in all honesty, I tried for a few minutes with just the handle and failed every time. the goofy ejector kept twisting every which way. it was easy peasy to align with a punch on the other side. I suppose you could align it with the threaded end of a rod just the same - so still no extra tools.
I cold blued one of the hand guard retainers that where left bright. I didn't like the look of it, so I ordered parkerized replacements - both retainers and the butt plate.