JD45 Posted October 15, 2004 Share Posted October 15, 2004 How long should a properly fit and tensioned extractor last (minimum)? Mine was fit by a gunsmith and lost tension with less than 7000rds. fired. I followed Wilsons guide to tensioning and plan to run 200rds. through it Sunday. This old Kimber 45 always has been plagued by a feeding jam once every 3 or 4 matches. The jam always looks like too much tension, but after having 3 failures to feed last week in a 150rd. session, it showed almost no tension. It would be nice to put one in and forget about it for 40,000rds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
froglegs Posted October 15, 2004 Share Posted October 15, 2004 Describe the jam, might help with replies Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wide45 Posted October 15, 2004 Share Posted October 15, 2004 Extractor life is like a box of chocolates; You never know what you're gonna get. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjleabres Posted October 15, 2004 Share Posted October 15, 2004 might also be a mag or ejector issue... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnshapiro Posted October 15, 2004 Share Posted October 15, 2004 I dunno. Got over 15,000 on my Springfield and still running fine. Joel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pcschwenke Posted October 15, 2004 Share Posted October 15, 2004 Properly tuned high quality extractor can last an extremely long time. My pin gun has well in excess of 100,000 rounds. My hybrid in the neighborhood of 50k and still running. I did have the original colt one break around 10k in my goldcup. Make sure to pick up a good one made by SVI or Ed Brown or EGW. Others don't hold up well sometimes. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Bagnato Posted October 15, 2004 Share Posted October 15, 2004 Once they loose tension they are never the same. Throw out the extractor install an Aftec. That will be the last extractor you'll ever own. Provided you have a series 70 setup in your old Kimber.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bountyhunter Posted October 15, 2004 Share Posted October 15, 2004 Extractors that lose tension are a result of being made from the wrong material and/or heat treated wrong. The 1911 extractor was designed to be made from spring steel, most today are not. The one on my Para is CAST (not MIM) steel and not at all "springy". I had to re-tension it twice after installation within the first few hundred rounds. I'm sure that scenario will repeat until I chuck it. That is because steel that is too hard will "take a set" on the bend and lose it's tension. The extractor that came on my STI ran over 10,000 rounds before needing to be re-tensioned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benny hill Posted October 15, 2004 Share Posted October 15, 2004 Make sure the tip of the ext. is not hitting the rear of the barrel. That will take the tension out of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Sweeney Posted October 18, 2004 Share Posted October 18, 2004 "A box 'o chocolates" I love it. In my long career of collecting spent primers (IPSC since 1977, Second Chance since 1984, tons of ammo) I have broken one. I think. I don't really remember if I broke it, it lost tension, or I simply swapped it because of something Chuck Taylor wrote. I'd estimate that I've put something in excess of a million rounds through 1911 pistols in that time. My high-volume gun alone is over the 100K mark. My friend and fellow pin shooter Jeff Chudwin breaks one a year. Or so it seems. He has a jar of the ones he's managed to save through the years. He does not abuse his guns, and the extractors are all quality parts fitted by gunsmiths, ranging from competent to brilliant. Why does he break them? We don't know. If I had to put a number on it, I'd say a good extractor should last ten thousand rounds, plus or minus nine thousand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JD45 Posted October 19, 2004 Author Share Posted October 19, 2004 Thanks to all of you. I really appreciate the tips. So, after re-tensioning the thing, I went and shot 200rds. . No failures, and ejection looked normal. I still have the factory extractor for a back-up. I think that I have learned how to set-up and shape one now, if the things will just hold tension. Thank God it's not an external one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingman Posted October 19, 2004 Share Posted October 19, 2004 Well lets see. My first extractor a ed brown hardcore went about 16,000 with no problems. It started going bad. So I had a Wilson around it lasted a whopping 750 rounds before it lost all tension. Back to an Ed Brown 2k+ with no problem. All through an open super. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duane Thomas Posted October 21, 2004 Share Posted October 21, 2004 My Wilson .45 still has the original extractor and I'm coming hard on the 30,000 round mark. Never even a hint of a problem. <knock wood> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFD Posted October 21, 2004 Share Posted October 21, 2004 I've got a pre-series 70 Colt .38 Super that's on it's 4th barrel (the 1st headspace-on-the-semi rim barrel doesn't count for too many rounds), but still using the original extractor. Got to be over 200K rounds fired through this thing since it was purchased in 1969. Not an Open gun, but it was fed with either factory ammo or 151 PF reloads. I've got a new Ed Brown extractor that's been waiting forever to be used. I've got at least 40,000 rounds on my L-10 Series I Kimber with the original extractor, but switched to a Wilson just to be different (really a spare, but I'm proving it's reliable first). Looking at this thread I'm not sure I should ever put that original extractor back in. I've always been lucky with guns. Even had a Charles Daly .45 that managed around 15,000 trouble free rounds before I sold it. Oops...forgot that the CD was a replacement gun for the first one I bought. That thing wouldn't even fire due to the firing pin actually MISSING the primer. So I'm generally lucky with guns... