cworks Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 (edited) I recently bought my first Open Pistol and I am having FTE problems. BIG TIME!! The Pistol: 38 SC built by McDowell Customs, STI frame, Caspian Slide, Scheumann hybrid 3 port barrel, 9 pound spring, 5 port comp, and has about 9,000 rounds through it. I am the second owner. The Load: The previous owner ran IMR 7526, 115GR JHP at 8.0GR. So I loaded this as well. I bought this pistol with no mags so I ordered some from Brazos. While I was impatiently waiting on them a buddy let me borrow about 50 of his 38 Super rounds. He was shooting 124 GR bullet with HS-6 powder. I'm not sure how much, but I think I remember him saying it was somewhere around 4 GR. This was the first time I shot the pistol and it ran great. Also while waiting on my mags to get here I went ahead and loaded 100 rounds with the recipe above, per the owners advise. My mags arrived and I went to the range!! I shot those 100 rounds and I think I had 1 FTE. So I went home and made 300 more and my problems started with that batch. At first the majority was stove piping but now it doesn't even try to eject, it just re chambers the spent brass. I have tried tightening my extractor and loosening it as much as possible. I im not using a tool to do this. I have also tried loading my rounds at 8.5 GR but that had little affect. At first I could shoot about 4 rounds and then have a FTE, but now its every single round. The only thing that I have done is mess with the extractor and modify my mags. To eliminate the mags I hand loaded the rounds into the chamber I have a couple of videos I can email if you want Edited September 12, 2011 by cworks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JThompson Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 Sounds like maybe your ejector got broke... see if it is missing a bit of the end or totally gone. If you had mags that let you over insert they can contact the bottom of the ejector and snap it off. Otherwise, try a lighter spring and also make sure that the spring isn't keeping it from going fully back. If you have a shock buff in there take it out. JT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueOvalBruin Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 Have you chronoed the rounds? There aren't a whole lot of powders that make major with a 3-port hybrid barrel and don't have pressure issues. High pressure rounds can cause the brass to stick in the chamber more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cworks Posted September 12, 2011 Author Share Posted September 12, 2011 (edited) Ejector appears to be ok No I have not chronoed my rounds. I guess I need to buy one. I was just going off the previous owners load. Edited September 12, 2011 by cworks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Campbell Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 Thats a nice pic of the ejector. Pull the firing pin stop, remove firing pin, remove extractor from slide and clean the hole with a q tip. Put extractoer back in and put in firing pin stop. Hook on extractor, in the slide should hold a piece of brass without forcing it under hook and should not drop it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cworks Posted September 12, 2011 Author Share Posted September 12, 2011 i cleaned the extractor hole on the range. that didn't help, it was pretty dirty though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lcs Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 i cleaned the extractor hole on the range. that didn't help, it was pretty dirty though If you are bending the extractor I am guessing it's not an AFTEC. Regular extractors are hard to tune for non-smiths. I really recommend you getting an AFTEC. No tuning needed. You just need to have the firing pin stop setup for an AFTEC. There are instructions on how to do it. AFTECs work right out of the box. Are you using a mixture of brass--By that I mean 38S and 38SC ? Some extractors will not run both types of brass. AFTEC has different extractors for 38S and 38SC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wide45 Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 To eliminate the mags I hand loaded the rounds into the chamber Don't do this. Placing rounds in the chamber and forcing the hook to snap over the rim can be bad for the extractor. It is possible that this is the cause of your trouble, and continuing to do it made it worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jid2 Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 use mags for sure. Chrono your rounds. If the extractor is loose it will usually drop the round early and get jammed against the barrel hood. So look for mangeled brass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cworks Posted September 13, 2011 Author Share Posted September 13, 2011 That for the suggestions. I have been in contact with the previous owner and he has a few tricks up his sleeve. Now I just need to go to the range and put them to the test. