A few days ago the extractor on my 4506 chipped. It was still functioning fine, with a small chip out of the center of the hooks edge. Even though function wasn't immediately compromised, in my experience this kind of thing is usually an indicator of the material being work hardened and it will only get worse fairly soon. Consequently, I decided it was time to replace the extractor.

I've spent the last two or three years building up a decent cache of spare parts with the intent of keeping these old guns running. Because of this I've accumulated multiples of anything that's likely to break or wear out, including the extractor. So, unless I bulge a barrel, crack a frame or slide, I should be good to go.

I understand this is a fitted part and while I'm not a professional gunsmith, over the years I've taught myself to do more complicated tasks, like fitting the hand on a DA revolver, rebuilding 1911s, etc. So, why not? I figured the worst scenario would be that it just wouldn't work and I'd have to contact one of our members here to do it for me. I had replaced the extractor spring with a new one when I first acquired the gun, so that was good to go.

The hardest part is, of course, driving the damned extractor pin out. This wasn't my first rodeo with that, so I was more prepared this time and it went much more smoothly. On the other hand, S&W really puts that thing in there to stay. It reminded me I really need a starter punch and I ordered one as soon as I was through.

Knowing there are slide/extractor tolerances involved, I measured areas on the new extractor, like the adjustment pad behind the notch, to see if any tweaking needed to be done. Everything matched up pretty well, so I decided to drop it in and head to the range. Like I said before, at worst it just wouldn't work and I'd go from there if neccessary.

Happily, a three hundred round session went off without a hitch. Reliability was 100%, the ejection pattern was nice and consistent and the 4506 seems to have maintained its boring sense of reliability. So, success!

On another note: I had been using a seventeen pound hammer spring combined with a standard fourteen pound recoil spring. Recently, I decided to lighten the trigger up just a touch more and went down to a sixteen pound hammer spring. Part of the hammer springs job is working in conjunction with the recoil spring to control the slides reward movement and there's a lot of mass in the 4506s slide. To avoid excessive frame battering I increased the recoil spring to fifteen pounds. This combination seems to work well. Reliability with a service level load is still 100% and the pistol shoots nice and flat and still lights off the hardest primers reliably.

Good job with the extractor.

Years ago I had to replace my 4516-2’s. There might have been internet then but I didn’t have it. I did have a disassembly/assembly book that had a S&W semi-auto in it.

Not knowing it was an exact, precise, (and difficult ,) job helped and I got it fit. The 4516’s been running perfectly since.

I like hearing stories about others successfully doing work on their own firearms.

Jim

Thanks,

When I started shooting I was a poor, young married sailor with two babies to feed. I could barely afford one gun and ammo to feed it. So, if something went wrong a trip to the gunsmith wasn't even a possibility. Consequently, I had to teach myself to do a lot of repairs. Kuhnhausens manuals certainly helped, along with a good level of mechanical comprehension and the patience to take it slow.

Good job, Trooper 224!

__________________
VCDL, GOA, NRA