Kimber Eclipse 10mm

dfletcher

A brand of 1911 I hadn't bought was the Kimber, but I like the looks of the Eclipse & it's one of the few 10 mm 1911s OK'd for sale in CA. I have an extractor problem.

The gun won't feed a single round. Not one, ever. The case rim gets caught up on the extractor about 1/4 the way up when the bullet and case mouth just enter the chamber. Unless the case rim is pushed up perfectly vertical, no angle, behind the extractor the rim catches the extractor hook and stops. As soon as the bullet hits the ramp the misfeed begins.

I've fitted a few 1911 internal extractors before, all 45 ACP types. I see a few "10mm" extractors listed, I also see them sometimes listed with "9mm/38 Super" extractors and sometimes not - so I don't know if I need a "10mm only" extractor.

I plan on trying to fit the current extractor and have the tools for measuring, adjusting tension. There's no radius and a few sharp edges on the current extractor, so there are a number of issues that could be corrected. But I've found it's best to have a back up plan when it comes to 1911 extractors and Colt hands.

Can anyone recommend an extractor brand such as Wilson, Brown, EGW, etc and must it be "10mm specific" or does 9mm, 38 Super work?

I know Kimber offers their 10mm specific extractor for sale. I may end up with it but am interested in another option for now. And I suppose I could send the whole thing back to Kimber, that may happen, but for now I'd just as soon not.

Thanks,

rufe-snow

I had the same problem years ago. It was with a brand new SA, in 9 x 23. That I bought off CDNN. Just swapped out extractors with a original Colt 38 Super extractor. Supposedly there is a .015 difference in diameter, between rim dimensions of the 2 cartridges. But the Colt extractor worked with no problems.

tsr1965

I have heard that the Kimber's can be finicky. I have 4 other 10 mm's on the 1911 platform, Para USA Elite Hunter, Wilson Combat Super Grade, Colt Delta Gold Cup, and a NightHawk Custom, that I have never had a seconds worth of problems with.

I would replace the extractor, or have the current one checked. But since you have the tools, and are willing to give it a spin, I would try fitting it. Check for burrs on the extractor first, of course.

dfletcher

quote:Originally posted by forgemonkey
Have you looked at the extractor hook in relation to the case bevel, when the case is pushed to the rear of the extractor notch ???? (See below) Make sure the outside of the hook is not touching the case, if so, you will need to remove just enough to clear,,,,,,,don't shorten the tip of the hook.

Remove the extractor and place a cartridge in the extractor slot, push it to the rear to see if the nose of the extractor is bumping on the case body

Presume you have the correct extractor tension ,,,,,,,



edit,,,,,,,have you checked the 'j-ledge' cut on the breach face,,,,,,,,,I see a lot of mis-machined cuts that leave a crescent indentation on the rear of a fired case as well as causing difficult upward travel for the cartridge as it travels from the mag. to firing position on the breach face.



Extractor 'nose' tuning,,,,,,,,,,,,that has served me well.







The claw doesn't reach/touch the case body, that's one aspect of the extractor that's OK. There's pretty much no bevel, no slight radius on the bottom cut. I'll have to clean up that and the other sharp edges. I'm hopeful that does the trick - filing and polishing, just enough.

What this means, I don't know, but in my aggravation I cycled some 357 Sig and 40 S & W dummy rounds and they were fine - same case head dimensions, but sufficiently short that the case didn't tilt up on the ramp until the rim was fully under the extractor. And 10mm dummy rounds fed fine .... with no extractor. This makes me wonder if the extractor is too short, the cut forming the hook in which the rim sits not sufficiently wide enough "fore & aft" - the distance represented on your schematic by the shorter horizontal green line. If that's the case, I can't fix that. Cutting a new slot in the tail end for the FP plate to regulate length is beyond my ability.

bambihunter

Danny, I used to have a Kimber Stainless Target II 10mm which came out before the Eclipse. While the issues weren't as extreme as yours, at first I had FTF issues which were mostly resolved by first doing a "fluff and buff" on the ramp and slide rails. Later, I switched out magazines as the factory Kimber ones just didn't work. To me, they didn't seem to have enough pressure.
After all that, it still shot sub-par especially compared to the many other 1911 10mm's I had. I sent it back to Kimber and they sent it back supposedly polished but I couldn't see anything any different than what I had done. They also replaced several springs (didn't say which ones) and both magazines. After this, I could occasionally get through a box of 50 without a jam (FTE), but not usually. Nothing changed in the accuracy department. I always thought the Eclipse was a sharp gun and kinda wanted one when they came out but my Stainless Target II was my first and probably last Kimber.

dfletcher

I guess all is well, the pistol feeds fine after some filing and polishing, radius and bevel. I bought Wolff extra power mag springs for a little extra push and a Brown extractor just in case.

This is probably due mostly to liking what I'm used to but the FLGR is a PITA, replaced it with a conventional guide rod and cap. Playing around with the Schwarz safety, the pin that pops up when you put the slide back on and a horrible trigger pull - I can change those and did. I'm 50/50 on whether I'd buy another, how she shoots will decide.