Cleaning extractors on auto loaders

[martybee]

All my S&W Auto loaders are of the type with external extractors. On average how often should they be removed for cleaning as well as the accommodating cutout in the slide?

mb

[bigggbbruce]

They don't come apart until you need to fix them.

I spray Remoil librerally to dissolve the crud and flush it out. Wipe clean and go shoot some more. You can add an extra drop of oil to the pivot point the Remoil is only good for a while.

[Sevens]

I find RemOil to be a horrifyingly bad choice. I've seen more guns gummed up with nasty, congealed RemOil than I care to remember. Better than WD-40... but worse than most everything else.

[dusty3030]

Originally Posted by Sevens

I find RemOil to be a horrifyingly bad choice. I've seen more guns gummed up with nasty, congealed RemOil than I care to remember. Better than WD-40... but worse than most everything else.

The aerosol? Ived used it by the case for years and have yet to see one gummed up gun. Ain't the best oil but a great solvent.

[dusty3030]

To the original poster, use a solvent and brush. Toothpick if there is any caked on crud (rim fire blowback problem, not really an issue otherwise)

[BMCM]

Originally Posted by martybee

On average how often should they be removed for cleaning as well as the accommodating cutout in the slide?

Never for routine cleaning/maintenance. The extractor should only be pulled if broken or perhaps to address a function issue focusing on extraction failures that cannot be corrected by other means.

I recommend using a clean dry brush to clean under the extractor hook and breechface area.
These work well... I prefer the stainless steel ones and use the small end for getting under the extractor hook.
ALL PURPOSE CLEANING BRUSHES | Brownells

These do nicely for cleaning the breechface. Again, stainless bristles preferred.
HEAVY-DUTY GUNSMITH BRUSHES | Brownells

Wipe everything off with a clean dry shop rag. If available you may use a blast of compressed air but, take care to not force junk under the the extractor and especially be careful to not blow any trash into the firing pin channel.

Avoid splashing oil or solvents all over the place. This stuff will migrate into places where you don't want it. Lubricants or CLP type agents especially will leech into areas like the the firing pin channel and the extractor channel and turn into a sticky mess as they collect carbon, dust and other trash eventually causing the arm to malfunction. Those are just a couple examples of things on these guns that should be run dry.

These comments posted by Fastbolt relate directly to your question.
http://smith-wessonforum.com/139030111-post8.html

Ofttimes overzealous cleaning or overly liberal use of lubricant does more damage than if the arm was just left alone and shot dirty.

Cheers
Bill

[martybee]

Thanks for the information and detailed instructions! You saved me a lot of work. Someone at the LR told me the carbon from the blow back at the breach deposited a lot of gunk under the extractor and as such, would have to be disassembled and cleaned on a regular basis.
A person learns a lot from the posters on this forum!
Again, Thanks.

mb

[SMSgt]

Save your old tooth brushes. They're great for gun cleaning, and many other things as well.

[bigggbbruce]

Originally Posted by dusty3030

The aerosol? Ived used it by the case for years and have yet to see one gummed up gun. Ain't the best oil but a great solvent.

I like it because instead of an oil stripping solvent it leaves a light protective coat of oil when clean.