Pics of FTE...totally jammed...send back to factory???

[1911Tuner]

Infernal External

ya know...You'd think that with so many successful designs that use an external extractor, it would be a cakewalk to get a 1911 to run with one...
I've known of P-35s that went for decades of use without problems.
It ain't exactly rocket science....

 

[Kruzr]

If the extractor design were bad, how did it function "flawlessly" for 6000 rounds? Somethin' went south.

I'm still curious, did anyone pull the plug and look at the spring and plunger?

 

[mete]

Yes Tuner , lots of externals out there that work !! Another point I'd like to make -extractor groove dimensions can vary greatly ! From maker to maker and lot to lot ! Then there's the small chance that you get a case where they forgot to cut the extractor groove !!!

 

[Pointman1776]

Kruzr - yep, pulled plug

Howdy Kruzr!

Actually, the FTE's started with the occasional stovepipes at about 3000 rounds, and my first crunch was at just over 4000, and been crunching with increasing regularity ever since with the current MTBFR at about 48 rnds (every 6 mags or so, and I do mark my mags and it's not one particular mag). So it does indeed sound like something getting more and more out of joint, as it were, as time goes on.

Yep, pulled the plug a couple of weeks before the crunch happened during routine every-1000-round-mark cleaning, and inspected the channel, but since I don't know my arse from my elbow about gunsmithing, I couldn't tell you if anything was out of spec. Shoulda took pix. Was fairly clean, tho, not all gunked up. And u are right, putting it back together took a lot of headscratching and playing twister with my fingers until I get it all back in. No left over parts and the hammer fell on the snap cap when I press the trigger, so I think I get it mostly right at least. Just hope Dennis at Kimber doesn't take a look at it, figure it was botched by some amateur 'smith-wannabe, and voids my warranty.

I have nearly 15,000 rounds through my P226ST and no problems, so I'm not opposed to external extractors as a philosophy, but I'm feeling a little "gunshy" about Kimbers at the moment. Hopefully that will pass as I'd hate to judge the whole lot by one tiny part of one apple out of the hundreds of thousands that Kimber's made in the last decade or so, regardless of the fact that this is among their elite offerings pushing close to $1500 by the time I got it OTD in PRK.

Cheers!

 

[Pointman1776]

btw, Kruzr, I've been debating on whether or not to post the OTHER two reasons why I sent the Team Match II back to Kimber Warranty Svc, but just so you know the full story (sorry, mate, if this bursts bubbles):

Reason #2: rear sight screw sheared off and hit me in the face when it crunched. Not sure if sight screw issue caused the crunch, or if something, like extra gunk in the channel, caused both (excessive upward pressure from beneath the rear sight?), but, again, per previous post, seemed fairly clean and gunk-free to me (but, believe me, I'm no expert). Perhaps it's more likely that the violence of multiple crunches really put a lot of stress on that sight screw or the sight screw was faulty to begin with, who knows. It's just disappointing.

Reason #3: difficulty in feeding, even 230gr ball, doesn't jam or get caught on the barrel hood, but the slide momentarily hesitates when the breech face strips a round from the magazine resulting in a "bump-bump" sound and feel: first when stripping the round (maybe when the bullet hits the feed ramp?) and second when securing the round into the chamber when the slide returns to battery.

Maybe this helps explain things, and maybe not, don't rightly know. But it does help explain why I'm a little gunshy on Kimbers at the moment. No question as to the tolerances, accuracy, etc., but reliability-wise, I wouldn't trust this over my P220 or P226 for HomeD/SelfD.

Cheers!

 

[Pointman1776]

3/21 Update: I should get it back today! That's pretty good service, under a week at Kimber's shop + travel time.

Dennis at Kimber said:
1. Replaced extractor, not sure as to exact problem, but probably cut wrong. Extractor spring/plug channel looked fine.
2. Replaced rear sight
3. Test fired, with the old mags, 100+ rounds, zero FTE's.

So we'll see, here's to hoping with fingers crossed!

 

[JackOfAllTradesMasterAtNone]

Pointman1776,

You mean to tell us you haven't been to the range in two weeks? I read this whole thread today, (And, "Thank you very much", to all of you that contributed information. I learned a lot!) And I'm waiting like a kid outside the peep show wondering if Kimber treated you right and the gun functions properly.

-Steve

 

[LiquidTension]

I'm sure Dennis does good work, but he sure screwed mine up when I sent it in. Be sure to inspect the work he did before firing if you haven't already.