Author Topic: My springfield armory 90's edition 1911a1 (1990)  (Read 1958 times)

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Offline 1911crazy

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My springfield armory 90's edition 1911a1 (1990)
« on: December 09, 2010, 11:20:39 AM »
Ok here we go after 20+ years of very little use do to stove piping i finally took a close look at it and fix the problem.  The extractor was as straight as arrow.  The slot in the extractor is kind of crudely machined so i need to fix that and file it and smooth it out too.  But it appears to be repaired now.  It should of never been built with that extractor.  That extractor should of been scrapped. Seeing this quality workmanship i won't be buying anymore springfield products.

Today i broke out my Jerry K book on the 1911's and printed out all the extractor information off the net and went to work on it finally.  I was advised to send it back to SA and get it repaired but with all my bad luck with new 1911's (getting 3 bad ones in a row) I figured its my best interest to learn how to repair them on my own.  This way i can fix any new 1911 as i buy them if there bad and my luck continues in that direction.   I'm just going to suck it up, bite the bullet and fix them.  I can't be new 1911 gun shy for ever. I know is should of fixed it much sooner thats my fault.  But i accepted it wasn't an easy fix so i shot other guns most of the time. Little by little i'll learn how to fix and tune them because experience is the best teacher. We have all the info at our finger tips. I don't trust anyone working on my guns nor shipping them. Now this 1911 is still brand new without a box of ammo thru it yet.  Thats about to change.  I'm going to hammer it now.

facts for jamming in the future;

My SA 1911 was stove piping 1rd per mag and sometimes it would hit me in the forehead with an empty shell casing.  It would load ok the problem was getting rid of the fired case.  Thats the extractor or an ejector problem. In my case its my extractor needing tuning.

Offline Mikey

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Re: My springfield armory 90's edition 1911a1 (1990)
« Reply #1 on: December 10, 2010, 01:03:06 AM »
1911:  I remember the armorer's manual on the 1911 and the trouble shooting index it had and problems with extraction or ejection (i.e., empty cases hitting you in the forehead, failures to properly eject, stove piping) usually merited a new extractor, which was a quick switch.  You didn't even have to take the gun apart or the slide off to switch them.  But, in all honesty, the 1911s we were shooting were so well worn that I only saw that problem with new pistols or commercial models. 

Glad you got it fixed.  Now shoot the dang thing, willya.......

Offline 1911crazy

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Re: My springfield armory 90's edition 1911a1 (1990)
« Reply #2 on: December 10, 2010, 07:53:58 AM »
Mikey/guys/gals;  I took the slide of the frame to inspect how deep the extractor is in the slide were the case rim catches.  Some say the gap(opening) is important too. It should be between .062" to .088".  Mine is closer to .062" about a tad larger.  I had another new extractor from my slide kit from my build to compare it to for the bend(arc) it should of had. Comparing them side by side my extractor was swtraight as an arrow.  And the bottom side of the extractor needs to be flared more so its right.  Now when i look at the extractor installed its now leaning towards the center line of the bore rather than being up against the side of the slide.  She's right on the money now.

I don't want to beat this dead horse over and over but how long does an extractor last?  Has anyone wore one out yet?  Which replacement after market extracor is the best one for a drop in extractor?  I'd like to stock up on some 1911 parts. Now i'm going to purchase the 1911 tools and fixturing to work on the 1911's too.  I found plenty of "like hands on" and "looking over the shoulder"  video's were they show us what to do to tune everything and repair the wear too. I'm going to purchase the extractor tools for tuning the extractor,  sear fitting/mating tools and the frame and slide tools. Its time to learn it all.

Offline jimster

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Re: My springfield armory 90's edition 1911a1 (1990)
« Reply #3 on: December 10, 2010, 01:10:48 PM »
Quote
I found plenty of "like hands on" and "looking over the shoulder"  video's were they show us what to do to tune everything and repair the wear too. I'm going to purchase the extractor tools for tuning the extractor,  sear fitting/mating tools and the frame and slide tools. Its time to learn it all.

That would be very rewarding too, kind of a hobbie, plus after your done tweaking things the way you want, you probably won't be thinking about selling it either.
Not sure how long an extractor lasts, I put an Ed Brown hard core in mine around 2004 and it still works, I think it was only 28 bucks back then.

Offline Mikey

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Re: My springfield armory 90's edition 1911a1 (1990)
« Reply #4 on: December 10, 2010, 02:08:24 PM »
Crazy:  Extractors last for a long, long time.  You either have to shoot a lot, and I mean a lot, to eventually wear out or, more likely, break a extractor if you have a brittle one or a soft one that peens out.  But, I've seen and used some old and very worn 1911s that still wore the original parts after 3 wars and that's a long time and a lot of use. Regardless, the fix is easy, and cheap - replace it.  If you want someone's custom part you can spend more money than you need to for a 3 dollar part from a surplus house but often a bit of tuning like you did gets you where you need to be.  A lot of custom parts are just mass produced and even stamped out stuff that are 'finished' the same way you would 'tune' it at home and that's where the high dollar sign for custom parts comes from.  I've spent some goodly amounts of time trying to 'fit' custom parts to find that many require some attention to detail to get them to seat and smooth out.  Mil-spec parts rarely require that attention to detail. 

I would stock up on a number of parts - spring kits from Wolffe, mil-surp barrels, bushings, links and pins, couple of ejectors, extractors, firing pins, magazine releases, hammers and struts, slide stops; a goodly supply of parts like this is sufficient to keep the 1911s running for a long time - fairly inexpensive overall, too.

Offline 1911crazy

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Re: My springfield armory 90's edition 1911a1 (1990)
« Reply #5 on: December 11, 2010, 11:16:56 AM »
I'm going to get one of those little cabinets with the small drawers and fill it up with 1911 parts/springs too. Its awesome to have the parts inhouse when there needed.  After all 2012 is comming too.