Titegroup at 1.5 - 1.6 grains. Have not chronographed it yet with the Titegroup, but probably will after I get the repaired gun back.

Has anyone else experienced a broken ejector? If so, any idea why it broke? For those who haven't, do my loads or velocities sound right? I asked Earl and he is reluctant to suggest a load or a velocity, only saying that the spent shell casing should only eject 1-2 feet. Otherwise, the load is too hot and will break the ejector.

Since I've watched this happen and know how frustrating it is, I was wondering if anyone out there has modified the pin that holds in in place, so it is threaded rather than crush fit?

What brand of brass are you reloading? Are you performing a plunk test?
Look for bulging near the base that might grip the chamber a bit too much.

My GSP-C wasn't fond of Bullseye, but 1.4-1.6gr of WST or Accurate #2 has been working well.
Runs around 675-750 fps.

Is the extractor physically hitting the barrel?

Ejector or extractor?

The broken part is the Ejector. 

Part #18 at the bottom. There is a spur that can't be seen well in the diagram. It catches the casing during the recoil action and causes the spent casing to kick out. It is the bent spur that is sheared off in each case.

I use a mix or G.F.L., Starline, and PPU brass. I have Plunk Tested them all with No issues. No significant issues with bulging.

Remove the upper from the lower, flip the upper upside down so you can see the underside of the bolt & ejector.

Is there any chance of interference? Is there any wear mark where they slide together? Something on the frame causing the ejector to ride high? Foreign object?
 
Brass is softer than the ejector.

There is no wear that I've noticed. More importantly, I have had to send the upper in to Earl's Repair all three times to get the ejector replaced. Earl has never mentioned seeing any unusual wear or tear, but he has mentioned that he believes that my issue is that I am shooting a "Too Hot" load. I was originally shooting 1.4 grains of Bullseye, until I ran out during Covid and had to switch to 1.5 grains of Titegroup when I could not find BE. The BE rounds Chrono'd between 600 - 650 fps. I told Earl that, but he stands by his statement that they are too hot. I specifically told him this time that I feel like there must be another issue. He should get the upper today. I am waiting to hear is he see anything else, but i don't think he expects to find anything.

Gotta wonder if the ejector was heat treated either too soft or too hard?

Operator error during assembly / disassembly? 
The bolt can rotate during assembly while inserting the slide handle.

Fezzik68 wrote:Operator error during assembly / disassembly? 
The bolt can rotate during assembly while inserting the slide handle.

That was worth asking, but no. The GSP with Titegroup does not get that dirty, so I don't need clean my pistol after every outing. So this last time when the Ejector broke, I was on probably my 3rd or 4th box of ammo. Seems to me if it was assembled incorrectly, I would have experienced the issue within the first magazine.

You would see it immediately. I had to ask...

Greetings,

Curious, where does the break occur?

The little "ear" shears off?

Or, does it fail at the hole the mounting rivet is located?

Photos of a broken one would be helpful.

Cheers,

Dave

All Three.

What you have is a low cycle fatigue failure from impact and bending.  You can alleviate it some by putting a radius at the junction from the long leg going to the pin and the part that’s proven off.  About a radius of .080 but remember it doesn’t need to be tangent or deep just gradual and smooth.  Stress doesn’t like turning a sharp corner.

Wobbley wrote:What you have is a low cycle fatigue failure from impact and bending.  You can alleviate it some by putting a radius at the junction from the long leg going to the pin and the part that’s proven off.  About a radius of .080 but remember it doesn’t need to be tangent or deep just gradual and smooth.  Stress doesn’t like turning a sharp corner.

Wobbley,

I don't know what you are sitting in in your picture, but based on your response, I suspect you designed it. I'm not an engineer and most, well no, all of what you wrote went right over my head. 

Send me a picture of the part in the same orientation as depicted in the part diagram.

The Upper is at Earl's Repair, getting fixed. So I don't have the whole part, and he doesn't return the broken piece. Since it get riveted in, I can't get a picture outside of the gun itself.

Copied from Numrich.

I'd carefully polish up the edges a bit before installing it.

