Friday, June 6, 2014

Gun Maintenance: Extractors Do Need Periodic Cleaning

You may recall I replaced my first extractor with an Aftec when I was blindly searching for reliability. Now, of course, I know you need to clean the extractor channel periodically, but taking the Aftec extractor out is a pain in the ass. So, if you're like me, it doesn't happen as often as I would like. I figured maybe one good clean a year would suffice. Turns out fate has a way of slapping your ears.

Recently I've experienced two bad jams, which appeared to be extraction related. So I decided I better clean and tune my extractor, as it is the most logical place to start. Now, because I don't clean my Aftec often enough, I always have to reinvent the wheel, namely relearn how to remove and reinsert the thing. YouTube helps enormously.


Once I had the extractor out, I checked the hood and the springs. They were fine. I always carry spares anyway, just in case. Next was to use earbuds, to clean the extractor channel. Well it was a tight fit. I didn't recall it being that tight. So I applied a little bit of elbow grease, then suddenly a large piece of black crud popped out of the front end. Holy crap, I was surprised anything was even working. So I set about completing my thorough clean, and reassembled the gun. I then checked the extractor for alignment and grip. All seems good. Note to self: I must really do this more often.

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