[Paten]

Some months ago I bought a Stainless Loaded Springfield Armory 9mm pistol. It works fine as is but one thing that bothers me about it is that there are some parts that appear to be plated steel and not stainless. The parts that I can see that have this appearance are the grip safety, the hammer, the ejector, the extractor and the firing pin stop. Eventually, I want to replace these parts with stainless steel parts just for my own sense of aesthetics, so everything matches. The hammer is the easiest part as there are plenty of quality name brand stainless hammers available. Ed Brown also sells a HardCore stainless firing pin stop, so that's not a problem.

However, there doesn't seem to be alot of stainless ejectors or extractors available for the 9mm/38super. I have heard in the past that stainless extractors were difficult to tune. Is this still the case? In an older Brownell's catalog the only stainless extractor for this caliber that was listed was manufactured by the Action Works but the current catalog doesn't list them. Are there any other sources for them? What about stainless ejectors?

Also, the grip safety might be a concern. I don't want to have to have the frame welded up for a good fit. How well does the Smith and Alexander fit as a replacement on the Loaded pistol?

I would appreciate any info I can get.

Thanks,

Pat

 

[John Harrison]

Hi Pat,
I’ve built several “stainless” Springfield’s for customers over the last few years. I’ve seen the same thing as you are seeing now. It’s a shame to sell a stainless gun that has as few stainless parts as Springfield’s 1911’s do. Next time you have it detail stripped, look closely at all of the parts for any evidence of a piece of wire having been tied around the part while it was plated. You’ll see a dark ring where the wire was tied. That’s your easiest clue as to whether it’s a stainless part or not. The guns that I did 3 to 5 years ago had a stainless slide and frame, but that’s about all. The newer ones have more stainless parts, but not like they should be.
To answer your questions, King’s makes a good stainless ejector in 9mm / .38 Super. I don’t know of anyone making a 9mm stainless extractor. You might get in touch with Gary at Caspian and Don at Action Works; they both make .45 stainless extractors. You may be stuck with a plated part on the extractor. I’m not sure what the radius is on the loaded grip safeties, but would think it’s a .250” like an S&A. It’s frequent that I run into trouble when re-fitting a factory cut beavertail as they are often over-cut for ease of assembly (theirs, not yours). If you have an over-cut frame, try the .220” radius S&A.
Good Luck!
John Harrison