Customer brings me a Browning Buck Mark that is experiencing a failure to extract. He says he has only tried one type of ammunition since purchasing the pistol.
1.How would you make this firearm safe to begin working on?
First, I would remove the magazine so I would not feed ammunition to the firearm. Next, I
would pull back on the slide and use the slide stop to lock it to the rear. Finally, I would visually and physically inspect the pistol for the presence of ammunition paying close attention to the exposed bore of the barrel.
2.If the sear in this firearm needed replacement, where might you find a replacement and how much would this component cost?
I was able to find a Browning Buck Mark Sear on MidWestGunWorks.com for $10.50.
3.What is “short stroking”, how is it caused, and what steps within the Cycle of Operations can it negatively affect in this firearm?
Short stroking is when the bolt or slide of the firearm does not fully cycle. This usually results in the stove pipe or failure to eject type malfunction. You can tell when a firearm is short stroking because it may catch the spent casing in the ejection port, fail to feed the next round or even fail to re-cock the firearm.
4.If, during the test fire, you discover that the pistol experiences erratic extraction with a variety of ammunition, what part(s) would you most suspect are causing this malfunction?
Erratic extraction when using different brands of ammunition may mean that something is
wrong with the firearm and not the ammunition. One of the first things I would inspect for
damage or missing parts would be the extractor located on the right side of the frame on the front of the slide. If it shows wear or is broken this may be why you have unpredictable or
erratic extraction.
5.Based on the component(s) that you identified above as suspect, how might you best remedy this malfunction? Are there any mastery skills you would need to possess prior to performing such work on the firearm?
Usually before I start looking to order parts I will clean the firearm to see if it was just dirty and not functioning as intended. Then I would test fire it again to see if the problem was fixed. If I did need to replace the part then I would absolutely do some research on how it is done properly. I don’t believe Mastery is required to perform this task, but it can’t hurt to research first.
6.What test(s) might you perform after making such a repair and what do you hope to learn by doing this?
Because we worked on the extractor, we can test to see if it works using snap caps. If it works
that way, then it’s time to hit the range and see what happens during normal operation with live ammunition. By test firing I can ensure proper operation of the extraction process and if the problem persists, I know the extractor is not the issue and I look for other reasons it was
malfunctioning.
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