Thanks for the replies. I seriously doubt that I would pull the trigger with the slide assembly off - this is not my first rodeo, by far.
Regardless, the problem I am having is getting the hammer in place without either spinning the sear so that it no longer contacts the trigger bar.
Or worse, having the trigger bar fall off the legs of the disconnector.

I have watched the McCluskey videos as well as referred to their instructions.
At this point have a couple hours into my attempts and there the trigger bar sits out of place.
They must have had some kind of assembly fixtures at the factory, no way that they put up with this in a factory.

Mine quit firing so I took it apart and found that the disconnector had broken into two pieces
I replaced it and now the disconnector just stays in the lowered position and the trigger bar is too low to contact the sear
I assume that there must be a spring that raises the disco, but which spring?

Help

I live in central NC and have owned my R51 since 2017