Issue with 1911

[chris in va]

I have a year old Citadel and every few mags the last round gets jammed and crimps the case mouth like a taco. It doesn't matter the mag, bullet grain or load.

I'd post a pic but not sure what sites all the cool kids are using these days.

 

[mehavey]

Try https://postimages.org/
Does not require registration to give you back a direct link url*.jpg address file for image attachment


.

 

[chris in va]

Sorry, this should have been in the handgun section.

Here's a pic of the crunched case. I figured out how to take the extractor out, it had a fair amount of garbage stuffed in the channel.

 

[mehavey]

Yikes !
I assume the gun is neither locking back, nor is the next round pressuring the empty case up & out to clear the slide riding back as it closes
-- and instead the slide's riding the empty case straight back into the top edge of the barrel shroud ?

What's the condition of the ejector ?
.

 

[RickB]

Always the last round in the mag?
The extractor is losing its grip on the case, and without a live round rising in the mag to assist ejection, the spent case is left in the port.
Place a spent case under the hook, against the brechface, then roll and tip the slide; the case should remain tight against the breechface.
Try the test with a live round; it should dangle from gravity, bullet down, but tipping and rolling the slide should not cause the round to fall off the extractor.
If it fails the test, you need to do some adjusting of the extractor.

 

[Steve in Allentown]

The extractor is losing its grip on the case, and without a live round rising in the mag to assist ejection, the spent case is left in the port.

Yup. No doubt about it.

In my opinion, the tipping and rolling test is a good field expedient method but I want a test that is more definitive.

There is a simple extractor diagnostic test I learned while taking a class with Hilton Yam. I call it the Hilton Yam Ultimate Extractor Test although he doesn't have such a grandiose name for it and he's not the original inventor of it.

Step 1 - fill a magazine with cartridges
Step 2 - insert the magazine into the pistol
Step 3 - load a round into the chamber
Step 4 - remove the magazine from the pistol
Step 5 - fire the loaded round while observing the case as it ejects

Repeat Steps 1 through 5 until all the cartridges in the magazine are expended making sure to remove the magazine each time before firing the round.

If any of the ejected cases drop through the magazine well, this is proof that the extractor needs serious attention. If any of the ejected cases fly off in different directions, the extractor needs less serious attention. Either way the extractor needs attention.

What this test does is eliminate the magazine as a factor influencing ejection. Often times a less than optimally fit extractor will lose control of a fired case and it's the sudden upward movement of the magazine follower lifting the next round into position that pushes the fired case out of the ejection port instead of the ejector.

 

[chris in va]

Thank you, I will absolutely try that next range trip!

 

[mehavey]

`Got a really dumb question:

- Pull the magazine out.
- Load an empty case and let slide go home
- Holding the pistol right-side up, rapidly pull the slide back.

Does the casing eject cleanly out of the top of the slide (however weakly?)

 

[Nathan]

I assume that case is the last round. Is it found like that on the ground or jammed in the pistol?

 

[chris in va]

Ok I tried the empty case thing, it ejects straight to the right.

When it crunches it's perfectly horizontal still in the gun, as if it was trying to load itself back in the mag.

 

[mehavey]

And the ejector is still intact/undamaged ....?

 

[Aguila Blanca]

When it crunches it's perfectly horizontal still in the gun, as if it was trying to load itself back in the mag.

Inspect the rim of the crunched case. Is there scraping that might indicate the extractor hook is slipping off the rim?

 

[RickB]

I have heard of guns that will allow the extracted case to ride over the ejector, so the case is then driven forward, into the barrel hood, by the returning slide.
I can't remember exactly what the issue was, how the case was riding so high on the breechface that it could miss the ejector, as it was 20+ years ago, but if you're using unblemished factory ammo, look on the case heads for an impression left by the ejector nose; is it very near the edge of the rim?