Need help - SR40 Extractor broke on 2nd Mag

[keico1965]

Hi everyone, I am new to this forum and have an issue that I haven't been able to find in my searches on this site so far.
I bought a new SR40 last weekend and brought it to range today.
I went through 1 mag of 40 SW 165 grain FMJ and on 3rd bullet of 2nd mag, the slide got stuck while extracting the spent cartridge. The spent brass did not get extracted and the next bullet from magazine obviously could not load with old brass still in barrel. This caused the slide to remain open. This happened several times and I broke gun down and lubed up spring. After this happened several times with different ammo, I noticed that the back end 1/4 inch of the extractor ( furthest from trigger ) had snapped/broken off , this is the section that covers the extractor spring. As a result, the extractor spring 'sprang' off as well. I literally bought this gun last weekend from dealer at gunshow and made it through one mag before issue occurred.
I will be contacting Ruger Customer Service tomorrow, but I am looking to see if anyone has heard of this happening before and what might have caused it.Your insight is appreciated.

 

[boomer1]

Hi everyone, I am new to this forum and have an issue that I haven't been able to find in my searches on this site so far.
I bought a new SR40 last weekend and brought it to range today.
I went through 1 mag of 40 SW 165 grain FMJ and on 3rd bullet of 2nd mag, the slide got stuck while extracting the spent cartridge. The spent brass did not get extracted and the next bullet from magazine obviously could not load with old brass still in barrel. This caused the slide to remain open. This happened several times and I broke gun down and lubed up spring. After this happened several times with different ammo, I noticed that the back end 1/4 inch of the extractor ( furthest from trigger ) had snapped/broken off , this is the section that covers the extractor spring. As a result, the extractor spring 'sprang' off as well. I literally bought this gun last weekend from dealer at gunshow and made it through one mag before issue occurred.
I will be contacting Ruger Customer Service tomorrow, but I am looking to see if anyone has heard of this happening before and what might have caused it.Your insight is appreciated.

Hey keico,

Welcome to the forum from the Seattle area.

I haven't heard of this specific issue. Did you purchase the pistol new or used at the gun show? Did you field strip/clean/lube your pistol prior to taking it to the range? Maybe others have heard of this issue?

I have had my SR40 since November, and have put about 500 rounds downrange with no problems whatsoever.

Yes, you are on the right track, contact Ruger CS, they will take care of the issue in good fashion. Please report back about your encounter and outcome with Ruger CS.

boomer 8)

 

[keico1965]

I bought the gun new from a dealer at the gun show. Extractor was in one piece at that point as the snapped off piece leaves a noticeable gap in the right side of the slide

I field stripped the gun and lubed before going to range

I will report back once I hear from Ruger CS.

Thanks

 

[jhearne]

If they can, have Ruger ship you a new Extractor and Spring, removing the old and replacing it isn't difficult or time consuming. You can install the new one in under 5 minutes if you have the tools (hammer, 1/8" pin punch) handy. I have a video on how to do it for the SR9, the SR40 shouldn't differ.

If they can't or won't ship you the parts, return time might not be so great. Regular return time is 2 weeks or less, but we've seen repairs (for simple stuff like this) run up to 5-6 weeks depending on Ruger's volume and capacity for repairs.

Josh

 

[Verndog]

If that were mine and it malfunctioned on the 2nd mag, I would not want just the broken parts replaced. The broken extractor sounds like it happened from a jam, and it should not have jamed to begin with. I'd want Ruger to look over the gun and include the suspect magazine along with all the information posted to see if another issue is the root cause. Longer wait yes, but quite possibly better end result. FWIW this is the first major malfunction I've heard of on the SR40 other then 1 early review with a trigger problem.

 

[agentadam]

It could have been a bad casting. These style extractors aren't very high stress parts. The cartridge rim slides up behind the extractor instead of having to snap around the rim. You are not supposed to single load ammo directly into the barrel with the slide back but that would just chip the tip, not the back half off.

 

[keico1965]

I contacted Ruger CS. They have not heard of this issue before. They are sending packing slip and told me to ship gun to them with 1 mag. 2-3 weeks expected turnaround. If it is manufacture defect, they will cover cost. If it is user error, then they will tell me the cost. I don't see what I could have done to cause this, unless pulling trigger and loading mags is harmful to gun :).
We shall see, I will update when I hear back from them.

 

[Cheesewhiz]

Ruger's extractors are pretty stout, maybe just a bad part.

Was the ammo you used at first, factory or reloads?

 

[keico1965]

The ammo was factory, not reloads. I used Blaze Brass initially and then went to Winchester 40 S&W 165 FMJ