Colt 1903 Failure to Extract

[TLloyd912]

I just purchased a Type 1 Colt 1903 from 1904. After every shot the shell casing gets stuck in the chamber. The extractor appears to be in good shape. The case seems to be expanding in the chamber more than would be expected. It takes quite a bit of force with a wooden dowel to remove the spent shell casing.

I have tried 3 different types of ammo brands with the same result. Gun has been cleaned well. Barrel appears to be original from 1904. OEM replacements are hard to come by and at $175 for a reproduction, I am wondering if there is anything else I could try first. Would a new barrel likely be the only fix? Any helpful input will be much appreciated.

 

[oconeedan]

Have you cleaned the chamber with a brush? Or removed the extractor and spring and cleaned?
I'd replace the extractor and spring, before thinking it was the barrel. Could be either, or both. Dan

 

[sams]

De-glaze the chamber and also check the strength of the spring pressure on the extractor. glazing of the chamber is most likely the problem. I de-glaze a chamber with a snug bore brush in the chamber only, attached to a cleaning rod and drill 5 seconds right and left rotation.

 

[TLloyd912]

Have you cleaned the chamber with a brush? Or removed the extractor and spring and cleaned?
I'd replace the extractor and spring, before thinking it was the barrel. Could be either, or both. Dan

I have cleaned the Chamber with a brush but haven't removed the extractor and spring. It will chamber and remove an unspent round no problem. The casing is so hard to remove it is almost like it has slightly welded itself to the chamber wall. If that makes sense. I will try cleaning those parts. If that doesn't work I will try replacing the extractor and spring. Thanks for your reply.

 

[TLloyd912]

De-glaze the chamber and also check the strength of the spring pressure on the extractor. glazing of the chamber is most likely the problem. I de-glaze a chamber with a snug bore brush in the chamber only, attached to a cleaning rod and drill 5 seconds right and left rotation.

I cleaned the chamber with a bore brush. Everything is smooth with no scuffs or anything that would possibly snag the shell casing. Could the diameter of the chamber be too large allowing the shell casing to expand too much? I would guess that wouldn't be possible because the extractor should almost instantly snatch the spent shell casing out. I know that the barrel barely has any visible rifling and has definitely seen better days. Thanks for your reply.

 

[oconeedan]

I 2nd the idea the chamber may be glazed. I am guessing some steel cased ammo has a lacquer coating to keep it from rusting, and it cooks off and builds up on the chamber. I had this issue with an old mosin. It is not easy to clean out . More than just wiping with an oversize brush. Like the earlier post, brush it good with solvent and an oversize brush on a drill.

 

[TLloyd912]

I 2nd the idea the chamber may be glazed. I am guessing some steel cased ammo has a lacquer coating to keep it from rusting, and it cooks off and builds up on the chamber. I had this issue with an old mosin. It is not easy to clean out . More than just wiping with an oversize brush. Like the earlier post, brush it good with solvent and an oversize brush on a drill.

I tried that and went and tested it out. Same result. I did take the spring and extractor out since your first response. It appears that the spring is pretty worn out, so that could be my problem. Thanks again

 

[John A.]

I have seen this problem before on an old, beat-up Beretta 1915 in .32. The chamber had been pitted
so badly that metal was missing in the forward half of the chamber. Upon firing, the cases would expand
to fit the over-large portion of the chamber where pitted, and one had to drive the case out with a dowell
or screwdriver. No amount of intervention with extractor, etc. would fix it. The only fix was a new barrel.

You are lucky new repro barrels are now being made for this gun. If the rest of the gun is good mechanically,
once a barrel is properly fit, it should be an excellent shooter. If there are other mechanical problems with
the hammer, trigger, sear, safety, etc, then you might be sinking good money after bad. These are not rare
pistols, so consider whether the barrel will likely be your major repair, or if there are other problems lurking
in the lockwork.

Usually, their lockwork is in fine shape, no matter how bad the exterior looks. Once properly fitted with a good
barrel, they are extremely accurate and should be 100% reliable, assuming nobody tried to do a "trigger job"
and did other internal damage, which I have rarely seen.

Good luck, and hope this helps!
John

 

[Shrek926]

Extractor spring is more than likely spent. Springs wearing with compression and rebound, older springs do it twice as fast due to metallurgy.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[MuleShoe]

Are you shooting brass case ammo! I’ve had a lot of guns brought to me with steel cases stuck in chamber and even broke extracters!