Aftermarket Glock 19 slide - tight extractor

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  • benton0311

    Active Member
    Feb 26, 2011
    358
    I have an issue with a tight extractor on an aftermarket Glock 19 slide that I got as part of a kit from 80PercentGlock. The extractor is so tight that it is very difficult for the case rim to slide in and out of the extractor which causes occasional failures to go into battery and difficult extraction as the round has to literally be torn out from the extractors grasp by the ejector. I swapped parts back and forth with my G23 and I've definitely narrowed it down to either the extractor or possibly the slide face was milled a few thousandths too tall under the extractor. Either way, cases don't want to go in and out.

    I'm considering the following options:

    * Replace with a Glock 23 extractor. The 9mm ammo seems to cycle fine by hand in my G23 slide. This might be the easiest route but don't want to risk an extractor that will occasionally not grab a rim. On the other hand, a .40 extractor with the offset 9mm ejector may not be an issue.

    * Sand down the extractor to open it up a little and make it as smooth as possible. I've done this before on other guns and it's a very slippery slope and very easy to ruin an extractor. I also don't know if the OEM Glock extractors have a surface hardening/Tenifer treatment that would be removed by sanding them down.

    * Replace with an aftermarket Glock 19 extractor. Problem is that I don't know if it's the extractor itself that's the problem or if the slide is a little out of spec - either is possible. I already had issues with the barrel that was part of the kit being out of spec though.

    Any suggestions? I'm really leaning towards just ordering an OEM Gen 3 G23 extractor as being the easiest option.
     
    Last edited:

    Sundazes

    My brain hurts
    MDS Supporter
    Nov 13, 2006
    21,296
    Arkham
    Call or email the company. I got a 17 complete slide from them that was just no good. FTF, FTE stovepipes, etc. I swapped it with a factory G34 upper and it worked flawlessly, so it was not the lower.
    I emailed them and told them all the trouble shooting steps I performed and they replaced it. They should make good on it.
     

    benton0311

    Active Member
    Feb 26, 2011
    358
    Fixed it, it's as smooth as silk now.

    80PercentGlock sent the wrong extractor spring bearing (plastic buffer at end cap) with the kit. The spring bearing was for a model without LCI but the included extractor is LCI. This spring bearing was a little longer and full profile vs tapered so it stopped the LCI extractor from opening all the way to accept the case rim. The easy fix was to just trim the plastic "bearing" (I hate that name - it is in no way a bearing) to remove the "tail" to allow full extractor travel.

    I discovered this after beveling and smoothing out the extractor, which helped a little before I noticed that the extractor just didn't have enough travel. Extraction seems to be good by hand cycling but I'll need to take it to the range again to be sure. The smoothing and profiling seems to have changed the ejection angle a little for the better - more forward and to the right instead of up and back but again I won't know until I actually put a few hundred rounds through it.

    I'll probably reach out to 80PercentGlock and just see if they can send me another spring bearing and maybe an extractor just to be on the safe side. Not having the tail on the bearing to act as a bump stop may or may not cause issues under recoil but the end cap is still there so spring preload is the same.

    This is after having to sort the barrel out which had a rough, narrow, poorly profiled feed ramp and with a sharp edge at the chamber. I can crank out these frames in about an hour with basic hand tools but these aftermarket slide parts kits need a lot of work.
     
    Last edited:

    erwos

    The Hebrew Hammer
    MDS Supporter
    Mar 25, 2009
    13,866
    Rockville, MD
    I didn't have anything like those problems with my Brownells slide... rubbed the rails a touch at a couple points, but that was it. Once I gave it some wheel grease as lube, it ran fine (until I put a comp on it, but that's a different saga). I am really suspicious of these all-in-one kits... seems like cost cutting is a big thing with them.
     

    byf43

    SCSC Life/NRA Patron Life
    (I hate that name - it is in no way a bearing)

    The Spring Loaded Bearing IS a bearing.
    The plastic/polymer "bears" against the inspection plate/back plate on the slide, so that there is no metal-to-metal contact, there.


    As for aftermarket slides, the extractor mechanism (in it's entirety) on my Brownell's G17 slide, works flawlessly.

    The slide to frame rails fit was tight, but, some fitting with valve lapping compound cured that issue, quickly.
     

    benton0311

    Active Member
    Feb 26, 2011
    358
    I just replaced the trimmed spring loaded bearing with a new, OEM Glock spring loaded bearing that is a correct match to the extractor. The extractor is a little tighter than the trimmed one but the slide will now close fully with minimal friction so all seems correct and I expect no issues. If I still find there's too much friction I can still trim a tiny bit off but not too much.

    After researching, I found out that I had trimmed too much off the original which is bad, even though it will seem perfect at first. The problem if the spring loaded bearing is too short: The extractor will open further than intended, jump off the firing pin plunger and get stuck in the open position. This isn't an every round fired occurrence but when the recoil/slide velocity is just right it will get stuck open causing the case to get stuck in the chamber (either punch the bore to get the case out or hope you can remedy the extractor and drop it over the stuck case rim to extract). Either way the gun is out of the fight for a while. I was able to observe this myself by taking a pick and pulling out on my OEM G23 extractor and it will move a little and then stop when it hits the tail of the spring loaded bearing. I then tried it with the over trimmed bearing on my aftermarket slide and sure enough, just as I had read, the extractor would move all the way, jump off the plunger and get stuck open.

    So it appears the primary function of the spring loaded bearing is to prevent extractor overtravel. The spring alone would allow it to move too far but the "bearing" acts as a spring stop (or bump stop) to limit extractor movement. It is plastic since plastic will very slightly compress and deflect which means it won't jam up the extractor completely once the rod hits, just limit the travel. It is working the exact same way as the bump stop on the shocks of a vehicle work. Protection of the end plate appears to be secondary.

    Although I first thought the spring loaded bearing was a trivial component only there to protect the end plate, I discovered its true function and how important it is to ensure that the spring loaded bearing is the correct length for the type of extractor being used. Too long and the extractor will be too tight, causing difficulty or failure going into battery. Too short and the extractor can jump and get stuck open.

    I think 99% of the time this will not be a problem for most people since they either have an OEM slide or a quality aftermarket components kit where everything matches up correctly. If a vendor who is reselling components assumes "it's all Gen 3 Glock 9mm so it must all be the same" and grabs random Gen 3 parts from one bin and random Gen 3 parts from another bin, then might you get issues like mine.

    On the plus side, headaches for this were minimal and, quite frankly, very much worth the learning experience. I got a small refund due to my barrel issues a few months ago and the spring loaded bearing cost $5 after shipping.
     

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