Update: 1911 ejection problem. - Actually extraction problem.

[cobra2411]

Was at the range today and had a couple ejection failures that I'm not sure were the guns fault.

I had gone though 150 rounds of .44 mag and was finishing up 150 rounds of .45acp when the jams started showing up, 3 total. Most of the acp rounds were draw, fire one, reholster. Some were double taps. 95% were draw and fire. When it jammed, the spent casing was only extracted 1/4" or so but was still in the chamber. After the second jam I fired a couple rounds just standing without drawing and there were no jams. After the 3rd I ran a clip with some slow, some double tap and a clip rapid fire all standing with no jams.

The jams were only showing up on the draw and fire and by that point I was getting tired. I think I was limp wristing the gun which caused the jams. My aim was also going away and my groupings were widening. I called it a day when an errant double tap hit the carrier... (1st time in 13 years...)

What do you think? Indian or the arrow?

Gun's a mostly stock Colt Commander and I was shooting factory Remington UMC 230gr round ball.

This is also the first time drawing from a holster at the range. Last holster was a small of the back, now I have a serpa hip holster.

[BerksCountyDave]

Have you ever removed and cleaned the extractor? Sounds like that's the culprit, as I learned all about it recently. Please read this thread, clean your extractor if you haven't before, and report back with the results.

Thread here:
http://forum.pafoa.org/pistols-41/39...ract-help.html (My 1911 is consistently failing to extract. HELP!)

[BerksCountyDave]

Originally Posted by cobra2411

After the 3rd I ran a clip with some slow, some double tap and a clip rapid fire all standing with no jams.

Before Emptymag gets here, I'll say this calmly. Your 1911 is fed from a magazine, not a clip. Pet peeve of most of us around here.

[FUNDAMENTALS]

I will have to defer to Berks County Dave. I believe that a "general
cleaning" of the pistol will solve your your failure to extract.

[cobra2411]

Clips, mags... What's the difference...

I've never had the extractor out to clean... It was pretty funk-a-licious in there...

Cleaned and now I guess I have to load a few mags and run them through to make sure it's ok... It should be, based on the "dummy round" test listed in the Wilson's manual...

Well at least now I can blame the gun and I know I'm not a sissy that was limp wristing the gun... Not that I think you could call anyone who ran through 150 rounds of 44 mag in a redhawk a sissy....

Thanks

[synergy]

Originally Posted by cobra2411

Clips, mags... What's the difference...

I've never had the extractor out to clean... It was pretty funk-a-licious in there...

Cleaned and now I guess I have to load a few mags and run them through to make sure it's ok... It should be, based on the "dummy round" test listed in the Wilson's manual...

Well at least now I can blame the gun and I know I'm not a sissy that was limp wristing the gun... Not that I think you could call anyone who ran through 150 rounds of 44 mag in a redhawk a sissy....

Thanks

I don't think that was your problem. The problem you described never included having the extractor slip off the case rim. Your extractor was working fine.

I'm betting on a lack of lube, and probably some limp wristing.

What you had was the slide loose enough energy (for one reason or another) for the slide to not retract far enough to clear the cartridge out of the chamber...so it reinserted it part way then ran out of forward energy and stalled out where you saw it.

The fact that it happened SOMETIMES with the same ammo, but only when you were rushing says "operator error".

BTW....this is a clip


this is a magazine


While we're on the subject of correcting terminology...I might as well run with it. Check this out.
http://m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=19207

Lube the gun up, and shoot w/ a consistent grip....finding a sight picture for every shot...and you shouldn't have much left to worry about.

Good luck.

[cobra2411]

I think BCD nailed it. I read the other post and was having the same problem.

And yes, the extractor was slipping off.

The slide was all the way back, or almost, but the extractor slipped off and the spent round was only 1/4", maybe as far as 3/8" extracted. The extractor hole was really caked up with gunk...

I typically expect a stove pipe with a limp wrist, but figured this may have been another way that it showed up. Now I'm convinced it's the extractor.

99.9% sure it was the extractor....

As far as clip/mag I was being funny. It never really bothered me to say clip vs mag so I never really worried about it and used them interchangeably. Yes I know they're different. It's the same thing with engine / motor. The thing with pistons is the engine and the thing hooked up to it that starts it is a motor. I still refer to the engine as the motor most of the time. It drives some people nuts when I do...

[synergy]

Originally Posted by cobra2411

I think BCD nailed it. I read the other post and was having the same problem.

And yes, the extractor was slipping off.

The slide was all the way back, or almost, but the extractor slipped off and the spent round was only 1/4", maybe as far as 3/8" extracted. The extractor hole was really caked up with gunk...

I typically expect a stove pipe with a limp wrist, but figured this may have been another way that it showed up. Now I'm convinced it's the extractor.

99.9% sure it was the extractor....

As far as clip/mag I was being funny. It never really bothered me to say clip vs mag so I never really worried about it and used them interchangeably. Yes I know they're different. It's the same thing with engine / motor. The thing with pistons is the engine and the thing hooked up to it that starts it is a motor. I still refer to the engine as the motor most of the time. It drives some people nuts when I do...

The information about the extractor slipping off would have been valuable to know at first. If it was slipping off, then yea, it's probably the same thing. None the less...if your grip and rate of fire affected the success rate of extraction, then my advice on the lube and grip thing still applies. It may not be necessary, but it sure won't hurt, either.

[cobra2411]

When it jammed, the spent casing was only extracted 1/4" or so but was still in the chamber.

I was unclear I guess, but BCD got what I was saying thankfully. Also in the post I said rapid fire was fine, it was draw and fire one that had the problem.
Apparently when the extractor starts to go or gets gummed up you get intermittent extraction problems. So the fact that it was only showing up on my draw and fire was likely due to the fact that 95% of the 150 rounds were draw and fire or draw and double tap.

And I do clean and lube the gun every few hundred rounds. I've just never taken the extractor out to clean it because I never knew it was necessary.

[cobra2411]

This is what I was looking at when it jammed. The one round was partially out of the chamber, the slide was back and trying to load another round, but it was stopped by the spent case.


This was done with dummy rounds. DO NOT TRY TO REPEAT THIS WITH LIVE AMMO.