My kimber has been 99% reliable and I"m sure i need to tighten the extractor to make it 100%.  I've looked at wilsons site on how to do it.  But i'm not sure exactly which way to stick it in the extractor channel to tighten it.  Can somebody describe it in detail or post pics to help me out?

I'm pretty sure that when you buy a wilson extractor, they come with instructions that have a decent diagram explaining the process.


But to grossly over-simplify, it works exactly as you would think - you 'tighten' it by removing the extractor most of the way, then bending it to the left. A little bend will make a big difference in tension. Don't overdo it.

Go here:

m1911.org/full_technic.htm

And then choose the link that says:

" Extractor Tuning and Installation Tips (by Bill Wilson)"

And follow those instructions,  I readjusted mine a couple days ago, and the instructions here worked well as a guide.

To put more pressure on the extractor, with about  half the extractor in the channel, I bent it a little bit by pressing on the extractor to the left (as you're looking at the back of the slide, right side up)
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That bent it just enough for me to put proper tension on the test bullet that I slipped under the hook on the extractor.  Reassembled again, and I was good to go.  

Good luck, hope this helps!
Dan

Wow.. I tried adjusting my extractor some and am surprised the gun ever cycled well.  Handcycling the slide the bullet doesn't eject at all.  It just sits there.  My guess is the only reason its been ejecting fine is the momemtum from the recoil making me tilt the gun so it falls out.  

Quoted: Wow.. I tried adjusting my extractor some and am surprised the gun ever cycled well.  Handcycling the slide the bullet doesn't eject at all.  It just sits there.  My guess is the only reason its been ejecting fine is the momemtum from the recoil making me tilt the gun so it falls out.

Are you saying that it no longer ejects from hand cycling AFTER you tightened it?  If so, it's probably way too tight.  

No.. i was trying to say that before i adjusted it the bullet didn't eject at all.. it just sat in the breach area.  It wasn't even held by the extractor.

Well I tried my kimber out at the range over the weekend.  It did great for 5-6 mags then started jamming again.  I guess i overtightened the extractor.  The odd part is i still can't get it to pass that test wilson suggested on that link posted above.  Of the jams they were mostly FTE's where the casing was still stuck on the extrator, but one was a stovepipe.  It seems odd to me how the gun always seems to shoot perfect for the first 50 rds or so and then startes to have problems.  

Quoted: As an alternative: Jack Weigand has a good tech article on Brownell's website about extractors and how to adjust them. Worked like a champ first try.

I have the Weigand extactor tensioning tool which works very well. It allows you to apply correct pressure to bend the extractor even in small increments.

Weigand also has some guages which are the thickness of a 45 acp rim and made of brass. This guage is slipped under the extractor, and using a trigger pull guage, you can measure the tension. I dont think this is completely accurate however it does work ok. I have found you can get a feel for the correct tension by hand after a while.

I'd go with Wilson, Eb Brown or Caspian extractor but if there isn't anything wrong with your current one other than a need for a 'little' re-tensioning then tune it and put it away as a spare....