Do you see the notch where the “bat wing” meets the shank? That notch is too sharp and needs to be relieved.  You can do this using crocu cloth wrapped around a 5/64 drill shank.  If you can’t get crocus you can use eithe 800 or 1000 grit paper/cloth .  You want as near as a mirror finish as you can get so go slow.  It doesn’t matter if the surface is no longer perfectly tangent to the other surfaces, you want a far more gradual radius there.  And you want a super smooth surface in that area.  If the picture from. Numrich is indicative of the parts, it doesn’t look like ‘Drawing Quality” steel.

Ok, that was a good bit clearer. The upper is still at Earl's Repair, but once he can send it back, I'll see what I can do about smoothing out the Curve and polishing up the surface. I'm not familiar with Crocus, but I have several sheets of 1000 and even 1200 grit emery paper. I am also not familiar with the term 'Drawing Quality" other than what I found on the web, but I will say this looks like plain sheet metal stamped into the proper shape and proper bends. 

I love my Walther GSP, but nothing about the ejector or its design strike me as Quality.

FWIW here is a picture of my 1970's GSP ejector for comparison. Looks essentially the same.
Like Wobbley says "not drawing quality steel" or bad heat treating. 
Hope this helps.

Drawing quality refers to the cleanliness and surface quality of the steel.  The one pictured by Numrich is deficient.  A usual place you can see Drawing Quality steel is Automotive body exterior panels.  Surface defects require folding prior to painting and they just don’t have the time to do that.

My upper was delivered with the new ejector installed. I'm having trouble getting a good angle on the picture, but looking at it directly, it looks to me like there is no curve, but rather a right angle.


I have a 5/64 bit and was able to wrap a piece or 1200 grit paper to it. The 5/64 bit is too small for my Dremel to hold, so I put it in my drill. Using slow speed, I smoothed the top surface (from the perspective of the picture) and the perpendicular surface. I won't say it is "polished", but it is better and I don't feel any roughness when I drag my finger nail over it now. If there is anymore of a curve, I can't tell. Trying to do this with a Cordless Drill and with the piece already attached to the upper is all very cumbersome and I didn't want to cause more harm than good.

Greetings,

When was the recoil spring replaced last?

Perhaps the bolt is recoiling a bit too strong due to a weak spring.

I have owned a GSP-C for 30 years and only replaced the ejector once.

Cheers,

Dave

Earl Sheehan told me that I need to replace the spring about once a year, so the one that was in it was replaced in January and now it has been replaced again last week. I am concerned that I may have been shooting hot loads. I ran ten rounds loaded with 1.6 grains of Titegroup over my ProChrono DLX chronograph and had an average velocity of 725fps, with the fastest being 785fps. I don't think these speeds are accurate. I had some factory 22LR, I ran 10 rounds each of CCI Standard Velocity and Aguila Standard Velocity. 

CCI Standard is supposed to be 1070fps, but when I tested them, the 10 shot average was only 933fps with the fastest being only 952fps. The Aguila Standard Velocity is supposed to be 1130fps, but my 10-shpt average was 1022 with the fastest being 1048. This make me think that my chronograph is inaccurate to the low side.

This weekend, I tested several loads. 

• Targets were set at 50yds.
  
• All were using Titegroup starting with 1.5 Grains and working my way down to 1.2 grains. 
  
• Bullets were Bear Creek 98 grain HBWC straight out of the box.
  
• Brass was all a much used mix of PPU, Starline, and G.F.L.
  
• Shot from a bag on the bench. (I don't have access to a Machine Rest, so all groups were subject to how accurately I was aiming.) 
  

The 1.5 had the tightest shot group and while not all were completely inside the 10-ring, it would have scored 100-3x. Those averaged 705fps with the variation between 680fps and 731fps. Aside from being the tightest group, it was also the lowest variation between High and Low. The rest drop in velocity at a predictable 653fps for 1.4gr, 625fps for 1.3gr, and 565fps for 1.2gr. The shot groups also opened up, but not in a predictable progression. I feel this was due to aiming problems.

With the GSP, what should I be looking for in velocity?