bumr i got a bad one

We almost need to make the 1911 spring mod a sticky here on the website. The spring is the safety/stop plunger spring. On a 1911 the slide stop and the safety use the same spring to put pressure on the slide stop plunger and the safety plunger. It's a really nifty piece of engineering in and of itself - minimum parts count etc.

You order it from Brownells or Midway USA, it's a standard part. When you get it, cut about 3/16" off the length. When you remove the extractor, keep the plunger spring and insert the 1911 spring inside it - now that it's shortened it will fit nicely. The challenge will be replacing the extractor now that you've increased the spring rate of the plunger.

Using the Big Taco tutorial or the video posted by Talyn here on the site, a clean kitchen gallon ziploc bag, a narrow bladed screwdriver, and a lot of patience, push the plunger down in its bore using the screwdriver, insert the back end of the extractor above the screwdriver, and snap it in. Do this with your hands in the ziploc bag to keep recalcitrant springs from making a clean break for it. I didn't and periodically the cats find one and have a ball with it, till it disappears again. I think there is some kind of fourth dimension into which springs teleport...

Hiya Rico* an' protector*

While doin' the plunger fix, take the time to do a thorough cleanin' of the slide and the ejector channel with bore cleaner an' q-tips, then lube everything really nicely with a CLP product such as Break-Free an' wipe it back off leaving just a light coating. And, use the q-tips abundantly for cleaning and getting the ejector channel lightly lubed. I do this with every Steyr pistol I get before I actually take it to the range for the 1st time. You may be surprised at how much gunk is left in there from the factory. <shrug>

The first time ya do this its a lit'l frustrating, but you'll get progressively more adept at keeping the lit'l springs from "teleporting", as ETH* describes it. The big clear plastic bag may just save your collective as*ses! :thumbsup:

The next mod's for you guys is the striker rod smooth-over and the BT delrin cups for your striker ass'y. The trigger action will smooth out once the burrs and the striker plunger weight are dealt with and the striker spring binding is better dealt with. And, while your in there, ya might as well do the thorough cleaning an' lubin' w/ the q-tips gig.

The tutorials are in the Downloads tab, at the top of the Homepage.

Hope this helps.

G'luck an' welcome ta the Club, Bro's.

Wulf <-- hittin' the sack :yawn:

I had a little different experience with my S9-A1. New it was eat up with FTE issues. I put 500 rounds through it and that issue subsided but the ejection was still weak. I put the newer extractor in WITH the 1911 spring and on ejection the spent shells would barely clear the slide when they came out. It was not what I expected. I'm thinking what I may have done was not shorting the spring enough. It was gripping the hulls so tight that it didn't want to turn them loose when the ejector hit them. Anyway, I took the extractor back out and tried shooting it with just the new extractor and plunger in it. Ejection was better and I have not had a FTE is a long time. As compared to my Glock, the chamber is snug on my S9-A1. I think it just needed some breaking in. As far as ammo, I think my Steyr would eject better with heaver(124gr,147gr) ammo but it just isn't to be found now. It's hard enough to find 115WWB or Federal as it is. I also think hotter ammo than what is commonly found in the WWB would function better in my Steyr but have not found any so that's just a guess. Any of you guys run stouter loads in your Steyrs with good success?