LC9s - bad extractor?

I think you may be right. I will try shooting mine as soon as its not 1 degree F winf chill out there!

sjg56k said:

I think you may be right. I will try shooting mine as soon as its not 1 degree F winf chill out there!

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lol -14 tonight in va windchill. Not good for the outdoor shooting sports obviously. I have been curious to see how much or how little the extreme weather affects my pistols. Just a curiosity since I've never shot any of them in those types of wet cold environments.

I'm just trying to decide if I'm curious enough about it to justify freezing myself to find out. :?

Personally, after experiencing "horizontal" stovepipes, I sent mine back to Ruger.

Sloman said:

Personally, after experiencing "horizontal" stovepipes, I sent mine back to Ruger.

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Yeah, it was the nature of these that got me thinking about the extractor. A traditional stovepipe usually indicates that the slide timing is not quite right...the extractor is working and the shell gets flipped up and would have cleared the gun except for the slide coming back too soon or by limp-wristing letting the gun flip back with the extracted shell and "recapture" it.

For every one of them to be with the shell laying flat though it almost has to be a case of the shell "slipping" the extractor...as you can see from my photo in the first post there is so much slack around the shell that it wouldn't take much to let it slip right past the extractor once the shell is mostly out of the chamber.

For what it's worth there were a couple of very extensive threads on other forums about the some Shield pistols having similar malfunctions...and in those cases the extractor was not making firm contact with the case, either.

OldePhart, I for one am glad you posted your findings. I never realized this problem existed and would have overlooked the loose extractor cause. Hats off to you, sir!

Sloman said:

OldePhart, I for one am glad you posted your findings. I never realized this problem existed and would have overlooked the loose extractor cause. Hats off to you, sir!

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Ahhh, shucks! Seriously, I'm kind of annoyed with myself for not thinking of it sooner because I have heard of "slipping extractors" on (usually old, well used) 1911s. I've just never personally experienced a sloppy extractor before. Even the S&W DA/SA 9mm pistol that I couldn't get rid of fast enough back in the late 80's was a darned reliable pistol with tight fit and finish everywhere (I just despised the creep and over travel in the SA pull).

When I first realized that the extractor wasn't even close to gripping the shell I got all happy because I thought it was going to be an easy fix, clean out whatever bit of manufacturing debris that was stuck under the extractor and all would be well. I suppose that false raising of hopes probably made the following crash back to reality even more painful. I hate that I'm going to have to go to carrying something like a G26 that is much bulkier...but you may have noticed my signature line (and, incidentally, that comment about unreliable guns was there from day one, before I ever suspected a problem with this LC9s).

I wouldn't really even have minded if the pistol was simply prone to fouling of the extractor...I just would have added removing and cleaning the extractor to my normal post-session cleaning routine. It's really easy (especially after you've removed it a half-dozen times or so ) and in a defensive pistol I'm cool with it if it's absolutely reliable for fifteen rounds and then wants to start messing up from fouling (though I vastly prefer my Glocks and Para which I can't make fail even after shooting a case of crappy Wolf ammo as fast as I can reload mags). But, it has to be absolutely reliable for that fifteen rounds...

John

I checked my extractor and found that it does not hold the case in place. Falls right out. This is most probably why I get so many jams. There was no grime under it to hold it out of position so in my opinion, this is an engineering problem.

FYI: If you take your extractor out don't let the spring shoot out. Even if you can find it, it's a Rosie O'Donnell to put the thing back together.

My lc9s was new in just December, and as I stated it has a loose extractor as well. Not like its wore out or something. Engineering or quality control issue for sure. I don't see why you would want that extractor to be so loose on purpose. I look forward to hearing what Ruger has to say about this issue from the people that has sent there gun in for repair.

jb1911 said:

...FYI: If you take your extractor out don't let the spring shoot out. Even if you can find it, it's a Rosie O'Donnell to put the thing back together.

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Actually it's not too hard after you've done it a half dozen times. Sounds like you figured it out but just in case anybody else is curious, the key to removing the extractor and spring and plunger is get a small, sharp pin (I used a "T" pin but a safety pin would probably work well, too, a paper clip is too thick and too soft) and a pencil that has never been sharpened.

To get the extractor out, slip the pencil through the ejection port and use the side of the blunt end to lift the extractor, then shove the pin into the hole in the side of the slide, angling into the hole in the plunger to hold the plunger. If you want the spring and plunger out hold your finger over the slot, curled over the open end, and pull out the pin.

To assemble, slip the blunt pencil in from the muzzle end of the slide and use it to push the spring and plunger into their hole, then use T pin to hold as before. Drop extractor in place and then pull out the T pin while holding the extractor down with one finger.

BTW, any time you are messing with the extractor assembly a handy trick is to wrap a piece of cloth over the slide and around the work area, so if the spring and plunger do come shooting out they will hit the cloth and pretty much stop dead. They may drop and roll to the floor, but they won't go into orbit. If I'm going to have the extractor out for a while, but the spring and plunger are still under tension, I shove a piece of cloth through the ejection port before laying the slide aside. If the T-pin gets jossled out of place, the spring and plunger won't go far.

