>> It just really depends what you're going to use your gun for I suppose if you'd want to spend the little bit extra on the Aftec. If you're shooting matches and have money, guns, and other prizes you can win, may as well invest the extra few dollars. 1 jam can be the difference between 1st and 2nd, and no free gun. <<
Uncle Sam used the 1911 pistol, with John Browning's extractor, in a couple of big high-stake games called World Wars. I've lost count of how many smaller such "games" might have been fitted in too. Through it all, the pistol had a remarkable reputation for reliability, and it was seldom in the shop for repairs or adjustments.
As Tuner pointed out on many occasions, his range beaters go through thousands of rounds yearly, are seldom adjusted, and are very reliable without having to resort to "gadget fixes."
I have shot a number of older USGI pistols going back to before the First World War, that were used enough so that their original barrels had been replaced, and the replacements were worn out too. Yet they were totally reliable, and even decently accurate. I put about 8 to 10 thousand rounds of surplus hardball through one of them before I (regrettably) traded it off, and it didn’t miss a bobble. Oh, and other then clean it, I never touched the extractor – that judging from finish wear was original to the gun. During those long-gone days I didn’t adjust extractors, and didn’t know anyone that did. Callow youth that I was, I didn’t even know that they needed adjusting.
As a breed, gun-gamers have one thing in common regardless of what the game may be. They have to try out all of the latest fads and gadgets. I know, I’ve been there and done that. Looking backwards I can see that a lot of my money was wasted. The main purpose of gadgets is to put bucks into the maker’s pocket.
So long as the extractor is correctly made, and made from the right material (which is seldom these days) and fitted as it should be in the first place, there is seldom any trouble. This used to be the way it was, today it’s the exception to the rule. That’s part of the reason we see so many after-market parts and gadgets being offered.
I don’t play any of the games anymore. My present interest in reliability has more too do with taking care of No. One, and not prizes, free guns, (I don’t know if they are all that “free,” considering the cost of winning one) or trophies. I am fortunate that the pistols I depend on are for the most part, older ones – that were made right in the first place. I feel sorry for today’s buyers that have to choose between affordable junk or selling the farm to buy a decent pistol. It doesn’t have to be that way, and it shouldn’t.
If the gamers want to play with expensive gadgets I have no objection. That after all is part of the game, or at least seems to be. But long-term reliability isn’t dependent on this $70.00 part, and you won’t find one in any of my pistols. Others of course can make their own choice.
:banghead:
:banghead:
