45ACP case damage

V

Vet66

New member
I'm trying to figure out why my cases are leaving a dented/divot upon ejecting cases. I replaced the spring to no avail....help!

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20+ years ago I had a Para-Ord P-14 frame kit pistol with a no-name slide that produced ejected cases nearly identical to your example. The slide had a standard original shallow GI ejection port, and the only thing I could come up with is that the empty casing was slamming into the bottom rear of the opening. Changed the slide to one with an enlarged port and could not replicate it. At the time I reloaded .45 ACP and the dent did not seem to affect the amount of times the case(s) could be reloaded vs. a non-dented case.

Just my observation.

Edit: Read the post below and realized I should have stated bottom rather than top of ejection port.
 
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Yes, it's hitting the bottom of the ejection port on the way out. It could occur with about any type of semi-auto pistol, but it's VERY common with Colt Series '70 and prior 1911 type pistols with the ejection ports like the orginal Colts,i.e., not lowered. Most current production 1911 type pistols have a lowered and sometimes flaired ejection ports so this is not usually an issue any more. There is more than one way to address the issue if desired. I used to reload .45ACP a lot, many times with cases dented as in your photo, some worse. Never caused a problem unless the dent was so bad I had to flair the case mouth prior to sizing the case.......ymmvi
 
Relieving the bottom edge of the extractor should improve this.

Removing material at F should allow it to rotate up more coming out of the gun.

extractor_dimensions.jpg
 
I'm trying to figure out why my cases are leaving a dented/divot upon ejecting cases. I replaced the spring to no avail....help!
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What gun?

(Since you don't say, I'll assume you're either a 1911 owner or (slightly less likely) a Glock owner. Everyone else realizes there're other guns out there.)

How long has it does this?

What changed, from when it worked to when it didn't?
 
Make sure they are not being ejected onto a concrete or other hard surface floor. I pick up a lot of them that hit the floor at just the right angle to put a flat spot on the mouth.
Just looking for the easy answer, sometimes it's the obvious that gets overlooked.
Nice photo's!
Gary
 
Lowering the ejection port helps as would altering the angle of the ejector.

Mind you, my primary concern would be the reliability of a 1911 and not how the brass is dented. For a defensive firearm (military and police), reliability is priority #1.
 
Thanks to all for the replies. This is a 1911 that is circa 1950-60 I've never fired it much until recently, never noticed the brass as I was not reloading early on. I will take the advice and, have a 'smith look it over. It does shoot very well, no stops, average 5" group @ 25 yards....not the best sights in the planet and, tired eyes with glasses. RJ, I did check after you mentioned it, not a crack, just a smudge that wiped of with finger. Thanks again all.
 
If this is a fact finding mission, I fully support the endeavor. But I have to say that (at least in my opinion), it would be a crime against humanity to attempt ANYTHING to rectify this "problem."

It is a non-problem. And it is extremely common. And while it may annoy you... if the pistol runs flawlessly, there is no downside here. And if you handload (or intend to eventually) you may be a bit surprised to know that after a trip through the sizing die -- there'll be little to no evidence that it ever happened in the first place.

It really is very, very common in .45 Auto.
 
It really is very, very common in .45 Auto
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This is true,but it can also be easily rectified without filing or grinding anything.
It obviously bothers OP enough to ask about it and that condition is one of the signs he may have a weak extractor, does not hurt to check.
 
Don't sweat it.
As long as the cases clear the gun, all is well.
Modifiying the slide may not always turn out as advertised.
My old clunk does that and thousands of rounds have gone through it.
It has the old style exhaust port.
The cases look just fine after reloading.
 
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