1911 guru's help!

crasheralex

crasheralex

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So here's the story. I bought a sam g.I. 9mm. I've got about 150-200 rounds thru it so far. At least once or more a mag it will not extract the casing. I order an extended ejector from brownells but the stock one was larger so I left it installed. I also ordered a new extractor which only made the problem worse. With it every casing stuck. This is my first pistol and I'm at a loss. If anyone could help I would appreciate it. Thanks.
 
crasheralex said:
So here's the story. I bought a sam g.I. 9mm. I've got about 150-200 rounds thru it so far. At least once or more a mag it will not extract the casing. I order an extended ejector from brownells but the stock one was larger so I left it installed. I also ordered a new extractor which only made the problem worse. With it every casing stuck. This is my first pistol and I'm at a loss. If anyone could help I would appreciate it. Thanks.
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Seeing as this is your first handgun I would suggest seeking the services of a gunsmith.

Extractors can be tricky and while it is possible to tune them yourself it is also possible to create an unsafe condition without realizing it. As you have noted the ejector on a 9mm 1911 is quite long. The long ejector combined with an improperly tuned (too tight) extractor can result in accidental detonations while attempting to eject a live round.

By the way, I always change the long 9mm ejector for a shorter .40cal model for this reason.

Another option is replacing the stock extractor with an Aftec extractor. I have found them to be very reliable and easy to set up and require minimal tuning.

Good luck.

John
 
+1 for the Aftec.I had all sorts of ongoing extraction problems with my 9mm Spartan,would adjust the extractor,would work for awhile and then lose tension again.I fitted an Aftec and not a single problem in the past 2K.In fact I have aftecs in my 45s and 38 supers.
 
See if you can hook up with a guy who's been shooting a while (check the IPSC folks, they're generally really helpful) to give you some lessons. Extraction on a 1911 is generally pretty foolproof but not without some maintenance needs. Don't panic and learn as you go - as we all have.

Start by reading some REALLY good articles from a master gun builder:

http://www.brazoscustom.com/magart/magart.htm
 
At what point will it not extract?...
Failing to pull round out of chamber or failing to clear the ejection port. partial extraxtion and no ejection etc...
 
What is exactly the problem? is the case staying in the barrel? is it getting caught by the slide? ???

The different situations tell you what the problem can be. It is definitely not the ejector, but an extended one may help.

It can be the tension of the extractor, the angle of the claw, to the recoil spring or even the angle of the mags
 
Some 9mm 1911 extractors need a ton of tension on them; it depends on the design of the slide.

Since you have two extractors already, and one works better than the other, here's what I'd do:

Take the factory one, which was tight to get in, take a look at the hook. Make sure it looks like this:

PKTW0Gq.jpg


In this case that may not really the issue but it's still a good idea.

Once you're happy with the hook, put the extractor back in about 1/3 of the way, and bend it towards you a little. You want to curve the extractor a little more overall. It's already curved a bit, and you just want to increase that.

You can assess the changes by pulling off the slide, removing the barrel and everything, and putting a loaded round in place under the extractor. If you've bent the extractor a bit, it'll get increasingly difficult to shake the round out.

You don't want it to be welded in place but the round should be held fairly snugly. You should have to rap the slide fairly hard to knock it out.

If you screw it up, just start again with your spare. It's easy and you can probably get it sorted in an afternoon.
 
I would look at the case rim, check extractor marks and the check the extractor itself

I would be leaning toward the extractor ,look at the extractor claw, is it okay, or has the claw chipped or been broken off. If you can tip the gun up and the case drops out easily, and the claw is good, then it sounds like the extractor does not have enough tension to grip the case rim without sliding off on the extraction.

The extractor may be doing what is called "clocking" instead of grabbing the case rim strait on the extractor may be tilted so it is only grabbing the case with one corner of the extractor which can lead to the extractor slipping off the case .

add enough tension to hold a loaded round against the breech face so that it takes a fairly good shake to dislodge it.

The fastest way I know to check for clocking is to examine the fired cases. If the pin strikes are moving around a lot it's clocking. If they stay in the same spot and are reasonably centered you should be OK. The fix here is to install an over sized firing pin stop.

Be sure the ejector is tight in the frame as already mentioned.

Most failures to eject, IMHO, come from weak mag springs and/or bad followers. The spring can't keep enough up pressure on the next round keeping the spent case up and in line with the ejector to get kicked out and to drive it under the claw. So the extractor simply hangs on to the empty, overrides the next round (or tries to double feed) and returns it to battery.

 
You shouldn't have to rely on mag springs to get an 1911 to extract. A properly built 1911 should allow you to remove the mag and fire with 100% extraction/ejection.

Every 1911 I own gets a 16 round test of this principle. It's a Hackathorn standard but has come to be more commonly associated with Hilton Yam because he probably popularized it on the internet.

Anyway, insert the mag, load a round, remove the mag and fire, x2 mags. It should work every time, or something is wrong.
 
Simple test. Disassemble the pistol, take a loaded round and slide it up the face of the breech so it hooks into the ejector, flip the slide over and see if the round falls out, you can even shake it to see if it basically stays in place. If the round falls out the ejector is not tight enough, if it doesn't fall out it's fine. If it needs to be tightened its a quick job for a smith who has the gauges to set it up properly. If it's a new pistol I'll give it some break in time before throwing parts at it.
 
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