Need to make an extractor claw for an A.A. Arms AP-9

[turbo1889]

My boss gave me an A.A. Arms AP-9 from his personal collection as an off the books bonus. He said there was something wrong with it and you could only fire one shot at a time with it because it would jamb up with both the old empty case and the next fresh round off the top of the clip both in the slide at the same time. If I wanted it, it was mine and he figured if anyone could fix it and make it run right it would be me.

Took it out to the range with some of my cast boolit pet loads for the 9mm NATO cartridge and it does exactly what he said it does and I figured out that the reason it does that is because the extractor claw is missing from the bolt assembly and thus the empty case doesn’t get thrown out the side by the ejector punch but rather just driven back forward in the empty slop space forward of the bolt when the bolt is back.

So long story short, does anyone have any pointers on this project or better yet photo or a link to a photo of what the original extractor claw looked like?

I’ll try to get some pictures up later of where it goes in the bolt when I’m back at my computer at the house.

[RayinNH]

Call http://www.gunpartscorp.com/. See if they have one, probably much easier...Ray

[turbo1889]

Thanks, but I already checked there and a lot of other places. Parts for this particular firearm are all but non-existent (it's a very politically incorrect fire-arm and was only produced in limit numbers before the manufacture was forced out of business). From what I've learned so far it looks like I can use TEC-9 magazines with only slight modifications to them but parts interchangeability beyond that between the TEC-9 and the AP-9 is sketchy at best and I have already confirmed they use different extractor claw arrangements since their bolts are set up differently.

[turbo1889]

Okay, here are some photos:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4088/5063815862_0cbcb01d9f_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/54455625@N04/5063815862/)
AA Arms AP-9 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/54455625@N04/5063815862/) by turbo1889 (http://www.flickr.com/people/54455625@N04/), on Flickr

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4132/5063206007_dcb0f286db_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/54455625@N04/5063206007/)
AP-9 Bolt 1 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/54455625@N04/5063206007/) by turbo1889 (http://www.flickr.com/people/54455625@N04/), on Flickr

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4112/5063206117_2f93f7f95c_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/54455625@N04/5063206117/)
AP-9 Bolt 2 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/54455625@N04/5063206117/) by turbo1889 (http://www.flickr.com/people/54455625@N04/), on Flickr

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4125/5063816024_2d4d17dbb3_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/54455625@N04/5063816024/)
AP-9 Bolt 3 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/54455625@N04/5063816024/) by turbo1889 (http://www.flickr.com/people/54455625@N04/), on Flickr

As you can see the extractor claw fits in a simple hole drilled in the face of the bolt and is held in by a set screw from the side. I think my best bet for a first try is to use a length of piano wire about 2/3 the diameter of the hole so it has some room to flex and grind a flat in the side to line up with the set screw and a groove and and angle on the end.

Thoughts or pointers are appreciated; especially if you are someone who has done a project like this before.

[whopist]

Just something off the top of my head!

Check a 1911 extractor (45 & 9mm) and see if it can be altered to get by until you find one.

[turbo1889]

Well, I got it done and it works great, a lot of cut and fit work with a Dremel and small air grinder. I’m going to post some more pictures to assist anyone else out there with a similar problem that pulls up this thread in a search in the future:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4091/5066645264_a99811a2b9_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/54455625@N04/5066645264/)
Home-Made Replacement Extractor Claw Ground from 3/16 Piano Wire (http://www.flickr.com/photos/54455625@N04/5066645264/) by turbo1889 (http://www.flickr.com/people/54455625@N04/), on Flickr

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4107/5066645014_b1f2ec0df6_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/54455625@N04/5066645014/)
Home-Made Replacement Extractor Claw Along Side AP-9 Bolt (http://www.flickr.com/photos/54455625@N04/5066645014/) by turbo1889 (http://www.flickr.com/people/54455625@N04/), on Flickr

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4091/5066033517_6802cb6862_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/54455625@N04/5066033517/)
Home-Made Replacement Extractor Claw in AP-9 Bolt 1 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/54455625@N04/5066033517/) by turbo1889 (http://www.flickr.com/people/54455625@N04/), on Flickr

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4108/5066645166_415f168e42_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/54455625@N04/5066645166/)
Home-Made Replacement Extractor Claw in AP-9 Bolt 2 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/54455625@N04/5066645166/) by turbo1889 (http://www.flickr.com/people/54455625@N04/), on Flickr

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4125/5066644936_e7609d8b8e_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/54455625@N04/5066644936/)
It Works Great and Grabs the Shells Nice and Tight (http://www.flickr.com/photos/54455625@N04/5066644936/) by turbo1889 (http://www.flickr.com/people/54455625@N04/), on Flickr



Not the prettiest gun part out there but it works and the gun now runs flawlessly. Going to be a great little cast boolit pop can killer.

For anyone else who needs to do something similar two pointers: Bend the end of the piano wire stick in a gentle arc and then cut it to length and then grind out one side of the inner radius to make the claw hook so that the claw hook protrudes off center to reach out and grab the case. Also back grind relieve the back side of the claw to lighten up the spring tension in the metal until the point where when the bolt is closed on a round already in the chamber the hook snaps around the rim on the case head without ripping up the brass but still has enough tension left to be nice and tight.

[Buckshot]

................Now that you made one that works, you should take it out take the measurements and draw up a 'plan' with the dimensions and post it here:-) Who knows, you might need another in the future and there it'd be!

..............Buckshot

[EMC45]

Well done Turbo!