New Extractor needed for Springfield Mil-Spec

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Master Blaster

Master Blaster

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I have a 2 yearold milspec with about 2000 rounds fired out of it. Up until I took it to the range on Friday it was 100% reliable. Friday I experienced numerous failures to extract. So when I got it home I took it apart and it appears that a portion of my extractor hook wore off. It did not shear off but has a 45 degree chunk of the hook that appears to have worn off, resulting in unrelaible extraction with the fired casing being pulled halfway out of the chamber before the extractor slips off and leaves the casing halfway in the chamber. The tension is fine when I tested it holds a case and all.

This morning I called springfield armory. Now get this, they want me to send them the slide so they can fix it under warranty. JUST THE SLIDE. So I asked the CS person there how they would test fire it to check reliability.

She told me that it WAS NOT NECESSARY.

Well I dont think I will be allowing them to replace my extractor:cuss:


Now I need to know what the best replacement will be, other than any part made by springfield. preferable one that needs little fitting as possible.

Thanks
 
Well, think about it - if you order the part, U will have to pay for shipping for the part.

I Fed Ex'd Ground a slide to get hard chromed almost 2 weeks ago - It was less than $8 to ship (ONLY if you send the endtire gun or the frame must you send it next day). They are fixing it under warranty.

Springfield does not test fire their guns, unlike other 1911 manufacturers. So, it is probable that your gun was not test fired the 1st time. I'd let them put the extractor in under warranty, if it was me.
 
I would send them the slide. In my experience they have about a two week turnaround on warranty repairs. Do you have a back-up during that time; can you live without it for 2 weeks?
 
Help

Master Blaster said:
Tuner

Help???????
Click to expand...

They'll install another one just like the other one...and frankly, Springfield's extractors have been lacking recently. As for test-firing being unnecessary...sometimes just setting the tension doesn't usually tell the whole story. Easy to get it to extract. Just crank in the tension. Strong extraction/ejection AND feeding/return to battery is what gets tricky sometimes. Test-firing is the only correct way to prove the extractor's function...no matter what the service rep says.

If you order an aftermarket, it may require fitting/tuning, and it'll cost you out of pocket. It'll likely be a better extractor, and if correctly set up, will go for tens of thousands of rounds before it needs further attention...other than periodic cleaning.

Decisions, decisions...
 
Test fire!!! Of course we don't test fire anything...

Out trained monkeys can get the extractor into the hole, and that's all that is necessary... Of course sometimes they get them in backwards, and after that it much harder to get the firing pin stop back in...

But we do have bigger hammers...

You say you use your gun as a defensive weapon???

Well not to worry, THE GUN has a lifetime warrantee. If it breaks we'll repair it with the same kind of care we used when we built it...

Why are you crying... :cuss: :banghead:
 
Would ya feel better if I was to send ya a Union Switch?
Click to expand...

Well... (sniff, sniff)... that would help a little bit... :evil:

But be sure to pick the one that's mint and unfired, I don't want no range beater... :D
 
Just buy an extractor and stop your frustration. It will be faster and you'll gain some experience out of the whole situation. I've found that the Wilson Bulletproof extractor takes less fitting than an Ed Brown Hardcore. Every Brown extractor I've used was too long and had to be taken down to match the back of the slide. A Wilson shouldn't take much "fitting" but may need a bevel on the front bottom of the hook.

RE: SA's range. Fuff, depending on the model, those "monkeys" may be speaking Portuguese to each other. :cuss:
Springfield does not have a range to test fire their guns. When I sent them back a gun that needed a shorter front sight and I asked them to test it, they told me that when they "need" to test fire a gun they use a public range. In the winter, they have to wait for a weather break.

I do know that Kimber has an indoor range where they can test fire guns. I don't know if they fire every gun, but they have a range to make those targets for the high dollar models.

Baer and Brown do fire every gun they make. I think Les pops 3 rounds through them and picks up the next one. (He once sent me a test target with 3 rounds at 20 yards.) Ed Brown states that he fires a few magazines of two different types of ammo with each gun.
 
They don't need a range to function-test a pistol. Just go outside and point it in the direction of Chicago... :evil:
 
As long as you're handing out Union Switchs, I'd like one. Range beater is fine, or maybe even an old (yes, that old) warhorse.
 
Yes yesterday, I ordered a Wilson bullet proof, and a Cylinder and Slide spring steel, as well as the Weigand tension adjustment tool from Midway.

When they told me that they did not need the gun or feel it was necessary to test fire it to see if it works, I was speechless. Of course they would not just send me the extractor due to liability concerns:rolleyes: , I needed to send them the slide only, and if I had any problems I could send it back again. It would be covered under warranty.

