Once again, I'm a newby when it comes to the 1911.

After cleaning and lubricating my new Springfield GI Mil-Spec, I took it to the range this morning. I was shooting Rem UMC 230grFMJ. I fired about 80 rounds with no issues, and then it suddenly started experiencing extraction problems. The spent casing would be only half way out of the chamber and the slide would be stuck back. It was difficult to drop the magazine, and when I did the slide would close on the spent casing, I would then cycle the action and the spent casing would fly out. The problem was intermittent and occured on all three magazines that I used(1 Springfield '7' & 2 Kimber '8')

I inspected the brass and could see the extractor marks on the rim. The brass looked fine from the case head until half way to the neck(about where it stopped on the way out of the chamber); there were lateral lines running the circumference of the casing. What would look like 'stretch marks' on a rifle cartridge w/too much headspace???

Anyway, after a complete breakdown/wipedown in the field, including extractor & firing spring, the problems continued as before in about 2 out of 3 trigger pulls. Mostly the issue described above, but I recall a couple of stove pipes as well.

I brought it home, did a complete breakdown, cleaning, and lubrication. I'm gonna pick up some different ammo and see if that helps. Other than that; doany of yousalty old 1911 pros have any insights on this?

Thanks guys.

So I did what Bravo suggested and I can't detect any rotation in the extractor; but something you said made me think:

I did not initially break down and inspect/clean the extractor and firing pin assembly before I fired it today. When I got it home this afternoon I broke everything down, and when I cleaned the extractor & it's channel it was coated with a gritty soot. I reinspected my brass and noticed the same stuff on the rims of the cases onlywhere the extraction markes were. I cleaned everything off and left a light lubein the extractorchannell. I wonder if this 'soot' could have caused this issue?

Either way I'll try some new ammo and let you know; if the problem persists it's going straight back to Springfield for some warranty work.

What Bravo said........

I've noticed Springfield tends to have tight chambers compaired to Colt......80rds is plenty to get it good and dirty and have it get tight enough to have an extraction issue - Send it back to Springfied and they'll probably polish it out for you.

Also the ammo can play a factor on a tight chamber........I load Cast 230Gr bullets and my Colt will shoot it all day long with no issues........My Springfield won't shoot a mag full without a jam due to the tight chamber.....The Culprit : Some of my loads are not perfectly concentric when the bullet is seated and even the slighted buldge on the case is enough to stop it......The Fix : I removed the decap pin from my carbide die and ran some ammo back thru the sizer, This straightend the case walls and all the ammo ran fine in the Springfield( I know, I know there's a 100 reasons why this isn't safe - But it worked !!!)

My .02 cents is send it back to Springfield and check your ammo for a slight buldge on the case where the base of the bullet seats.

Thanks again for everyones help, here is an update:

Another trip to the range and another disappointing day with my new pistol. Same malfunction as before except it started f#$king up within 20 rounds. This gun was very clean, and well lubricated. The bore and chamber were clean enough to eat off of.

I have already spoken w/Springfield and dropped the pistol off at their shipping center about two hours ago.

I hope they have a quick turnaround, better yet I hope they can fix it.

Be honest guys; did I make a mistake by getting a Springfield 1911? Are they know for being pigs, or can be confident I'll have a RELIABLE pistol that won't jam when I need it?

Exactly what RG said I think........I ran across a guy at the range yesterday with a whole collection of 1911's and he was tweaking on them.....At first he agreed with me initially about going 80 rds before the chamber gets dirty/tight and Springfields just being tighter than Colts.

Then he turned his/my attention to extractor issues and how temperamental they can be on any stock 1911 type pistol.....Clocking, Crap getting into the extractor channel and restricting that slight bending movement(If you get my drift ???)......'AND' if the Extractor doesn't have the right 'Bend' or 'Angle' to it that allows it to latch onto the Case Rim and pull it out.

He says chances are Springfied is just going to bend or put more angle onto your extractor(Or replace it)....So that it makes more contact with the case rim.....According to him they are just going to remove extractor, tweak it a little bit at a time(Towards Rim), Reinstall and test fire for reliability, then return it to you - Pretty simple fix really that anyone can do given the Knowledge.

