Internal vs. External extractor
- Thread starter KFDiesel
- Start date
Pros & Cons can get into a long debate. Kimber has gone to external, then back to internal. Not sure of their present status. My 1911 is a pre-70 Colt with internal just like JMB designed. My personal view is that internal extractors are just fine. It seems you did not hear about extractor problems in the old days with the GI issue .45's. Even though my internal extractor is one piece, I do take care to removed it for cleaning and keep it lubed. Never had a problem..including never having a problem with an old Remington Rand I put thousand of rounds through. I do have other semi-autos (not 1911) with external extractor and they also work fine.
IMO, properly made & tuned internal extractors work as well (and as long) as any external extractors.
IMO, properly made & tuned internal extractors work as well (and as long) as any external extractors.
Officer's Match
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I very much prefer the look of a 1911 with an internal extractor. Not that I'd refuse a SW1911 if given one.
Yes, but I think this was just with Kimber. Some others may have external extractors that work on 1911 platforms. The photo above is of a S&W with external extractor. I assume the Smith is still made this way?...not sure.
Anyway, in the 1911 world this has been a debate for years. A lot of old timers (like me) just think that the problems with internal extractors on modern 1911's is they just don't meet JMB's specs. When I was in the Army in the 50's I don't remember a .45ACP (I carried one) fail due to extractor problems. The armorer would have a hundred or so .45's that he would issue for range training. I simply never saw an extractor fail on GI issues pistols. Of course I am sure some failed I did not see. I ounce put thousands of rounds through an old beat-up Remington Rand without even a single failure for any reason. Of course the slide had enough clearance you could rattle it back & forth like a baby rattle.
I will say one more time. I think cleaning and lube of one piece 1911 extractors is important. It is so easy to do that I remove and clean my after each range trip.
No, it's apples and oranges. Companies like S&W have alway made autos w/external extractors, so it stands to reason that when they decided to jump on the 1911 bandwagon they would do the same thing. It also gives them a gimmick to make theirs stand out from the 1911's with internals. If you don't have proper tension on an internal, they are easy to adjust. They are also easily replaced by the user. Externals not so much. IMO, internals are much better.
Both work well and are reliable. I have a Kimber TLE II with an internal extractor and a S&W 1911 with and external. Both have worked flawlessly. I will also note that after the 1911 was created, JMB went back to using external extractors in his firearms designs, such as the HP.