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Lombardo Posted October 21, 2004 Share Posted October 21, 2004 I think us 1911 dorks obsess way too much about the loss of extractor tension. For a 1911 to be reliable, the extractor should have only enough tension to hold an empty case flat against the breech face to poperly position it for the ejector.. Think about it. If your pistol stops feeding, it isn't your extractor tension. You can prove this by removing your extractor..your pistol will feed perfectly (maybe better!). This is how to identify a pistol with too much extractor tension (universal in my experience) If your pistol quits extracting(rare), I would look at the chamber first to make sure it is smooth and properly sized, and the fitting pad on the extractor. Then the fit of the fpin stop to the extractor. I have seen some pistols where the owner dropped in super-duper extractor of the month and it solved an intermittent feeding problem-turned out that it actually fit the fpin stop properly and eliminated clocking or fore/aft movement that was the cause of the intermittent ftf. If that doesn't work, add more tension. Usually the fitting pad will give you some more bite and that is all that is required. Most extractor breakage is caused by the extractor hitting the barrel or excessive extractor removal. The thin hook can easily be damaged on .38/9 extractors with a screwdriver tip. Lighten up on extractors! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JD45 Posted March 16, 2006 Author Share Posted March 16, 2006 This thread is old, but I wanted to answer my own question. My extractor broke today. It was a clean break in the rear of the hook. This was the same one that I was using in the original post. I had just switched from Titegroup to Bullseye because someone gave me 4lbs. for free. It was either a Nowlin or an Ed Brown(my gunsmith only had those two). Round count was over 16,000. I installed the old factory Kimber extractor until I can get another. On a side note, my new handload sucks! The gun feels weird now. Timing is all different. It also shoots too high, and I have fixed sights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckbradley Posted March 16, 2006 Share Posted March 16, 2006 Till they break or turn into a wet noodle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Powder Finger Posted March 16, 2006 Share Posted March 16, 2006 Buy some from manufacter X shake em around in your hand toss the ones that dont sound tingy toss them or give em to tour competition. Set up a spare for that gun. At any given time any source makes the best extracter for what ever reason (heat treat, draw down whatever?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bountyhunter Posted March 16, 2006 Share Posted March 16, 2006 How long should a properly fit and tensioned extractor last (minimum)? Mine was fit by a gunsmith and lost tension with less than 7000rds. fired. I followed Wilsons guide to tensioning and plan to run 200rds. through it Sunday. This old Kimber 45 always has been plagued by a feeding jam once every 3 or 4 matches. The jam always looks like too much tension, but after having 3 failures to feed last week in a 150rd. session, it showed almost no tension.It would be nice to put one in and forget about it for 40,000rds. It depends on what kind of steel it's made from. They are supposed to be "spring" steel, although not many people agree on what that term means. Point is, a very hard steel will exert the proper tension with a microscopic deflection of distance traveled..... which means when the steel "takes a set", you will lose tension and have to reset it. And if the face wears a bit with time, you will lose tension. If the steel is springier, you get the proper tension force with a longer deflection distance. It's more tolerant to setting and wear without losing as much tension. BTW, I think 7000 rounds is reasonable for needing a reset. I consider checking and adjusting extractor tension to be periodic maintenance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Blind Squirrel Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 Put an AFTEC in it and don't look back. End of "problem" Old Blind Squirrel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harmon Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 Put an AFTEC in it and don't look back. End of "problem"Old Blind Squirrel +1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Front Man Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 The Caspian extractors in my guns have never let me down. I don't know if Caspian makes them or outscources. FM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasonub Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 i had an sv and use it as a spare when i put in my aftec a year and a half ago. no problems with that aftec Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyreb Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 My '92 vintage .45 SA is still on the original factory extractor at around 25000 rounds. My '96 vintage .40 Para is on extractor #3 at roughly the same round count. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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