How To Disassemble A Six Shooter?

[Oky]

Hi. I just have a simple question: How do you get this:

out of this?

This is the rapid-fire six-stud shooter found in some Superheroes, Star Wars, and action themes sets and I'm trying to switch out the center piece for a MOC I'm working on, but I can't for the life of me figure out how! It seems like all you have to do is push together the two prongs and push the piece out, but that's easier said than done. So if any of you knows an easy way to do it, it would be much appreciated if you could help me out!

[Takanuinuva]

Use a pair of tweezers perhaps?

[Brickbuilder0937]

After playing around I came up with this:

Six shooter separator

[Oky]

Well, after fiddling with various tools, I finally did it. The only thing that worked for me in the end was to use a pair of pliers to grab the ring at the front firmly and pull as hard as I could. I was hoping to find a less violent method, but thankfully the parts didn't get damaged too much.

2 hours ago, Takanuinuva said:

Use a pair of tweezers perhaps?

I've tried that, but there's hardly anything for the tweezers to latch onto.

 

9 minutes ago, Brickbuilder0937 said:

After playing around I came up with this:

Six shooter separator

Clever solution! I shall try this next time, thanks!

It seems that Lego's designers didn't think this one through seeing as you need to either use force or come up with a contraption like this to get the parts apart.

[anothergol]

7 hours ago, Oky said:

It seems that Lego's designers didn't think this one through seeing as you need to either use force or come up with a contraption like this to get the parts apart.

This said, they're 2 parts that pretty much go together & with nothing else, no? Kids will never need to separate them.

[Oky]

6 hours ago, anothergol said:

This said, they're 2 parts that pretty much go together & with nothing else, no? Kids will never need to separate them.

No, I don't think this is true. As they always say, there is no such thing as a one-use Lego part as long as you use your imagination. I can think of many things that these two parts can be used for on their own, ranging from components in a Technic build to decorative elements such as pillars or greebling. And who is to say that kids wouldn't want to create their own color combinations for the six shooter like I did? There is no way a child could do this without the help of an adult.

[anothergol]

Indeed I had missed that the inner part came in 2 colors, I thought it was always grey.

[Ladondorf]

I have a similar issue. I can't get the Trigger out of the Bowcaster Stud Shooter. I want to remove it to make it more film accurate.

[samurai-turtle]

6 hours ago, Ladondorf said:

I have a similar issue. I can't get the Trigger out of the Bowcaster Stud Shooter. I want to remove it to make it more film accurate.

I would say try a "jeweler" (or small) screwdriver. 

[Ladondorf]

Thanks!

[mocbuild101]

What about separating Technic wheel hubs? - it's so hard to get hair out of them!

[gogogovro]

On 9/23/2016 at 1:07 AM, Brickbuilder0937 said:

After playing around I came up with this:

Six shooter separator

This is great. The technic assembly is perfect, however, I found that the 4 x 4 cone is unnecessary. Just a plate on top will do for "cracking the nut". Then you can easily push the pin out the rest of the way.