GBM : It's a common problem in 1911's and doesn't reflect on the quality of your pistol.....They put them together, Fire a few rounds thru them, and put 'Em in the box - If it had hung up on them at the factory they would have probably tweaked it.

RG : We are already reaping the benefits of your course.....And I've learned something on this thread.

After more research I'm confident that the Springfieldis a good buy; I find much more praising comments than damning ones from folks who own one. Those problems that do pop up all seem to be related to the extractor, as many of you have said. And I've found just as many comments from Kimber owners or [insert brand name here] owners having to replace or 'tune' their extractors right out of the box.

The proof is in the pudding, so I'll let you all know what the factory says, and how it actually shoots when I get it back.

Question: Since I'm a sixteen year glock shooter with no 1911 experience to draw upon, I need to know something about the 1911...If I'm using good quality american ammo, and firing a serviceable good quality(nothing too fancy) 1911; about how many rounds can you reliably fire before cleaning/maintenance issues would normally cause malfunctions in your pistols?

Good Question........I've never went beyond more than 100 rds per Range trip, And Average about 50 rds, Then it's home for cleaning and back in the safe......Just can't afford to shoot a 1911 all day(LOL)

I'm really thinking someone like TAC has fired one enough in a single sitting to know.......But the question is kinda relative to a lot of factors......I've heard of competition shooters that rarely clean them because once they break them down for a needed detail cleaning - Everything changes in their eyes as to how the pistol shoots and feels to them.

I think your a tad over concerned about your new 1911........Hoping Springfield will tune your Extractor and maybe polish your chamber(If needed) and kill 2 birds with one stone......Then pick yourself up some decent 230 GR FMJ Ball and break her in......Once your outta ammo and it's dirty - Clean it.

GABM,

As to your question regarding expected reliability vs. number of rounds fired, I can only tell you from my experience that it depends greatly on the gun. I have a Springfield that I had custom built almost 20 years ago and literally have roughly 10,000 rounds through (my former IPSC gun). It is well broken in and still shoots great whether it is the first magazine through the gun after cleaning or the 50th. It seems (with my guns at least) that lubed is more important than clean. All of mine will shoot dirty, but few of them will shoot dry with any reliability.

I have a Stainless Sig GSR that was one of the first hand built guns to leave Sig when they first started the line and when I got it it was so tight that it took several range trips and several cleaning/lubes to get it to shoot a box of ammo without a hic-up. Now that it's broken in, it hasn't failed on me, but because it is as tight as it is, I have a tendancy to clean it more often than some of my other 1911's.

My Kimbers have all been pretty reliable, even when dirty. I have a Brolin Arms 'Pro-comp' (built in compensator on the end of the muzzle that is profiled and cut to match the same profile as a standard 5 in 1911) that I have put over 800 rounds though in one weekend and never cleaned it/broke it down. I just lubed it with the slide locked to the rear and it kept shooting.

I have a Wilson .22 coversion kit that will fit on most of my 1911's (I really only use it on the Brolin Arms and the Springfield) and it is probably the most sensitive to dirt, but I attribute that to the fact that it is straight recoil operated and .22 ammo is so dirty/fouling that it builds up dirt/gunk much faster than any of them when they are shooting .45 ACP.

My advise to all 1911 shooters as far as reliability goes is not to skimp in the area of magazines and maintenance (spring replacement). I will only carry Wilson Combat magazines for defensive carry. I use factory or Chip McCormic mags for range/training, but when my ass is on the line with a 1911 I will only use WC mags. I have never had a malfunction that was mag related when using the WC mags. Any knowledgale pistol shooter will tell you that a vast majority of malfunctions can be traced back to bad magazines (Spring fatigue, feed lips bent/broken, dirty followers, etc.) I also replace my recoil springs roughly every3 thousand rounds. I usually use Wolff springs that are set at the factory weight or are 'tuned' to the perticular gun/load I shoot through it. (my competition guns get lighter springs as I shoot lighter loads through them.)

At any rate, once you get your gun back, I am sure they will have addressed the ejection problem. At that point, get a couple of good magazines and put about 200 rounds through it to break it in before you get to excited about cleaning it (just make sure the slide rails, barrel lugs and barrel bushing have a light coat of oil).

-Tac