we are coming along. Cleaning up and re-blueing visible screw heads, pins, etc. Took some time to get the chamber ring re-aligned, but it's perfect. A bit of anti-sieze grease around the outside, and a flat tip screwdriver makes it easy to align once it's in its spot. I'm sure there is/was a tool for this to rotate it when it's in place. I'll put that tool on my to-do list to make when I quit my day-job and hang out my shingle.

When re-assembling the carrier, two things happened. First, the slide lock release plunger was missing. Very annoying. I searched everywhere for hours thinking I lost it, and no dice. Now I'm very careful, especially with something as complicated as a '97. I have a tray with compartments to keep all the assemblies separate. I doubt I lost it. After reading I find that some competition shooters remove the whole slide lock assembly from the carrier to improve timing when cycling. So my guess is it was missing. I ordered a plunger, pretty cheap, all is well. I'm not crazy...but I only realized I'm not after troubleshooting the second matter while typing this. Read on.

I find there is an extra pin in the bin for the carrier parts. It's pretty grimy with rust, no bluing on it, and the ends look like they were clipped with wire cutters and filed to "mostly" square. It certainly came out of the gun...from the carrier, and is same diameter, and roughly the same length as main spring retaining pin (front of the carrier).
I wonder if it was...well wouldn't ya know I just figured it out. it's .005 wider than the slide lock plunger, but still fits snugly in the hole for it with the push of a finger, and happens to be the same length as the long side of the plunger. Question answered...the pin was a bubba fix for a missing slide lock plunger. All is well with the world once again. Back to work.
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