I understand the earlier short extractors were replace by the longer style due to problems.
Is that true ?
If so, what were the problems with short style ?
If I buy a 459 or a 559, should I avoid short extractors ?

THANKS.

I maintained close to 600 model 59s from 1974 till late 80's there were some extraction problems across the board. The factory had problems drilling the extractor pivot pin holes.
So for a time they provided 3 diffrent extractors 1's-2's and 3's. so that the correct claw to breach face distance .059-.079 could be maintained. Extractors that had a wide angle(tail angling away from the side of the slide were more likly to have problems that those that were close to the side of the slide. tails that protrude 1/16" or less from the side of the slide normally are good. Also extractors that protrude more have less spring tension. S&W changed the extractor spring to Green color which provide more extractor tension somewhere late 70's this improved extraction. I hope this makes sense. Paul J

Many thanks Paul - great info. Here's the extractor Numrich has:
Extractor, 9mm, Early
and the spring:
Extractor Spring
They also have the pin, but no picture.
I'm looking at two 459's - one with older short, one with newer long extractor.
If I were to get the one with older extractor and had problems, would having these parts as backup solve problems, or is the problem inherent in a particular pistol ?
If it is the parts themselves, sounds like then a question of whether Numrich has the good ones ???
Maybe bottom line question - would you buy pistol with the older extractor ?
Thanks.

the longer extractor equipped pistols are the pistols that I was refering to. They work fine. I fired one, serial number 173XXX over50,000 rounds never took it apart to clean it, however i poured Breakfree on it and used an air gun to distribute the breakfree everytime I finished shooting the pistol, with both factory silvertips and reloads. I wanted to see how many rounds that I could fire before it would have problems. don't recall having any problems other than the frame cracking at the left rear of the magazine well, this was due to a stress riser (sharp corner) S&W in later autos put a radius in the corners of the mag well to take care of this problem.

Which Extractor is included in this slide??

https://www.gunpartscorp.com/Products/333050.htm

I had a 459 in the early 80's that had a short fat extractor that seems to have changed back to a long thin extractor by the mid 80's.

All of the 70's era 59's and 39-2's I have seen have the long thin extractor,

The slide pic you posted could be a 39-2 or 59 slide judging by the rear site (but 39 no dash had the same rear site)
459's had either a drift adjustable "fixed" unit or a larger winged unit adjustable for windage and yardage.

On a side note the earlier Model 39 (no dash) had a wider and longer large extractor that changed in the 39-2 series due to reports of breakage and was not used by the time of introduction of the 59 series.

Found some pics
39 no dash wide long extractor


long thin extractor on 39-2 and 59



439 with wide short extractor (notice it doesnt extend into the slide serrations )

I remember way back when the Alameda County (CA) S O bought these, and got rid of them in short order after having a LOT of extractor trouble with them.

OK, what extractor is this then?

Gun Parts has several Slides, but they either don't have Photos or they just don't show the side with the Extractor.

Thanks for all your help

Y

Attached Images

S&W59.jpg (123.7 KB, 38 views)

That is the long thin one from the 39-2 and 59 that came before the short fat extractor then returned after the brief run of short fat extractors in the early 80's.

Be aware that slide will not work with a 2nd gen 439 or 459 series frame.

WOW, I am confused from all of the above on extractor length? As I understood it, the S&W 52, 52-1, &39 had the early long extractor. The S&W 52-2 and 39-2 had the newer short extractor. The S&W 59 came out with the short extractor. What is very interesting is the Paulj8403 comments about the extractor length problems on the S&W 59s due to variances in mfg consistant pin hole placement drilling. Always thought that extractor replacement was a "drop-in" job. Glad I have not had any failures on the 52s. If I am out of line, please correct me.

__________________
TOMBECK

The long thin extractor is reliable but if you need to replace the spring or extractor,have a qualified gunsmith do it .If you dont know how to correctly remove the pin you can damage the slide and extractor. The short stubby extractor which was used on most 559`s, 539`s and some 439`guns worked good for my 539 for 30 years until it chipped. Found a replacement and it swapped out easily. It has no pin. It lifts out and releases the plunger and spring. Much like a Remington 870 extractor.
Hope this helps.
Jim

paulj84003 - yours was one of the few really informative "armorer" responses I've seen in this forum, not that I haven't noticed any of those deviations you mentioned ;-}

Later. (I hope)