1911 Failure To Eject with Wilson 47D

[1911Tuner]

Was it an extractor or ejector issue?

Extractor. I've seen loose and even broken ejectors do just fine. I did run into a Springfield GI Mil-Spec that threw brass everywhere until the ejector was changed out...but it never jammed up the empty cases.

and why only the second to last round with the new Wilson Combat magazines?

I outlined a few possibilities earlier, but that's about all they were. Likely contributors without being the sole cause, while the magazines that didn't duplicate it were just good enough to mask the problem. In the end...Who knows why? I do know that whenever I've seen a failure to eject with the case mouth crunched between the slide and barrel hood...it's always been the extractor.

 

[1911Tuner]

You dont need the old school type that sticks way out over the bullet, but your ejector should reach up just a touch beyond the back of the case when a magazine is inserted.

Well...No, not really. The old GI ejectors sat about .040-.050 inch behind the rear of the case rim, and Colt used the same specs for their commercial Government Models from the time they cranked out the first one. Some of the so-called "Enhanced" models may have extended ejectors, but I haven't seen one. On Commanders, they're pretty much necessary...but not on 5-inch pistols.

The one in the picture looks like it's to spec.

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

Whatever fixed it, let's take yes for an answer.

 

[1911Tuner]

Some of us are satisfied with the problem being fixed, and others want to know why a given tweak or part replacement fixed it. I'm in the second category. I want to know why.

1858 is seeking a greater understanding. Can't fault him for that.

 

[EddieNFL]

This thread is poisonous. Read it Friday evening and Saturday morning I experienced the same failure...in the middle of a match

Going to disassemble and inspect this PM.

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

Since two parts were replaced, it is pretty tough to know which - or either - fixed it. I wonder if the erratic ejection was also solved.

 

[1911Tuner]

It was the extractor. Trust me.

 

[EddieNFL]

It was the extractor. Trust me.

Sure was (in my case). Thinking back, it had been at least six months (over 10K) since I had checked it.

I did find an impact mark on the bottom of the ejector. With the slide off, I could get some of the Power Mags to touch, but not the Wilson's.

 

[1911Tuner]

Yep. That's just one of the drawbacks of an extended ejector.

 

[EddieNFL]

Yep. That's just one of the drawbacks of an extended ejector.

After I tuned the extractor and test fired, I installed a new ejector. I'm going to run Wilson's only for a few thousand rounds and see what it looks like.

I've never broken an extended ejector (or standard, either), but I change them out periodically.

 

[LJ-MosinFreak-Buck]

Hope you get the magazine issue fixed, but lemme tell ya, that 1911 looks like it's been rode hard and put away wet!

 

[cyclopsshooter]

that 1911 looks like it's been rode hard and put away wet

would love to read its story

 

[Patrick Gookin]

It was the extractor.

As I posted earlier, on Friday I took it to the range and fired somewhere around 150 rounds through it without a singe failure. I took and home and cleaned it up. On Saturday morning I had a USPSA match. I got through the first stage perfectly, but I got 4 jams on the second stage alone. These jams were different from the ones I was experiencing earlier. They seemed like failures to extract. Unfortunately, my mind was racing a mile a minute out there and I don't recall exactly what they looked like. I took the gun apart and tried to clean it the best I could before stage 5, where I only had 1 jam.

So, I brought it back home and didn't clean it. I took it to the range today (Sunday) and fired almost 50 rounds until I could recreate the jam. Basically, after the round is fired, the extractor begins to extract the brass, but when the brass impacts the front of the brass from the top round in the magazine, the extractor slips off of the extracting brass. The slide goes all the way back, continues forward, then tries to feed the next round, but it can't because the brass that was failed to extract is still partway in the chamber. I put a picture of it at the bottom of this post.

I installed the old extractor and fired probably about 30 more rounds. I tried loading the magazines with 8 rounds and all fed fine. I tried loading the mags with just 2 rounds and they all fed fine. I finally got 1 failure to eject about half way through with probably 5 rounds left in the magazine. I would've taken a picture, but it was exactly like the FTEs I was having in the beginning of this thread. I cleared the jam and fired probably another 100 - 150 rounds without a problem, again with different number of bullets in the magazines.

Now, like I said earlier, I'm not a gunsmith. I'm just an idiot with a file and I really took a file to this new extractor that I installed. I fit the rear part to the firing pin stop (IMHO, I did that part pretty well), then I also filed down the very tip (the curved part) because it was impacting the side of the case, making the case not sit flush with the breech face. I have a feeling I filed down too much of the curve and only left enough metal to barely have a grip on the case.

 

[1911Tuner]

The nose of the extractor bearing on the angle ahead of the case extractor groove is fairly common, and is a heavy contributor to losing tension and broken extractors. When you did the filing, you should have made the cut more vertical instead of shortening the hook. That's also a common mistake when altering the nose to create the clearance...so don't feel like the Lone Ranger. Consider it as part of the learning curve.

When you order a new one, try the Wilson Heavy-Duty. It's a little better extractor than the Bulletproof, and it's a buck or so cheaper from Brownells. You may or may not need to reduce the forward pad to move it further toward the breechface centerline. You need .010-012 inch of sideways deflection when the rim is under the claw. Too little, and you can get failures to extract. Too much, and you get failures to go to battery. You also may need to shorten the hook a little. .035-.026 inch from the tensioning wall to the tip is about what you want.

This isn't a 1911 quirk. Most aftermarket extractors are made slightly oversized in key areas to allow fitting with the varied slide specs that are common.