ejector cutting into lips of rounds.

[dirty harry]

Hi guys I have a bit of a problem with my colt officers mod. the gun functions well. My concern is this I notice that the lips of the rounds buy the primer has small cuts in them. i found the cause it is the magazine pushing the rounds up under the arm of the ejector. when the gun is cycled and the round is striped from the mag and chambered it cuts a small grove into the rounds lip. could I fix this problem using a bit of sandpaper, or would I effect the workings of the ejector?

[1911Tuner]

Hi harry, and welcome aboard.


That's the extractor. The ejector is affixed to the top rear of the frame on
the left side.

The pistol is supposed to feed the rounds under the extractor hook. The only thing that would cause it to mark the rims would be a burr on the contacting wall at the bottom of the hook...or the gun isn't correctly feeding the rounds under the hook. It may be push-feeding and forcing the hook over the rims.

Do this test...once. Once because it's bad for the extractor...but once shouldn't cause a problem.

Lock the slide to the rear and drop a fresh round into the chamber from the port. Use the slidestop to release the slide at full speed. Eject the round and look to see if the mark on the rim is the same as the ones that you've noticed. If it is...you need a good magazine spring.

[dirty harry]

Its not comming from the extractor it is comming from the ejector, yes the part mounted to the left side of the frame. when the mag is inserted the rounds lay under the ejector. as they are striped from the mag and go into the chamber the ejector cuts a notch on the rim of the cartridge.

It seams to do it more often with mags that place the rounds higher in the mag well. such as wilson combat. it does the same thing on any mag i use. the three wilson combat mags i bought new from midway and two chip mccormic mags are new as well.

the extractor is fine. if removed from the slide the gun still makes the same marks.

Thanks for the post. anyone have any ideas what to do.

[1911Tuner]

AH! Okay.

Some magazines will do that with extended ejectors. Does it do it with the factory mag, or only certain aftermarket magazines? If the contact is light, you can relieve the ejector's underside to provide a little clearance.

[dirty harry]

I only have one factory mag and it dosnt do it as bad, but still does.

from my original question I asked if i could take some sand paper and clean up the edge under the ejector and it would still function well? the gun runs great so far nock on wood i have never had a malfunction with it, and I would like to keep it that way.

[1911Tuner]

Hi harry,

You should be able to create a little clearance on the underside without a problem. The instructions that used to come with the old Devel 8-round mags recommended just that for pistols equipped with extended ejectors.
Sandpaper may be a little slow...especially if the ejector isn't removed from the frame. A small, flat #2 cut Swiss file may be a better route. Go slow.
Take a couple cuts and check...and be sure to stuff a paper towel into the magwell to heep the filings out of the works.

[dirty harry]

Cool I will give it a try thanks

[robot1911]

You might want to take a comparative look at those mags, too. Some mags will have the lips adjusted so that the rounds will ride a bit higher and an unmodified extended ejector can surely mark them. If the mags work well, removing metal from the ejector is the best fix.

Bob