Sunday, April 10, 2005

Aftec Extractor




I broke my extractor.

For two weeks I thought my repetitive jams during IPSC matches was caused by magazines ...t he new ISMI springs I had installed in all of my magazines, the Dawson Plus-Two I had installed on one magazine, or perhaps because of the natural tendency of magazines to open up at the magazine lips due to natural wear of using the same magazines for a year or more.

When I finally wised up, I took a close look at my extractor under a strong magnifying glass. I found a chip on the face of the extractor hook ... not a corner of the hook broken, as has been my experience with EVERY pistol (including S&W) I've ever used for IPSC competition for more than a year. (Figure 12,000 round per year, at a minimum.)

Because I shoot IPSC matches every weekend during 'the season' I wasn't willing to accept any decrease in reliability, so I contacted Chuck Bradley at Shooter's Connection to get a replacement.

(Extractors are a 'consumible' product; if you're going to shoot a couple of hundred rounds through your 1911 pistol every week, most weeks of the year, you have to expect that the extractor is going to fail eventually, even if you're using the now-classic STI.

It's only reasonable to have a spare extractor in your range bag, but when I went looking for mine, I discovered that the cupboard was bare ... extractor-wise.

Chuck had much the same problem: he had no STI extractors in stock, and his order to STI hadn't come in yet. But he had AFTEC extractors on hand, and I've always wanted to see if this product was worth the premium price it demanded, so I ordered one.

I also back-ordered a replacement STI extractor, to be delivered as soon as Chuck's order came in. It never hurts to have extra parts on hand, if you compete in as many matches each year as SWMBO and I do.

I didn't get my order in to Chuck until Monday night. He replied by email later that same night (has Chuck nothing better to do than keep track of his customers?) and I clarified my request that he send his available extractor ... the Aftec ... immediately, and also send a spare STI extractor as soon as they came in.

I received my Aftec extractor on Thursday night.

Information available on the Internet indicated that installation of the Aftec extracor required 'some gunsmithing'. Specifically, they supposedly required that you drill out your extractor channel to fit the larger-diameter Aftec. After this, of course, the stock extractor was no longer an option.

The extractor is an Aftec Extractor. It uses a small, heavy duty coil spring to give constant tension to the case in the chamber. I have broken two of these in this gun so far. The replacement parts are hard to come by as they are no longer produced. To install the Aftec extractor, you have to drill out the extractor hole in the slide to a larger diameter. It is impossible to go back to the regular type extractor after one of these are installed. The weak area is by the hook part of the extractor, where a crack forms and eventually the hook breaks off. I do not recommend this modification because of the two failures I have had with mine.

Either this description is VERY much out of date, or it is patent bullshit. I prefer to believe that this installation process is based on a very EARLY model of the Aftec extractor.

My experience was less traumatic. The Aftec dropped right in. The extractor channel didn't require any modification, and even the perennially Gunsmithing-Incompetent Geek was able to install the After-Market part without opening the dusty Dremel Tool box.

Saturday morning, 9am, I started the match at the Albany Rifle & Pistol Club. To my delight, the Aftec extracted with near-perfect reliability. (The single exception was when I attempted to use a 140mm magazine newly equiped with a 'Dawson Plus-Two' basepad, which caused a jam after 6 shots in the 22-round magazine. My bad: I had used an 'old' 170mm ISMI magazine spring, conforming to my personal theory that a NEW 140mm magazine spring wouldn't work with a plus-two magazine. I'll replace that with a new 140mm ISMI magspring and report back later. Did I mention that I was mechanically stupid?)


John Moses Browning ... My Hero!

While I'm a traditionalist where gun-parts are concerned, I've never been entirely convinced that the original John Browning design of a bend-it-to-tune-it extractor was the best possible solution. Given the one-match experience, I have no negative critical comments about the Aftec extractor so far.

Give me some time. If it's possible to muck it up, I'll do it. But for now ... I like it!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Let me start by correcting some misinformation. If you received an Aftec extractor, there is no mention of opening up the hole for the extractor in the instructions anywhere.(There was a extractor on the market for a few years, called the Kidd Modular Extractor that did require modification to the extractor hole.As far as I know there are no parts available for the Kidd Modular Extractor anymore. ) Aftec is in no way affilated with that part.
Replacement springs are readily available for the Aftec Extractor at several Distributors (Including Shooters Connection) and replacement parts are very seldom needed. However if you do have questions or problems the phone number for Aftec is on the instruction sheet that came with your part.

Jerry The Geek said...

Let me start by correcting your misapprehension.

I never said that I believed one had to ... (open) ... the hole for the extractor'. What I did say, in reference to a direct quote, was:

"Either this description is VERY much out of date, or it is patent bullshit. I prefer to believe that this installation process is based on a very EARLY model of the Aftec extractor."

The source which I cited was Jon Grigsby's "F.O.P. Range, Inc." website forum. Apparently this forum has been deleted by the host; when I attempted to track the link, it wasn't found. However, at the time I wrote the article (April 10, 2005) it was still active. The URL remains on my webpage and you should feel free to research it with whatever diligence you feel is appropriate.

I went on to say:
"My experience was less traumatic. The Aftec dropped right in. The extractor channel didn't require any modification, and even the perennially Gunsmithing-Incompetent Geek was able to install the After-Market part without opening the dusty Dremel Tool box."

As much as I do appreciate your attention to this article, and even more that you took the time to respond to what you perceived as erroneous data, I would encourage you to read future articles more carefully.

However, it would be churlish of me to ignore the obvious fact that I need to write a follow-up to the original article. It has been (almost) six weeks since I first discussed my experiences with the AFTEC extractor, and I really should express my overall satisfaction with the part. This is especially apparent in light of your misapprehension. I presume that you found the website via a Yahoo search on the keyword "AFTEC"; if I had posted a summary of my longer-term satisfaction with the extractor, perhaps you would have discovered that I am extraordinarily pleased with its performance and you would not have felt obliged to 'take me to task'.

In fact, had you chosen to identify yourself, and provide an email address, I would certainly have emailed you directly to discuss your obvious respect for the engineering of the AFTEC extractor ... which I share.

At any rate, thank you for your interest, and I do hope you come back to see my near-sycophantic follow-up report.