5906 broken extractor

Hello, I have a 5906 TSW and the tip of my shell extractor broke off, can some one tell me of a good smith person in south florida, or place to buy the parts and if that is something that I can do my self. it looks easy but I am not sure,,,,Thanks in advance.

5906 Broken Extractor

I reported the same situation in this forum. I took it to a local gunsmith
who fixed the problem. You might look for my thread. The gunsmith reported difficulty in getting the replacement part.

I have my 5906 on consignment now that it is fixed. This gun was more trouble than it was worth. The gun was bought 4 years ago and was new in box.

You may ask around your local gun stores about local gunsmiths.
That is how I found the one I used.

jed

Send it back to S&W. Even better send it to LSG manufacturing. he's a certified S&W warranty service, and he never asked me if I was the original owner of the gun. The warranty was honored, shipping paid both ways, and he'll give the gun a whole once over and do what needs to be done. S&W has the best warranty in the business. Parts break. Ask any 1911 owner how they have to baby their guns. The 5906 is a workhorse that will outlast your grandkids. Don't give up on it.

LSG, Mfg|Gun Parts|Warranty|Gunsmithing

Thanks guys for the quick response, I had many S&W models before, 3904, 3913, 5906 square triger guard, but last sunday I went to the gun show in Miami just to get some 357 mag bullets, and when I saw this 5906TSW I fell in love with it, even do you can tell that it has some use on it, I still got it any way, paid $400.00 for it, it has the knight sites and rubber grip, I just ordered the extractor for $27.00 how difficult is to replace it? can some one walk me thru? I have tried to find a gunsmith here but I guess is really hard to find one, I have called a few shops and they don't have one at the store.

I agree the gun should be sent to S&W or an authorized S&W Repair/Service Center.

The extractor is NOT considered a do-it-yourself replacement.

Fitting it generally involves filing on the extractor's adjustment pad until the factory armorer's Go/No-Go bar gauge indicates the extractor fits in the slide in an acceptable tolerance range, and then a force dial gauge is needed to check for the proper range of spring tension. While there's a standard extractor spring that usually does the trick, every once in a while you get a slide that requires a different extractor spring (and there's a range of them, 3 of which are listed as appropriate for fitting an extractor in a 5906TSW).

Naturally, even though bench checks may indicate the new parts are within recommended tolerance, live-fire testing is still needed to confirm proper fit & function.

I did come across a newer 5906TSW in my last armorer class where a new production extractor actually "dropped in" the gun and passed both gauge checks. The instructor said he'd seen it happen only a couple of times during armorer classes (mine was the second class), and credited the newer manufacturing tolerances for both the guns and parts. I certainly wouldn't rely on the extractor dropping in to any particular gun without also checking it using both gauges to check for proper fit, though. I've had to file on too many of them over the years to get them to fit in guns. I came across a new 4006TSW a while back that required the standard extractor spring be replaced with the next step up (in tension) spring in order to get the gun to run properly. The bar gauge showed the extractor was fitted within the normal range, but the force dial gauge showed the stock spring (and another new standard weight spring, just to check for a "bad" spring) simply couldn't get enough tension to meet the necessary specs. The heavier replacement spring got the tension up where it belonged and got the gun up and running fine, though.

Dont try it yourself,the extracter has to be fitted in most cases,and getting the extractor pin out AND then back in is not a job for the inexperienced.

Wow ok, I will not do it myself, I know you guys have way more experience than me in this matter, and if you recommend not to do it I will not do it, I guess I will have to keep on looking for a smith person in my area. thanks

Why look for a smith person in your area? Your 5906 has a lifetime warranty....call S&W first and then send it to S&W and let them deal with it. Not only do they issue a call tag for shipping and return it to you No Charge, they will make sure that it is fitted properly. And then you have the piece of mind of knowing that it is right and from the factory. I always ask them to make sure that the gun meets or exceeds all S&W specifications for safety before returning it to me. I have yet to wait more than 10 days....
Randy
BTW....Fastbolt is dead on right with his explanation...you can take his word to the bank!

growr said:

BTW....Fastbolt is dead on right with his explanation...you can take his word to the bank!

Click to expand...

Uh ... while I appreciate the sentiment, I wouldn't go quite that far.

I've been hammering on 3rd gen guns for some years, and I've been through 4 of the armorer classes to try and keep up to date on them ... but I'm far from being anything approaching a skilled gunsmith, factory repair tech or any sort of an "expert".

I learn new things about them all the time.

I received my new extractor along with a new slide stop that I had purchassed as well but the stop is about 3 mm shorter than the original that I have, it barely comes out of the other side of the gun, is this correct? on the invoice said that is the same part number for 5904-6904-5944-459-559-59-6944da and so on.I got it on 5904 instead of 5906 due to the fact that the s/s was on back order and I like the black contrast, the difference betwen 5904 and 5906 should be only the color one being s/s and the other black. is it safe to use the new one being short like that? thanks..

Any One? please I need advise.thanks

So you all know I did the extractor replacement myself and it was very easy to do. nothing to it, I new had to be simple, some one from this site did it, and explain some details and like he said, is not that hard like most people think it is. thanks for all the great information anyway..

growr said:

Why look for a smith person in your area? Your 5906 has a lifetime warranty....call S&W first and then send it to S&W and let them deal with it. Not only do they issue a call tag for shipping and return it to you No Charge, they will make sure that it is fitted properly. And then you have the piece of mind of knowing that it is right and from the factory. I always ask them to make sure that the gun meets or exceeds all S&W specifications for safety before returning it to me. I have yet to wait more than 10 days....
Randy
BTW....Fastbolt is dead on right with his explanation...you can take his word to the bank!