John

Just FYI I just got back from lunch with a friend who has an LC9 - his extractor was fine. It wasn't a bear-hug grip like my Glocks and Para, but it was snug enough that you could turn the slide level and shake it gently with an empty shell and the shell would not fall out. It also has that loaded shell indicator that rides over the top of the rim and probably helps hold things in place as the slide is cycling.

I was curious, so I just checked the extractor on my new, unfired LC9s Pro. It's tight on a case. Took some pressure to even put the round up under it. Couldn't shake it out (was a loaded round, not an empty case).

That's a good sign! Maybe they recognized the problem and fixed it on the Pros?

FWIW I ate lunch with a friend today who has an LC9. He wanted me to check his gun. His extractor was okay...not like the iron grip you see in a Glock or a para, but it would hold an empty with mild shaking of the slide. I noticed that the loaded chamber indicator on the LC9 seemed to help hold the shell where the extractor didn't have to move far to get a grip on it. I'm thinking the LC9 may be okay because of that...but when they dropped the loaded chamber indicator on the LC9s they didn't change the extractor and didn't realize how much it relied on the loaded chamber indicator keeping the shell from "dancing" on the way out of the chamber...it's a theory, anyway.

I am going to talk to the lady at Ruger again after they've had a chance to look at my gun. If she can describe exactly what they've done to fix this issue I MIGHT accept a repair or replacement with newer LC9s...but she's got to be able to convince me they really know what caused the problem and that they did something specific to fix it.

I've already got a Glock 26 on order and I will probably make that my primary carry gun regardless what happens with Ruger, but on days that I have to tuck in I sure would like something more trim like the LC9s!

Any update on what they did to repair yours? My S doesnt grip the case very well. I took it apart and cleaned then dry lubed it and it works smoother but still doesnt really grip the case. Think mine might have to go back as long as they actually fix the issue. The holes on mine look to be aligned right but hard to tell with my poor close vision.

On a related note, trying to get the spring and plunger back in properly is an exercise in frustration.

Send it back.

Gizmo42 said:

Any update on what they did to repair yours? My S doesnt grip the case very well. I took it apart and cleaned then dry lubed it and it works smoother but still doesnt really grip the case. Think mine might have to go back as long as they actually fix the issue. The holes on mine look to be aligned right but hard to tell with my poor close vision.

On a related note, trying to get the spring and plunger back in properly is an exercise in frustration.

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I assume you are addressing me since I started the thread. They didn't fix mine, they took it back and offered my money back, a new "updated" LC9s (and I don't know exactly what that is supposed to mean other than that the woman at Ruger mentioned they'd made some improvement on the gun "based on feedback similar to yours"), or a different model of Ruger. I chose to get a 3" SP-101 revolver and it arrived at my LGS yesterday. DA trigger pull is a bit rough on it but some shims and a little stoning will clean that up so I'm pretty happy with it barring terrible accuracy or something once I get a chance to take it to the range.

If you field strip your LC9s and put an empty case under the extractor (as in my picture) it should be held at least tightly enough that you can move the slide around at different angles without the case falling out. And this should be the case without manually pushing the extractor against the case.

If the extractor doesn't hold at least that well, send it back to Ruger as it is pretty likely that you'll experience horizontal FTEs when shooting under stress (gun at an angle, wrist a little limp, rapid-firing etc.) even though the gun shoots flawlessly slow firing with a good hold.

I really did like the LC9s...in a few years, assuming that they are still in production, I may even try one again if it seems that they've really worked out the issues by then. But, I've had my one experiment with being an "early adopter" of a CCW.

John

I guess I got lucky. My case is nice and tight under the extractor and a vigorous shaking does not move it. Serial number 327 -207Xx.

kbm6893 said:

I guess I got lucky. My case is nice and tight under the extractor and a vigorous shaking does not move it. Serial number 327 -207Xx.

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Excellent! I would recommend adding the "case check" to your cleaning routine just for peace of mind, but I suspect that they had a bad run of slides, maybe. Hopefully those will eventually all get worked out.

Glad to see they are not all like this. Mine is 327-216xx.

Mine is 327-235xx and I'm having this problem big time. The extractor barely grabs the case and I'm getting one or two jams out of every 100 rounds. I just sent a repair request to Ruger about this problem. It's also been back for the magazine dropping problem.

Wow, those pictures made me sick so I had to check my LC9 pistols. I field striped to insert a case as you did in the photo. Both of the LC9 pistols hold the 9mm case rim firmly under extractor tension. The case won't come out even shaking or hitting the slide with my hand. The best way to get the case out is to tilt it out as if it were being ejected. As for your LC9s, looks like they flubbed up when they retooled for the striker system. They came out really fast to compete with the Shield and then they had to come out with the "Pro" model to compete too. Ruger is really developing a bad reputation for shoddy work recently.