AFTEC spring replacement

[matt2ace]

I recently started getting FTEs with my Gan's built STI 9 major gun. It started out with 1 out of a 100 rounds causing the slide to jam out of battery. I eliminated the mags as the problem in this case. In all instances, it looks like the extractor tension is low. Last weekend, the problem started occurring multiple times on stages (it always happens at the match, never in practice) fortunately I have my backup gun to finish the match.

I pulled the AFTEC extractor to inspect it. The hook looks new, no wear or damage evident. However, he springs where definitely shorter than new ones. I have replaced the springs and plan to run several hundred rounds through it to see if the problem is evident. The gun had ~8000 rounds through it with the old AFTEC springs.

I tried searching the topic of AFTEC SPRINGS and found nothing on how long they might last.

What are your experiences with AFTEC spring lifetime?

Were your experiences simliar to mine when the springs began to fail?

Edited June 15, 2010 by matt2ace

[G-ManBart]

I'm keeping an exact round count on my newest Open gun and I just put new springs in the AFTEC at 11K and change....it was slinging cases a mile before the swap. My Bedell had more rounds through it than that, and I changed them at the same time. So, I'd say 10-15K is pretty reasonable based on those two guns, but .38SC isn't nearly as picky about extraction as 9x19 will be. R,