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Yes I took my Colt Combat Commander and throated it to feed flying ashtrays bullets.

I took my handy dandy Dremel tool and ground the feed ramp and barrel throat till they met perfectly. You know those idiots at Colt left a 1/32" gap from the barrel to the frame ramp. Then I extended the barrel throat at least 1/8" and widened the throat so it will feed anything now.

Ha Ha! Sorry a little Halloween horror humor. Just mentioning a Dremel tool and a 1911 together is frightening enough.

One of my recently acquired SS Colt Combat Commander had a MIM extractor in it. Colt did that for a short while. I had a Factory Colt bar stock extractor I had removed from a Series 70 Re-Issue Government model and installed it in the Commander.

The extractor may have had a little too much tension doing the shake test with a 230 ball. I tried to barely bend it. When I retested it it was still a little too tight. Decided to shoot two fully loaded magazines through it. One to test feeding and another to test ejection.

The Commander did not disappoint. This pistol has not been thoroughly tested but it has never failed to feed, extract and hold the slide back.

I tried to take pics of the extractors to show the spew marks on the MIM one and also the extra cut I do on the bottom edge of the extractor hook to help with extractor function.




you can see the MIM circular spew mark on the flat end of the extractor

A pic of the unaltered Colt MIM extractor hook



Another pic of the cut I do to the bottom part of the hook to improve feeding (sorry it's a little blurry)

Did you do that at the kitchen table?! Shame on you.

Full discloser, It was a desk. But don't tell anyone it could give gun butchers a bad name.

By chance do you mean the "sprue" on the MIM parts?

yes, sorry I was too lazy to look up the correct spelling.

Probably won't show in a photo but you can see a faint mold line 90^ to the sprue.
I think Colt only used these MIM extractors for 2-3 years around the late 1990s.

The best I can remember Colt did use MIM to produce the Mag release, mag release lock, sear, and the disconnector.

That was the info out a few years ago I don't know if Colt's are still made the same way. Dan Wesson's used to be the least expensive 1911's that contained no MIM parts.

I hacked up my series 80 a few years ago. Replaced the plastic shoe trigger with aluminum, the nylon MS housing with steel, and a couple other bits and pieces. I forgot to replace the mim disconnector. I have no idea if my extractor is mim...

Oh well, the kitchen table awaits more hackery later. I don't have a Dremel. Although the kitchen is accumulating tools because I can't get food packages open without them :⁠-⁠)

What problems did you fix by buggering that extractor?

This Les Baer/Ed Brown/RIA/Novak/Chip McCormick/Wilson Combat/VZ Frankenpistol was created on a genuine kitchen table in a real kitchen, including lapping the Black Nitride treated Les Baer Comanche slide to the RIA stainless steel compact frame using valve grinding compound and a rubber mallet.

The target was shot two hands standing at fifty feet. This pistol seems to want to shoot well all by itself, with me along just to hold it up.

Properly executed MIM will work in a lot of places. But the extractor is actually a spring and MIM does not lend itself to flex.

LS1 engines in 'vettes and F-Bodies back in -97-2004 had powdered metal connecting rods. They held up to over 500 HP.

I saw that in the picture thread. Very impressive results. You obviously have skills and read up on how to fit parts.

I've built a frankin' pistol myself with a Colt slide and a Caspian frame. Took awhile to get that slide to work on the oversized rails. I chickened out on the fire control and bought the so call preset type. One was a Nowlin don't remember the brand of the other set I have used. I sold it before I completely finished it. A fellow shot it and just had to have it. I don't know why because it wasn't pretty.

That’s putting it mildly! Better part of two days for mine. Black Nitride treatment makes steel very, very HARD.

Hah! Ya had me going there for a minute.


Nice work!

So you didn't fix anything - you're just playing.

It's called prevention.

Preventative maintenance..

PM prevents unexpected failures in the future. Conducting periodic PMs and fixing potential issues before they become a problem or break is simply a good practice.

I have conducted PMCS literally thousands of times on weapons while working OCONUS and not surprisingly those weapons ran extremely well.

Correct .45acp 1911 extractor fitting, IMO is right at the top of list of to do's on a reliable 1911.

Good hook to breech face distance and initial deflection are the foundation for the rest of the job.

I check them before ever firing a round.

Your hook shape looks to be right on the money!

I've seen a few extractors with the bottom ramp cut way too high allowing loss of case tension when the barrel is linked down.

I've made gauges to set deflection and use pin gauges to check hook to breech face.

With deflection set correctly you can get away with way more tension than if the case has to push the extractor way over to slide up the breech face.

1911's are probably not for everyone....I got a good chuckle from your OP!

He's obviously been reading Jerry Kuhnhausen.......................

MM

I replaced all the MIM parts in my Springfield TRP. Even the plunger tube had a sprue line from the form mold. I didn’t know much about MIM before buying the gun and considering the price was $1500 I definitely had no idea such cheap parts were used in it. The only factory parts left are the frame, slide and sights. The gun ran fine as it was but the peace of mind that all the parts are forged steel means a lot to me. Much less likely to fail under normal circumstances and everything I run in it is +P levels.