Do I need to tune my extractor (1911)?

[rock jock]

I cleaned my Kimber Compact Series I and Ultra CDP Series II tonight and followed by cyclling several full mags of live rounds through each. Both guns are officer-sized 1911's. The mags were three eight-round govt and one seven-round officer - all Wilsons. The CDP cycled each mag to slidelock, but the Compact would get a FTE on the sixth round of each govt mag and the fourth round of the officer mag. This was consistent, every time like clockwork.

So, my question is. does this mean I need to tune the extractor on the Compact? If not, what would cause that sort of jam? I assume it has something to do with the spring tension in the mags, but I can't figure out what exactly.

Thanks.

 

[1911Tuner]

FTE

Howdy Rockjock,

I'm assuming that you mean Failure to eject, and I'm also assuming that the
failed round got caught between the slide and the edge of the port at an angle.

It sometimes happens with some ammo in short guns with their extended, logn-nosed ejectors. It's a function of the overall length of the round and the length of the ejector, and sometimes just a few thousandths of an inch
can mean the difference between ejection and the bind.

You can take a little of the length off the ejector, or grind a little more material out of the front of the port...or forget live-round ejection with hardball...which tends to run to the long side of OAL.

 

[asknight]

Ejecting live rounds?

Most of the short barrel 1911's I've used had trouble ejecting live rounds reliably if I pulled the slide even remotely "fast". They would eject the empties quite reliably though. The extractor doesn't have very much bearing on the actual ejection, that's the ejector's function. I suspect that this is at least partially due to the requirement of a much stronger recoil spring on the short 1911 design, resulting in much faster slide cycling, not allowing enough time for a full length live round to eject.

The cyling of magazines of live ammo is a quick way to get a negligent or accidental discharge, IMO. Please try it with snap caps if you must do that to determine reliability to your standards, for your safety.

 

[1911Tuner]

Live!

[/QUOTE=asknight]The extractor doesn't have very much bearing on the actual ejection, that's the ejector's function.

Oh...The extractor can have a marked effect on ejection.

[/QUOTE=asknight]I suspect that this is at least partially due to the requirement of a much stronger recoil spring on the short 1911 design, resulting in much faster slide cycling, not allowing enough time for a full length live round to eject.[/QUOTE]

That's pretty true during live-fire, but it shouldn't make a difference when hand-cycling.



[/QUOTE=asknight]The cyling of magazines of live ammo is a quick way to get a negligent or accidental discharge, IMO. Please try it with snap caps if you must do that to determine reliability to your standards, for your safety.[/QUOTE]

Agree that it should be done carefully with full attention to the task at hand...
but live-round extraction and ejection should be a reliable function of the gun.

 

[rock jock]

The cyling of magazines of live ammo is a quick way to get a negligent or accidental discharge, IMO. Please try it with snap caps if you must do that to determine reliability to your standards, for your safety.

Thanks, but I'm being careful.

 

[PCRCCW]

Your extractor should be between C minor and B flat!
Shoot well.