I've got a 39-2 in pretty good shape.

The problem with it is it's finicky.

Occasionally it won't feed a round and fairly regularly it won't extract one.

I've tried several handloads thinking maybe "power" needs to go up or down to no avail. It will do these shennanigans with factory ammo as well.

What do I need to be looking at?

The failure to feed is less of a problem than the extraction.

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It wan't me, honest!

Failure to feed may be due to under-powered ammo, but since it occurs with factory ammo, I'd look at replacing the magazine springs and recoil spring. S&W factory springs are good quality and inexpensive.

Extraction issues can also be due to a weak recoil spring or a recoil spring that is too heavy to reliably cycle the slide during recoil. Also, check the extractor hook for damage. A chipped or rounded hook will lead to extraction failures. A build up of gunk in the extractor cut out will also lead to extraction failures as will a weak extractor spring.

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VCDL, GOA, NRA

Thanks for the input, I hadn't thought about springs.

IIRC the seller said he had installed some aftermarket ones (on the gun).

Sounds like a thorough disassembly is in order.

The magazines I have are factory, do you know if Brownells or somebody else sells springs separately?

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It wan't me, honest!

If I were facing this situation, especially with the replacement springs being admittedly “aftermarket” (read, “questionable”) I believe I would start with a Wolff spring kit and while I was installing them look for damage to the extractor hook with an eye toward replacing that if needed. I would then fire factory or factory equivalent loads to make sure the gun was right. Experimenting with reloads at various powers would come later.

Froggie

Not being difficult with this question. How could a hard steel extractor be chipped from a soft brass rim on a shell?
Perhaps an ill fitted extractor hitting the breech?

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Mike 2796
SoFo Bunch member

Some folks drop a round in the chamber and that forces the extractor to override the rim. This causes stress and that eventually will cause it to crack/chip. That is how it was explained to me a long time ago by a gunsmith. I always load from the magazine. When I carried eight rounds in an M1911A1 , I loaded a round to the chamber from the mag, them dropped the mag and reloaded with a full mag.

I was having a problem with my S&W 52 extracting. Cleaned it several times in the extractor area with a plastic awl, spray cleaners and q-tips. Now works as advertised. So try a real good cleaning, then if no joy go for the springs.

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USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

Hello AJ, like I said, not being difficult. Just dont see it!
I guess that part of the extractor lip is the thinnest part.
But the rim is soft brass.

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Mike 2796
SoFo Bunch member

Mike,

As I understand it, it is not the hardness of the brass case it is the pressure on the tip of the extractor that causes the stress on it. This leads to stress fractures/cracking/chipping.

Just a silly old aircraft electrician that has been playing with guns for 60 years.

AJ

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USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

Had similar problems with my 39-2, replacing recoil spring helped a bit but I still needed to replace the extractor. Problem solved.

What AJ said about extractor damage is the absolute truth. Brass is softer than steel, but the impact force on the thin piece of steel that forms the hook will eventually cause it to develop a crack and break.


Wolff springs are great and will likely outlast S&W springs, but if you can't get or don't want to spend the money on Wolff springs, genuine S&W springs are pretty darned good. Definitely replace the recoil spring. The factory rating is 14 pounds, but some people will install 16 pound springs thinking that will lessen the impact of the slide against the receiver when shooting +P ammo. The heavy spring may slightly reduce the impact of the slide against the receiver, but it also greatly increases the forward velocity of the slide during the feeding cycle, slamming the barrel into battery with more force and that force gets directed into the slide stop pin which can slowly wallow out the slide stop pin holes in the receiver. No free lunch with recoil springs. Anyway, definitely install a 14 pound recoil spring, S&W put a lot of time into developing their pistols and factory specificied spring rates are what work best.

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VCDL, GOA, NRA

I have had issues with extraction on an old 39. I was told the extractor has a spring behind it that gets weak. Evidently there is a minimum and maximum spring pressure that this spring must fall within. I had had the spring replaced and it ran flawlessly. I did not do the work, I had it done so I am just repeating what I was told.

There is a world of truth in the statement about a range of extractor tension. If the extractor spring does not apply force that falls in that range, odds are you will have feed issues with too much force or extraction/ejection failures with too little force. It's easy to adjust with M-1911's that have the internal extractor, much more tedious with spring loaded external extractors.

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VCDL, GOA, NRA

Smith and Wesson uses a Push-Pull Force Gage to check for proper spring tension on the various model extractors. Extractor spring tension in the model 39 series models is listed as "4 - 7 pounds".

In terms of fitment, bar and flag gages are also used to set breechface clearance (cartridge rim and base) on the extractor hook.

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Ret. LE, FA Instr, S&W Armorer

Far more complicated that setting up an extractor on a M-1911/M-1911-A1.

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VCDL, GOA, NRA