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JThompson Posted September 15, 2011 Share Posted September 15, 2011 That for the suggestions. I have been in contact with the previous owner and he has a few tricks up his sleeve. Now I just need to go to the range and put them to the test. Well??? Let us know what you did and if it's fixed/ JT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cworks Posted September 16, 2011 Author Share Posted September 16, 2011 (edited) Haven't been able to make it back to the range. But the extractor has been tuned properly. The Previous owner is sending me some ammo that he knows will run in the gun. We are thinking it is my ammo, and since I don't have a Chrono he is sending me some of his. Hopefully that will fix the problem. If not he also sent me a lighter spring to see if that works. If none of these work he wants me to send the pistol back to him so he can have it repaired. Edited September 16, 2011 by cworks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n1guess Posted September 16, 2011 Share Posted September 16, 2011 have you checked your loaded ammo in the chamber of the barrell to make sure it falls in and out... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kriojas Posted September 16, 2011 Share Posted September 16, 2011 Cworks if you are using hs6 with a 115gr bullet you need to be around 9.5 grns. Hs6 is a very dirty powder if not loaded to around 170-175 power factor. If your gun is new and tight that can be affecting the functioning of the gun. FYI I have an Akai open gun brazos comp with 4 popple holes and load 9.8grns of hs6 with 115 mg jhp and the gun runs great and is super flat. Might try that hope it works for ya. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cworks Posted September 16, 2011 Author Share Posted September 16, 2011 have you checked your loaded ammo in the chamber of the barrell to make sure it falls in and out... yes. this is how i gauge them, haven't got a case gauge yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cworks Posted September 16, 2011 Author Share Posted September 16, 2011 Cworks if you are using hs6 with a 115gr bullet you need to be around 9.5 grns. Hs6 is a very dirty powder if not loaded to around 170-175 power factor. If your gun is new and tight that can be affecting the functioning of the gun. FYI I have an Akai open gun brazos comp with 4 popple holes and load 9.8grns of hs6 with 115 mg jhp and the gun runs great and is super flat. Might try that hope it works for ya. Before I start messing with my load im going to see how the original owners ammo works. I have shot HS6 through it at 8.7 gr and it seemed like a little to much. It was pushing the don't down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dshooter3 Posted September 16, 2011 Share Posted September 16, 2011 Chris, the load that you tried was with 125 grain bullet. If you want to chrono your loads, I can bring it in mine. You will just have to work around my slow times at work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cworks Posted September 16, 2011 Author Share Posted September 16, 2011 Ok thanks. Sorry I havnt called been busy at work. I'll be out there today though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cworks Posted September 17, 2011 Author Share Posted September 17, 2011 Just got back from the range with no luck. After having my extractor properly tuned I tried my ammo and it didn't work. Used 3 different loads the previous owner sent me and none of them worked. Took my 9# spring out and put a 7# and that didn't work. One of the loads he sent me was in super brass and it halfway worked. Halfway meaning I shot 3 rounds without getting a FTE. Im guessing it's an extractor issue? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calishootr Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 your ejector looks fine, sounds like the extractor needs to go....like was said earlier, bending 'normal' ones are tricky to get em to work right, and by all means DO NOT drop single or 'hand loaded' rounds in the barrel and let the extractor snap overthem,it wasnt ever designed to do that, feed them via magazine, get an AFTEC of the right caliber(be it 38s or 38 sc) and see how that goes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cworks Posted September 17, 2011 Author Share Posted September 17, 2011 Sending it back to the previous owner and he is going to work it out. He is a good guy and has been very helpful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feederic Posted September 20, 2011 Share Posted September 20, 2011 Sending it back to the previous owner and he is going to work it out. He is a good guy and has been very helpful. I hope everything works out. This sounds very similar to an issue I had with my limited blaster. It turns out my extractor was a touch on the long side, and lost tension as the slide went into battery. The first round or two worked great then after that stove-pipe city. I also made the rookie mistake of handloading and dropping the slide. A caspian extractor fixed it up perfectly ever since. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whoops! Posted September 20, 2011 Share Posted September 20, 2011 I've seen this before, just buy a new extractor and have a competent gunsmith install it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n1guess Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 same thing was happening to me all i had to do was clean out my extractor...sounds like you need more than that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cworks Posted September 21, 2011 Author Share Posted September 21, 2011 i am pretty sure its a bad extractor. i will find out in a few days and i will post the results Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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