This Gun was bought 2 years ago as a self defense weapon not a range toy, I keep it in the trunk of my van, locked up for emergency use. I fire about 100 rounds through it per month, and up until Friday its performance was flawless. Friday I go to fire it and its a jamomatic, 3 or 4 jams per magazine. Thankfully I didnt find out about its problem at dark 0 thirty when I was counting on it to save my life or that of my loved ones.

Last night I examined the extractor more closely and compared it with my Colt and Kimber guns extractors. I dont think that the hook sheared off or even wore off, because the surfaces are smooth, and still have some bluing on them. What I did find is that the hook is about half as deep as on all my other 1911's. Further, Its mis-shaped at a 45 degree angle from the top to bottom, and it has a ridge of extra material inside the hook towards the bottom (as installed in the gun), so only about half the hook is engaging the case rim. Now I have cleaned it before, and since it was functioning 100%, I didnt examine it closely, big mistake. When I tested feeding and extraction with the guide rod and recoil spring removed, it appeared to be functioning correctly, case sliding up breechface and under hook in feeding. Extraction was weak, and it would not hold a case to the breech face. So I concluded it had lost its tension, I used the slide to bend it slightly and now with tension on it, its extracting fine. So the problem was a loss of tension combined with an undersized misshaped extractor hook. I am replacing it because no doubt it will loose tension again, this time quicker than the last.

BTW I did a search and discovered that folks here had discussed certain letter codes on the extractors being problematic. The A and B coded extractors being the worst, and the c,d,e,f,g being better. Mine is a B.
 
As Tuner is aware, a certain low-life person recently darkened my door and left a S.A. Micro-Combat. Of course it doesn't work - all too often they don't. For some reason I don't fully understand he decided to trust Tuner's advise over that of the factory's. :rolleyes:

Anyway it has a number of issues, which will be corrected.

And I notice that the extractor is marked "B". :cuss: :cuss:
 
Low-Life

Old Fuff said:
As Tuner is aware, a certain low-life person recently darkened my door and left a S.A. Micro-Combat. Of course it doesn't work - all too often they don't. For some reason I don't fully understand he decided to trust Tuner's advise over that of the factory's. :rolleyes:

Anyway it has a number of issues, which will be corrected.

And I notice that the extractor is marked "B". :cuss: :cuss:
Click to expand...

Better be sure your blood pressure meds ain't down to just 3 or 4 pills...:D
 
If you think I have a blood-pressure problem you should have been here when the "low-life person" read you're e-mails and woke up as to what he really had. I'm still hiding under the bed... :eek:
 
Continuing the Saga:

Today I took the gun to the range after using the slide to slightly bend the original extractor and retension it by hand, the other night.

I fired 100 rounds of my handloads, 200gr LSWC, and 4.3 grains of N-310.
I fired 25 rounds of speer lawman .45 hardball.

Gun performed flawlessly, not one bobble or failure.

So Friday I will be recieving my Wilson extractor and hopefully I will be able to replace the springfield extractor with it.
 
Actually 2,000 rounds is a pretty good life span for a springfield extractor. Mine went limp after 900 and like yours, would work when I re-bent it. Now have an Ed Brown in that gun.
 
Extractor Stuff

mec said:
Actually 2,000 rounds is a pretty good life span for a springfield extractor. Mine went limp after 900 and like yours, would work when I re-bent it. Now have an Ed Brown in that gun.
Click to expand...

Yep. It appears that Springfield's cursed extractors have been resurrected after a long absence. They really need to change vendors...
 
mine was from several years ago- a milspec right after they went to the titanium firing pin dealy. It seemed that the next batch- the even more milspecky milspec improved and people were getting good function. Mine was screwed up in several aspects- light strikes, slide bored at an angle, seven pound trigger pull etc.

Alex Hamilton pretty much rebuilt it for me
firingpin.jpg

milspecbweld.jpg

milspecgroup_a.jpg
 
i still have my SA , one of these days when i get over being po'd about the crap extractor that it came with i might , just might , start to use it as a range gun again ... :cuss:
 
I just received an e-mail explaining the letter codes on Springfield's OEM extractors. Thought I would share it here:

A = Awful
B = Bad
C = Crap
D = Dreadful
E = Even Worse
F = Flawed
G = Garbage
H = Horrible
I = Inexcusable
J = Junk
K = Kaput
L = Limp
M = Monkey-made
N = Not good
O = Out-of-spec
P = Pathetic
Q = Questionable
R = Rejected
S = Sucks
T = Terrible
U = Unusable
V = Very bad
W = Worthless
X = X-tra bad
Y = Yuck
Z = Zimbabwe pot-metal

:p
 
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