1911 Extractor VERY Difficult to Remove

Shandley

Shandley

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Greetings,

On my SAM 1911 Commander, disassembling it is all straight forward...except the extractor. It is tighter than tight in there. I don't know why.
1. Remove the plate
2. Remove the firing pin and spring
3. Push the extractor claw away from the breech face and push
4. Push harder?
5. Cummon, this shouldn't be this tight, should it??
6. Throw rail at TV and regret everything.

Now, this thing is next to new. Yes, it's a cheap 1911 but everything on it works like a charm... except the extractor.
I am new to 1911s but every video out there shows the extractor nearly falling out on it's own once the firing pin stop is removed.
Yes, I have cleaned the bejeeeezuz out of the extractor hole once I do get it out but I don't want to hammer the thing back in.

So, any advice? Am I missing a screw (literally and figuratively)?

Thanks in advance!
 
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I'm not overly familiar with the SAM commander, is it an internal or external extractor? If it's Colt[ish] its an internal extractor and aside from the rear plate, only the bow of the extractor against the bore would provide resistance.
Powder residue can build up at an alarming rate inside the extractor bore. How many rounds have you fired in the commander and were they factory or home rolled ammo (read dirtier)?
 
The SAM 1911 commander has an internal extractor. I haven't taken my apart yet, but it should fall out easily once the firing pin is out. I'll have a look at mine tonight and let you know if mine's the same.
 
The Extractor is internal.
The bow does not really cause the resistance. It all seems to be at the rounded end of the extractor and it's fitment in the hole in the rail.
Once I had the extractor out (no easy feat and I would never be able to remove it in the field), I cleaned it very well but it was clean to begin with.
I have fired about 1000 rounds of factory out of it.
 
roadcarver said:
The SAM 1911 commander has an internal extractor. I haven't taken my apart yet, but it should fall out easily once the firing pin is out. I'll have a look at mine tonight and let you know if mine's the same.
Click to expand...

Extractor should never fall out easily, or it isn't tuned correctly, it should require a little persuasion to push it out
 
There is a "little persuasion" and then there is this... and this is like pushing a car down a freeway trying to meet the speed requirements. To put it back in, I have to cover it with a towel and use a hammer.
 
The 1911 internal extractor can be hard to remove
tight = tight tolerance-- if it just falls out it has no tension on it, an you are prob getting fail to extract jams
I have seen where the hook on the extractor catches on the bolt face and stops it from moving more than 1/8 of a inch (catches on bolt face)
a 1/8" wooden dowl / or a chopstick should be enough to push it out about 3/8 of an inch where you can grab it with your fingers

the chopstick can also be used to push a small ball of cleaning rag down the hole to clean it out
 
I wish that's all it took. I'm not trying to shut down what you are offering but the resistance is only on the rounded end where it fits into the rail. I can't pull it out by hand at all... not at all.
 
Sorry, did not mean it should fall out by gravity alone. Usually a small screw driver is what it takes to push it out with minimal force.

madcow said:
Extractor should never fall out easily, or it isn't tuned correctly, it should require a little persuasion to push it out
Click to expand...
 
I have found that a lot of SAM parts are very tight tolerances, I find trying to replace the MSH was a similar task. What I found where anything is super tight, I use a lapping compound (Permatex 80037 Valve Grinding) and use it to loosen up the fit.

The tightness of the extractor should be from the hook end, where its curvature holds it in. The extractor round end slide in easily, If I recollect, you should be able to place it in backwards and the round part should go in easily with minimal resistance to show fit.


Solutions, sand out the hole a slight bit (not recommended), or sand the outer round end of the extractor. Like I said the lapping compound would work too.
 
Shandley said:
I wish that's all it took. I'm not trying to shut down what you are offering but the resistance is only on the rounded end where it fits into the rail. I can't pull it out by hand at all... not at all.
Click to expand...

Take a little emery cloth or sand paper to the rear end of the extractor where it fits the boss of the slide. Go slow, just polish don't remove great amounts of metal. Once you get it to where a tap will seat it, cold blue and oil it and voila you're done.
As Madcow stated, don't polish the slide. If you oversize the bore, you will never be able to get an aftermarket extractor to fit properly...they'll all be undersized to your now oversized slide.
 
I took out my SAM 1911 extractor out for the first time and I needed a flat head and pry it out, then use a hook and really pull... Putting it back in, I needed to push it against the wooden bench to seat.... Its a REAL #####
 
Had the time to take apart and did a thorough cleaning of my SAM commander this evening. The extractor was tight, in my case it just needed a nudging from the flat head. Reinstalling required me to push down on the extractor onto the work bench table top.
 
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