How do you "tune" the extractor on 1911?

[taco]

What do you do to tune an extractor on a 1911 pistol and how is it done? How does an extractor get un-tuned?

I started having extractor problem with one of my 1911 pistol and was told by several people that I needed to tune the extractor.

 

[Shmackey]

It's just a matter of how much bend it has. There are tools to do this correctly, or you can gently do it by hand. The catch is that it's easy to mess up if you don't know what you're doing (which is why mine's at the shop right now--I'm not going to touch mine).

The achilles heel of the 1911 is the extractor setup. They're great guns and can be made more accurate than just about any other centerfire pistol (after a lot of work), but extraction systems have improved in the last 90 years.

 

[Jack Weigand]

Taco,
I wrote an article for Brownells a while back explaining the procedure. I can't seem to find the URL that will link you to it. If someone has the link it would be great if you would post it.
God Bless
Jack Weigand

 

[Tamara]

Heh...

It'd be nice if manufacturer's fit the things, too.

If I had a dollar for ever $500+ Colt, Kimber or Springfield I've seen with 2 feet of extractor hanging out the a$$ end of the slide, I could retire.

Doesn't affect function, just cosmetic, but it bugs the bejabbers out of me nonetheless.

 

[T.Labren]

How does it get un-tuned? By putting a round in the chamber and letting the slide slam shut.
Always chamber a round(s) with the magazine...The rim slides under the extractor hook, then the slide takes the round into the chamber...

 

[AR-10]

Here you go.

http://www.m1911.org/technic.htm

Click on the third link down.
"Extractor Tuning and Installation Tips"

 

[Bob C]

Go to:

http://www.jackweigand.com/

They offer the tools, and explain the technique.

 

[James K]

A good spring steel extractor will not get out of tune easily, even if the chamber is loaded and the slide dropped a thousand times or so.

Unfortunately, the cast extractors used in so many pistols today have a very low flexibility and get out of tune easily. They also break easily when trying to tune them. But they are cheap, and if they break in a bad situation, the customer does not even complain.

Jim

 

[taco]

Thanks guys. I'm going to give it a try tonight.

I don't know what happened to this extractor because I worked great for past 9 or 10 years and I NEVER slam the slide shut with a round in the chamber.