As a follow-on to my post on Dec. 27 regarding my 83 safety engaging with the hammer down, and the great help I received: It appears that this happens due to wear. The safety has about 1/2mm slop or play to the left/right, as does the sear. This slop allows the safety to move to the left and the sear to move to the right enough so that the dent or tab on the safety slides around the edge of the sear and the safety engages.
One of the first parts I want to replace is the sear pin. Question: if I remove the sear pin, will the sear/spring/auto safety remain aligned or will I have to go through the dreaded sear reassembly process?
If they do become misaligned, then are the 2 opposing pins (part # 23) aligned such that I can remove the right pin, insert a slave pin (like a toothpick) and push out the sear pin, keeping everything aligned, and then use the new sear pin to push out the toothpick?