1911 ejector doo-hickey?

[oldfart1956]

This is just a curiousity question while pondering something. My research seems to point to a given angle on the ejector nose of the 1911 as far as up/down and left/right in order to provide a proper angle of ejection. I have four 1911's now and all of them seem to have an ejector nose that is essentially flat vertical and horizontal. No angle. They work..but I've never been one to leave well enough alone. ;) Various forums give clear pictures of what they should look like and most just say to grab a file and have at it. The AGI videos cover this a bit as well. Has anyone ever made a tool that sets the proper angles? What I'm wondering about is a block of metal that would slide right on top, on the slide rails (slide removed of course) with the correct angles. One would then just run a file over the forward end of the block and whallahh...non-existent problem fixed! The tool/block would look similar to the rear section (about 1 1/2 to 2 inches?) of a slide. Just 1 of the many things I ponder while waiting on the coffee pot to finish. Audie...the curious Oldfart..

[Boolit_Head]

Might want to search and ask this question over on 1911forums.com, there is a wealth of info like that over there. I have a feeling what you are looking for is a bit of a black art, probably more learned or felt than measured. Most important is probably the bottom entrance to the hook of the extractor where the rim slides under when feeding from the magazine. Beyond that as long as it flings the shell from the gun what more could you ask of it?

[1911cherry]

There are a lot of people that file their extractor just as you mentioned , but if it aint broke I don't fix it- or try not to anyway. All my 1911's have run well out of the box, except for a pawn shop special "Llama" it took some work to get right. You can also cut an angle on the lead edge of it to try to get the extractor to override a case rim, but that'll open a whole nother can of worms. 1911forum I a good place to learn, some of the smiths that post there will show this kind of work in detail.

[1johnlb]

As long as the case mouths are not crushed and the cases don't hit you in the head the angle is good. It can be squared off and flat as long as those two things are good. The angle changes the angle of eject, and depending on your load and slide opening size, makes the difference of the angle needed.

[jblee10]

I agree with 1911cherry. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"
In theory ejection should be more vigorous if the edge of the ejector nearest the extractor is the proudest. If you know what I mean by that. But being such a small surface, I doubt much difference would be made by changing the shape of the ejector tip. I believe more difference would be made by the length of the ejector, or the shape and tension of the extractor.
Why are you looking for change? Or are you just trying to get your brass into a neat little pile?

[country gent]

Unless the extractor is long filing it may create other issues with not enough rear travel to fully eject the case from under the extractor bieing one of them. Its a fine tuned match between slide velocity, extrator shape and tension, extractor length and or shape. Alot of the info was for pistols with old "standard" ejection ports which were shorter and smaller meaning timing of ejection needed to be much closer. Pistols of modern manufacter normally have the larger National Match style size ejection ports now. That used to be one of the first mods to open up the port. The block could be made up as you describe to rework the ejector face and mau actually create more issues than it solves. An extended extrator is ussually only .010 longer so even with a long extractor there isnt much to remove.

[MtGun44]

Guys - an EXTRACTOR is NOT an EJECTOR. He is talking about the

EJECTOR, not the extractor.

Bill

[Cmm_3940]

I once had the same question, but ultimately chose to leave mine alone.

ejector at the top of the photo, extractor at the bottom:

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd195/cm6259/c8extej.jpg

[brassrat]

I once used an old extractor as an ejector until my gunsmith got back from a trip.

[oldfart1956]

Thanks for the info fellers. It was just a curiousity question more than anything. There seems to be dozens of different tools/jigs to do so many things on the 1911 but I never saw one of these. At present all 4 pistols seem to work quite well. The occasional piece of brass bounces off my forehead but not very often. No rhyme or reason to it. I've worked up a good plinker load and the brass plunks into an area about 2ft. square and that's fine. I'm doing a ton of reading on several different 1911 forums and a feller just can't read all that stuff and not get an itchy file finger. ;) Learned how to tear one completely down and have replaced a few minor parts. The 1911 is just a tinkerers dream. I am careful not to make any changes I can't easily reverse. More leaning back toward John Brownings original design than going foreward. Except for sights mebbee...might need to drill a hole in that front one and put a fiber optic tube in there. I should make some grips. And a holster. Mebbe a GI length guide rod. I don't have a titanium firing pin yet. ARRRGHH! Audie...the Oldfart..

[KCSO]

First off when someone comes into the shop with a broken doohicky I tell them NOT to try fixing it themselves. The word doohicky some how seems to imply a certain lack of technical expertise.

Now as to the ejector situation, for the most part JMB had it right and don't mess with sucess. That said I do file a slight draft of about 15 degrees on my ejector as I am left eye dominant and shoot right handed. his means with a standard ejector about every other case bounces off my head and I find that somewhat distracting. I file and tune at the range to get the cases to throw more off to the right and less up. This is sort of a try and fit operation unless you have a working sample in hand. As to the extractors I will not modify the other than to set the tension with a spring gauge and a modified case head tool.

[DougGuy]

I always liked the ejector contact late in the cycle of the slide so the brass would go out sideways and drop 4-5 feet from me. Early (long) ejectors will send brass into the next county. I shortened mine, and angled it about 15° back from square, and angled it inwards only about 5° so you could just try one and see what it does. They are not hard to swap if you get one too short. If brass is flying quite a ways, it's because the slide has quite a bit of velocity when the case hits the ejector. Near the end of the slide's travel, it slows down a lot and brass doesn't fly near as far.

[1911cherry]

Oooh ,ejector not extractor my bad....
I never filed an ejector but I have filed an extractor