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California's Central Coast Amid The Insanity
In the "What Did You Shoot Today" thread, I mentioned that my Randall 1911 (manufactured in '83 and that I've owned since February '95), will experience an occasional chambering problem, with cast truncated cone and semi-wadcutter bullets, but not with a round nose cast bullet. Unfortunately, I don't take a camera to the range to show the malfunction. The best I can describe it is, the round will partially chamber and is pretty much in line with the barrel. In other words, the round is not at a steep angle with the bullet nose jammed against the bottom of the frame (three point jam?). The problem happens with both original Randall magazines (with Wolff replacement springs) and Check-Mate hybrids, so magazines can be eliminated. As part of a recent modification, the full length guide rod was replaced with a conventional guide rod and plug, and the original extractor was replaced with one by EGW. (Special shout out to Thunder Mountain Custom for their excellent parts selection, more than fair prices, and super-duper customer service!).
Last evening, Ian wrote a reply describing the process to check that the extractor is picking up the round as it should, and what needs to be done to it to assure that it does so more efficiently. This morning I replied that I'd follow his instructions, but it wasn't till later that I remembered I'd done it some years ago. Nonetheless, I went through the process again, but in doing so remembered what happened the last time -- the rounds pop free from the magazine and latch behind the extractor quicker that my eyes and brain can process their movement.
Next, I removed the new EGW extractor and compared its hook end to that of the original Randall extractor. (Poor pictures below). I remembered from when I installed it that the EGW hook's angles were all 90-degrees -- not even faceted as Ian posted. However, when looking at the Randall extractor it was readily apparent that its angles had been relieved, either by Randall or the previous owner though I suspect Randall. Rather than fiddle with the EGW extractor to make it right, I retensioned the Randall and reinstalled it. With both extractors a total of two dozen rounds chambered flawlessly.
The gun is strictly a range gun, so reckon I'll live with the occasional hiccup.
EGW on the left, Randall on the right.
Last evening, Ian wrote a reply describing the process to check that the extractor is picking up the round as it should, and what needs to be done to it to assure that it does so more efficiently. This morning I replied that I'd follow his instructions, but it wasn't till later that I remembered I'd done it some years ago. Nonetheless, I went through the process again, but in doing so remembered what happened the last time -- the rounds pop free from the magazine and latch behind the extractor quicker that my eyes and brain can process their movement.
Next, I removed the new EGW extractor and compared its hook end to that of the original Randall extractor. (Poor pictures below). I remembered from when I installed it that the EGW hook's angles were all 90-degrees -- not even faceted as Ian posted. However, when looking at the Randall extractor it was readily apparent that its angles had been relieved, either by Randall or the previous owner though I suspect Randall. Rather than fiddle with the EGW extractor to make it right, I retensioned the Randall and reinstalled it. With both extractors a total of two dozen rounds chambered flawlessly.
The gun is strictly a range gun, so reckon I'll live with the occasional hiccup.
EGW on the left, Randall on the right.