1911 extractor tension: The magazine is probably not the issue and why you should adjust extractor tension on new 1911s
Yesterday I bought a new Colt Competition 1911, the plan is to have some light custom work done. Barrel crown, nicer bushing fit and a disconnector ramp, nothing crazy, just the things I'd like to have.
Normally I check and adjust extractor tension on new 1911s when I clean and oil the gun before shooting for the first time. Yesterday I didn't and it was a good reminder of why I do it.
When a 1911 has an under-tensioned extractor the gun basically goes haywire. You don't just get one kind of jam, you get all of them, in no repeatable pattern. If you don't know the symptoms of an under-tensioned extractor it can be maddening and most shooters immediately blame the magazine.
The first thing the entire internet tells you is the magazine is crap, buy a Wilson Combat magazine and all will be fixed. Because the WC magazine is designed differently than a typical 1911 magazine it may seem to work better, but it still won't fix the core problem.
With an under-tensioned extractor here are the multitude of issues you'll experience:
The gun will feed fine on the first round of a magazine. Even a weak extractor can handle this part of the feed cycle. All seems good, and now comes the frustrating part.
The gun will then fail to extract, and drop the spent case down into the magazine/feed ramp area causing a nasty jam as the magazine attempts to feed a new round. I don't know what this is called, but it's basically an empty round and a live round trying to occupy the same space.
You'll know you have this issue when you strip the magazine and an empty and live round fall out of the magazine well.
The gun will sometimes extract, but fail to hold the round long enough to eject, causing another nasty jam. This is usually a stovepipe jam.
Sometimes the gun will feed, eject, but fail to feed a new round because the extractor tension is so weak the round isn't held against the breech face and tilts downward, right into the ramp. This is a feedramp jam.
When you get any or all of these issues, with no repeatable pattern, you have an extractor issue, not a magazine issue.
You can see why most would blame the magazine, it seems to be the culprit, it's an easy "fix," but it's not the solution.
The 1911 is an extraordinarily simple gun. That's the appeal. It can be easy to isolate the variable causing the problem if you understand how it works.
If you're having similar issues with your 1911 I hope this helps.
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