Click to expand...

Just joined the forum and appreciate all the info. I am the "original" owner of a 686, but the 5906 I just purchased this month was probably owned by a police dept somewhere. The manual says warranty goes to the "original" owner, so is that the end of the lifetime warranty? Thanks

thumper1968 said:

Just joined the forum and appreciate all the info. I am the "original" owner of a 686, but the 5906 I just purchased this month was probably owned by a police dept somewhere. The manual says warranty goes to the "original" owner, so is that the end of the lifetime warranty? Thanks

Click to expand...

I think it is, A member here had the same problem I had on my 5906 and he called S&W and the cuote him 150.00 to fix his gun, so that means that they didn't cover it, I just fix mine my self, and I didn't even called them. you may try and see what they tell you..

It has never been an issue with anything I have sent to S&W....never been asked if I was the original owner. Last third gen. guns I sent in were LEO trade in 4006's, one had a cracked barrel and they took care of everything at no charge.....certainly I was not the original owner of LEO guns. All I asked for was to make sure that they met or exceeded S&W standards for safety.
Randy

Thanks for the info. Have replaced parts on a couple of old Colt revolvers and brought them back to working order, but doing repairs on an auto myself for some reason are out of my comfort zone. Think a factory fix will be my first attempt. Thanks again

The extractor is only a $20 (retail) factory part, plus another dollar for whichever extractor spring is needed to get the tension within the necessary range. Of course, you have to factor in shipping & labor, as well. It's about a 10-20 minute job, depending on how much time is needed for filing & checking fit & tension with the bar gauge and force dial gauge while fitting the extractor. (They used to have armorers use another gauge when fitting extractors, called a flag gauge, which checked Go/No-Go tolerance of the dimension between the inside of the extractor's hook and the breech face behind it, but they don't consider that gauge check to be necessary anymore.)

I heard from a fellow one time whose agency armorer apparently didn't think it was necessary to fit (or at least check for fit) 3rd gen extractors in their 5906's. Apparently, they started experiencing failures-to-extract after new extractors were simply dropped in some of their guns. (Over-filing the extractor's adjustment pad can result in the opposite problem, where the extractor is so tight that feeding problems can occur.)

The tolerances of the newer production 3rd gen guns are supposed to be tighter than the older production guns. CNC is a good thing.

I've had some older 59XX's which required quite a bit of filing on the new extractors to get them to fit and function properly, and then some of them required only a little filing in order for them to work right.

Also, in the older slides, which had the extractor spring holes cut by a hand-controlled operation, the depth and shape of the bottom of the hole could sometimes vary. There were 2 sets of "repair" extractor spring kits offered for use in the older slides if a standard new spring couldn't produce the necessary tension.

One kit was a set of "nested" springs, with a tall/thin spring nestled inside a 'normal' length/diameter extractor spring. The taller spring reached into the bottom of the hole at the center, which might be deeper than the outside edge of the hole. I was told by the factory that a hand-turned ball end mill tool of the appropriate diameter could also be used to correct the shape of the bottom of the hole in a problematic slide, but it required attention & caution in doing so (and wasn't taught in the armorer class, since using the "repair" spring kits was easier and wasn't likely to let the armorer cause damage to the slide ). This nested spring kit was eventually rendered obsolete when S&W started sending out a different 2-spring kit, where the 2 different standard dimension springs, of different strengths, could be tried to see which produced the necessary spring tension in a particular pistol.

I used quite a lot of the older nested extractor spring kits to repair early production 59XX's.

Smith and wesson 5906 broken extractor

Can a 5906tsw extractor be used in a 5906 sorry I don't know alot about these guns

Extractors are the same. If you are having extraction issues, before you replace the extractor (a fitted part), check the hook for evidence of damage. Use a magnifier. Check also that the extractor is free in the slot and is under tension. The extractor is probably OK.

A more common cause of extraction failures, particularly in used pistols, is a weak recoil spring. If you are unable to find an OEM recoil spring at Numrich, Brownells or Midway, Wolff has some replacement springs available.

Another Route

Theking1936 said:

Thanks guys for the quick response, I had many S&W models before, 3904, 3913, 5906 square triger guard, but last sunday I went to the gun show in Miami just to get some 357 mag bullets, and when I saw this 5906TSW I fell in love with it, even do you can tell that it has some use on it, I still got it any way, paid $400.00 for it, it has the knight sites and rubber grip, I just ordered the extractor for $27.00 how difficult is to replace it? can some one walk me thru? I have tried to find a gunsmith here but I guess is really hard to find one, I have called a few shops and they don't have one at the store.

Click to expand...

If you have never pistolsmithed much, IMHO, you might find the 'right' pistolsmith by calling Brownell's and asking who they deal with that is in the So. Florida region. Failing to find someone that way, just send the slide only to Cylinder & Slide, Fremont, NB. You do not have to bear the unreasonable expense of sending the whole handgun for this job.

As another said, the S&W 5906 is a great handgun and reliable as an anvil. Sure, parts break, but that is just a factor of slight defect in manufacturing and/or misuse by the operator. All mechanical devices need to be maintained and used as designed to be used. Do not load single rounds by dropping it on a round in the chamber and letting the slide slam down over it. ....

Oh, I just had another thought. If you are coming to Las Vegas soon, just stick the slide in your luggage and bring it along. I will change out the extractor for you and put it in place of the slide on my M 5906 and we can go shooting. ...

Wow! I should look at the date of the OP's post............. mea culpa!