Extractor Issue?

[Mike J]

I hadn't paid too much attention to this until recently because I don't reload. I have been shooting on some church owned property & the Pastor asked me to save my brass for him (his father reloads). So I have been trying to round it up after I shoot. While I haven't had any jams I have a really hard time finding the brass from my SR 1911. It mostly slings the brass over my right shoulder while all the rest of my semi's tend to throw it between 3 & 5 o'clock to my right. Is this something I should contact Ruger about or should I just try to tune the extractor myself. I have looked at some instructions, videos online & think I could manage it.

 

[19ontheslide]

It's your gun, but if it were mine I wouldn't do anything to it at all. Over the right shoulder is a fine place for my empties to go. I don't start screwing around with my extractors (or anything else, for that matter) until the gun stops doing what it's supposed to do.

 

[DGW1949]

"If it aint broke, don't fix it" comes to mind.

DGW

 

[Mike J]

Thanks guys. That makes sense. I should probably quit reading so many threads on other boards about tinkering with 1911's. It is just really hard to find the brass. I guess at least it isn't throwing it in my face.

 

[LaneP]

Yes, take it from someone that has done the tinkering with a SR1911 CMD. My pistol did exactly as you described and I spend days researching the web for all the usual "how to properly tune a 1911 ejector" and ended up getting cases ejected into my forehead.

Days and weeks later, new parts and hours fitting and polishing, my CMD is back to normal. The vast majority of cases eject somewhere in a pattern about 3:30 to 5 o'clock. Occasionally a case will take a funny bounce off the slide and land in front of me, but that doesn't bother me because it's utterly reliable.

 

[HAWKEYE#28]

Sometimes, "Smart Money", my most of the time Good Friend, is correct: IF one is shooting from a relatively fixed position and stance, one of those small plastic reinforced tarps, strategically placed beside and slightly behind you, will be the repository for most of those ejected cases.....Works for me. **carry four small lead ingots for corners if winds prevail............ 8)

 

[Pat-inCO]

Is this something I should contact Ruger about or should I just try to tune the extractor myself.

Before any modifications, how far are they going?

I have a 10mm in 1911 and it was throwing the empties about twenty
feet over my shoulder. Actual problem was a weak recoil spring. New one
fixed the problem completely. If your is no more than five feet, I would
not be concerned. More than five, check the spring first.

 

[Mike J]

Thanks for the info Pat. It is around 5 feet. I don't think it is the recoil spring as this pistol has less than 500 rounds through it. I will remember your posting about that for future reference though. It may be useful to know. I think I will leave it alone.

 

[Pat-inCO]

Thanks for the info Pat. It is around 5 feet.
I don't think it is the recoil spring as this pistol has less than 500 rounds through it.

Mine did the distance thing straight out of the box. :shock:

As I said, no more than five feet doesn't sound like a problem.

 

[Chuck 100 yd]

No problem, Mine does the same. I would leave it alone also.

 

[VA Shooter]

I reload for mine and my brass goes to the left to the right over my head and any where in between very fustrating but runs great other than that I wish there was a quick fix.

 

[Pat-inCO]

I reload for mine and my brass goes to the left to the right over my head and any where in between very fustrating but runs great other than that I wish there was a quick fix.

Make sure your powder charge is consistent. I've seen powder measures
that were very inconsistent and that variance can create what you describe.

 

[dakota1911]

I would fall into the leave it alone area.

 

[Chuck 100 yd]

Changing the recoil spring one step either up or down in strength can change ejection timing and redirect those cases into another area. That mod does not cost much and is very easy to reverse as in put the factory spring back if not satisfied. There are very small changes in the extractor hook bottom bevel that will basically do the same thing. Those mods are outlined it the book `The Colt .45 Automatic by Jerry Kuhnhausen`.

 

[DA_TriggR4Ruger]

My old Springfield GI Stainless would deposit empties directly on my head 99% of the time. The slide disassembled easy and the extractor was easy to tune. Took me three tries to get it to 3:00-5:00 position. Later when the extractor chipped, it was easy to replace. Springfield mailed me a new one. Tuning it was easy too. For me, the 1911 is the easiest gun to work on I have owned and one of the few models I can completely disassemble and reassemble easily. Glocks are simple too and now I'm practicing on Sigs.

 

[modrifle3]

I hadn't paid too much attention to this until recently because I don't reload. I have been shooting on some church owned property & the Pastor asked me to save my brass for him (his father reloads). So I have been trying to round it up after I shoot. While I haven't had any jams I have a really hard time finding the brass from my SR 1911. It mostly slings the brass over my right shoulder while all the rest of my semi's tend to throw it between 3 & 5 o'clock to my right. Is this something I should contact Ruger about or should I just try to tune the extractor myself. I have looked at some instructions, videos online & think I could manage it.

If you want to practice tuning. Pull the stock extractor and don't touch it. Buy a new one to practice on and use the original as a bench mark. Read the tech post by some of the smiths at 1911 forum.com, some of the top custom builders in the country are on there. Extractor tuning isn't hard but if you are not experienced you need to keep your stock one intact.

 

[DA_TriggR4Ruger]

You could say, I have experience tuning 1911s. Seems I was always the fortunate one who got the units that didn't run right out of the box. Instead of being disappointed and vocally complaining, I took it as successfully finding a situation that could teach me something... The 1911 is one of those few guns I can 100% detail strip. Knowing what to look for and exactly which parts need tuning depending on the related issues. I'm thankful to those before me here who have forgotten more than I could ever learn on the subject. Their wisdom and experience has proven invaluable. I have saved hundreds, if not thousands of $$ doing some of the stuff myself as opposed to taking my 1911s over the years to well renouned Gun Smith's. Guess I'm just saying Thanks!

As a side note, for any serious defense shooting classes, I don't use 1911s. They are fun though

 

[pjvrefugee]

I went to a step up on recoil spring weight in both of my 1911's. the full size Kimber went to 18 pounds and the 1911CMD went to 20 pounds. that did not make everything perfect, just better. no loss of reliability with reasonable reloads and factory. for me the simplest answer was the best answer.

 

[Mike J]

I hadn't paid too much attention to this until recently because I don't reload. I have been shooting on some church owned property & the Pastor asked me to save my brass for him (his father reloads). So I have been trying to round it up after I shoot. While I haven't had any jams I have a really hard time finding the brass from my SR 1911. It mostly slings the brass over my right shoulder while all the rest of my semi's tend to throw it between 3 & 5 o'clock to my right. Is this something I should contact Ruger about or should I just try to tune the extractor myself. I have looked at some instructions, videos online & think I could manage it.

If you want to practice tuning. Pull the stock extractor and don't touch it. Buy a new one to practice on and use the original as a bench mark. Read the tech post by some of the smiths at 1911 forum.com, some of the top custom builders in the country are on there. Extractor tuning isn't hard but if you are not experienced you need to keep your stock one intact.

Thanks Modrifle, I will try this but it may be a little while. I am about to try to assemble an AR lower for the first time & I probably wont mess with it until I get that project behind me.

Would there be any manufacturer that would be significantly better quality to buy. I looked on Rugers sight & there wasn't much difference in price between buying an extractor from them & buying a Wilson Combat one from elsewhere. I'm kinda leaning towards buying the Wilson Combat Bulletproof one.

 

[modrifle3]

Wilson and EGW are good. I would look on brownells and midwayusa for the best prices. For practice just get a cheap one.