I was reading up on extraction issues and saw the 1911 plunger spring fix, but lacking a spare 1911 plunger spring I came up with a really cheap and easy way to increase tension on the extractor. I went to the local auto parts store and picked up a 3/32" O-ring that was about 1 3/4" in total diameter. I then removed the extractor and cut a piece of the O-ring to the same length as the extractor spring and inserted it inside the extractor spring. The 3/32" diameter O-ring is a perfect fit inside the extractor spring. I began the task of "fitting" the extractor spring O-ring combination to the slide. You need to cut the O-ring to where you can just get the extractor into the slide by pushing in fairly hard on the spring/plunger. My O-ring ended up being about 1/8" shorter than the extractor spring. Once installed in the slide, the O-ring material acts like a polymer spring inside the coil spring. I used a large diameter O-ring, because I didn't want any curve to my short cut off sections. Where before I was getting a FTE every magazine, I went 300 rounds today with no problems, and the brass was landing about 3' to my right consistantly. Any questions you have, post up and I'll try to answer or clarify anything I missed or wasn't clear about.
welcome the club thanks for posting though be interesting here how well the oring stands up to heat,dirt and oil
The O-ring I bought, is the same as the O-ring I have used on my AR-15 extractor upgrade for around 15000 rounds of 5.56, if it can handle the heat, dirt, chemicals that my AR has been through, it should easily handle what a 9mm pistol can dish out. In fact, my idea is a melding of the plunger spring fix and the AR extractor spring upgrade. I've had my AR so hot you could light a cigarette off the barrel. And Breakfree CLP and Carb Cleaner have been liberaly sprayed all over the bolt. I'm guessing it'll be GTG.
Getting the extractor back in was such a PITA that pics will have to wait until I get another 1000 rounds or so down range. Then I'll take it apart and see how things are holding up and snap some pics. Not much to look at..... it looks kind of like a recoil rod/spring combo...... except it's really small and the "rod" is rubber.
EXCELLENT IDEA!!!!! very curious how this holds up long term. in particular: how it holds up to being constantly compressed in use, coupled with cyclic compression. keep us updated, but this sounds promising to me.
My question. Why should you have to fix your Steyr in the first place!!! I never had to do that to any of my Glocks or Hk's. Guns that have reliability issues, I get rid of. And that is what I did with my Steryr M1-A9. To bad, because I loved the overall design of the pistol. Later WPM
I agree with WPM in principle, but one must expect a certain number of lemons to escape the factory AND expect a seemingly disproportionate number of reports of failures on gun forums. Very few people start threads on gun boards to just say "Hey guys - just wanted to let everyone know that my gun is perfect!" However, you can expect almost everyone who has experienced problems to rant and rave about it at every opportunity they get. H&K, Sig, Glock - all have lemons. It's just that people do take the time to rant and rave about H&K perfection and their unstoppable Glocks - it's just part of "the culture" of those 2 brands. On the whole, I'm not sure how I feel about it. It does seem as though our brand is more prone to failure than some of the other major manufactures, but it's hard to say for sure...
Let's put it this way, I have NEVER had a mulfunction with a Glock, SIG or HK. No cases thrown at my head, no failures to eject, etc. I had one case of a round not firing in a SIG and it was a problem with the primer. Same round wouldn't go off in any other gun. But, my Steyr may fail me, even if its very well cleaned. There are things that can be done to reduce the possibility but the knowledge that it may happen erodes one's confidence in the tool. That simple.
I'm gonna try your fix since I just started having extraction issues. I'll shorten the O-ring in the pic, but it looks promising.
I was loaned a Glock of about the same size as my S9 at a class where the instructor insisted that I use the safety on my Steyr. IMHO, the safety on a Steyr is as useless as nipple on a beer bottle, and likely to result in an AD while trying to manipulate it. I find the upward motion to be most awkward and my trigger finger just doesn't have the strength to disengage it in anything like the amount of time req'd. Does IDPA require use of the safety with a Steyr? Anyhow, the vaunted Glock wouldn't go thru 2 magazines without a malfunction, maybe 2 in 1 mag. Maybe it was made after lunch. Never had any kind of malfunction with my S9.
Sounds to me like someone tampered with the Glock..... I cant MAKE my Glocks fail...... or my Steyrs..... or my..... well, plenty of trouble with my Kahr P9.... Recently I have been carrying my HKP7PSP Absolutely flawless and superb accuracy right out of the box!!!
For a selfdefense gun I would tend to be from the school of not using home remedies. However, my M9 has been more reliable than my 4 Glocks.