Troubleshoot Thursday: GI Springfield.

J

John Travis

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This one was mine. Still is, in fact. Good pistol once I got rid of the ILS and replaced the cheap two-piece barrel. It was one of the early ones. Not one of the first "blocky" frames, but early. 2002...I think.

Noticed a little hitch right away. On the first magazine, actually.

Fed, fired, recoiled...and the case didn't eject about half the time. Case sat in the port at an angle, mouth pointed up and forward, and actually blocked the next round in the magazine. A proper jam if there ever was one.

The ones that did eject dribbled out of the port and landed on my foot.

Recoil spring was OEM...around 14 pounds. Since I tossed the ILS before I fired it, the mainspring was my go-to standard 23 pounds, and the EGW firing pin stop had a small radius...estimated 1/16th inch. Ejector was and still is the original GI style.

Clues:

I knew what was wrong immediately because...well...I'd seen it a few times. Marks on the case confirmed it.
It's not a common issue, but not all that uncommon, either.

The fix took around five minutes. I replaced the offending part about a year later just because. It now resides in the spare parts bin.

Noodles in gear! Go!
 
It is a "part" that was filed to fix it, and eventually replaced. That rules out the port in the slide. Not the barrel, nor the recoil spring, nor the firing pin stop, nor the ejector, nor the mainspring... that leaves the extractor. Marks must have been on the case rim. Hook wouldn't let go. Probably because it was too square, or not radiused properly. Or, the hook could have been positioned to far past the breech wall.
 
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I recall Springfields having a bit of an issue with extractor channel positioning, making extractor tuning a little more involved. I was thinking they were usually further outboard than they should be.
 
Well, I guess this one's a stumper...so I'll spill it.

The extractor claw was too long from the tensioning wall to the tip. Maybe too deep would be more descriptive.

The tip of the claw was actually contacting the bottom of the case extractor groove, and when the case hit the ejector and rolled back and up, the backside of the claw would dig into the forward face of the case rim forcing the nose of the extractor into the angle of the case groove...and the case waqs trapped between the extractor and the ejector. Deep marks on the case angle and gouges on the front face of the rim told the tale.

The cure was to simply drag the tip of the extractor claw across a smooth mill file until it measured .035 inch from the wall to the tip, then broke the sharp corners at the top and bottom the claw. Then, I hit the front of the extractor down at the corner of the spine with the file at about 45 degrees to form a little radius to give it a touch more clearance to roll back just for a little added insurance.

Reinstalled it and all was well. Later on, I replaced it with a Wilson Heavy Duty part and tossed the stocker in with the spare parts just in case I ever need one.

Before I cut the claw to length, it measured .041 inch. Tension on the case actually came from the tip of the claw instead of the tensioning wall. I like .034-.036 and try to hold it as close to .035 as I can. You'll occasionally find one at .032, but I consider that an absolute minimum.

It's usually somethin' simple...and it's the little things that getcha.
 
I have been tinkering with an older Lightweight Commander Series 80 that has had extraction/ejection problems. I have adjusted the tension on the extractor and will try it out tomorrow. If I need to get a new extractor, are they the same length for the Commander as they are for a full size Government model?
 
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