Posted: 9/21/2008 10:12:25 AM EDT
 Anyone recognize it? |
Yup. I have always heard to NOT single load (manually put a round in the chamber) a 1911 because its bad for the extractor. If a submaching gun can have the same extractor, and fire every shot as if it were single loaded, it cant be all that bad. |
The "spring" part looks quite a bit skinnier than a 1911 extractor though. |
Think about the abuse it has seen in military training/combat situations... 
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Its a bit shorter, so the center swell is not needed. It is every bit as stiff as a 1911 extractor. The SMG basically functions as a pistol - its blow back operation which needs the extractor to pull the case from the barrel.  Seeing this just makes me feel all that much better about the 1911 design. |
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I've never messed with an M3, so I'm not familiar with the feeding cycle. I gather from your comments that the round gets out in front of the extractor and then the extractor slips over the rim, as opposed to the rim sliding up into the extractor claw like on a 1911? If so, this does reinforce some of what I've read about tests done dropping the slide of a 1911 onto a manually loaded chamber. |
Very Interesting. |
yes
That's my understanding - I must not be a big deal. I used to train with a guy who always ran a drill where the gun was emptied, and we had to manually load 1 round at a time from a handful of rounds in the weak hand. He told of a situation on Guadalcanal which inspiried the drill. If there were guys with 1911s in the class, they always bitched that it would break their gun/extractor. He always had a colorful response. After seeing the M3 extractor, I dont see how it could be a bad thing with a 1911. |
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I would think the extractor would do more damage to the brass than the brass would do to the extractor. I bet the extractor gets pushed by the brass just about as far to the side while it's being ejected also. It probably wouldn't hurt by I've never had a reason to do it. I guess if I had no choice(I misplaced my mags but I have ammo  ) I don't have to worry about it.
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