[fordemti]

Do y'all remove the extractor from the bh when cleaning your MP5? I did tonight and found a lot of crud under there. Just wondering if it's ok to do so.

 

[scottinthegrove]

As I recall, the armorer's manual suggests removing the extractor for cleaning after 1,000 rds of use. I don't know as I follow that strictly, but I pull mine every once in a while for cleaning. If the extractor spring gets bent, then I pull the extractor and clean under it before I replace the spring. YMMV.

Scott

 

[retrodog]

About 5000 rounds and haven't pulled it yet. Maybe I need to but I haven't.

 

[whodge1327]

About 5000 rounds and haven't pulled it yet. Maybe I need to but I haven't.

+1. Maybe I am too cautious, but, I don't want to jack with that extractor spring unless I'm changing it out for fear of reducing it's tension while removing.

 

[SWolff]

Clean it out whenever you replace the extractor spring. You could also throw in some mineral spirits and that should get in the small gaps and atleast help keep the crud build up down

 

[fullmann]

Naa, that's what the brake cleaner and old toothbrush are for.

Never had an issue with that setup, well until the spring starts to weaken up.

 

[rhouston8]

yeah...lots of gunk builds up under that extractor...but i dont know if its ever caused me issues or not.

I clean it ...the entire bolt head assembly broken down, etc.... maybe every 3 shoots...so say 750 rounds as a guess. I never thought about ME doing the damage to the extrac. spring...hmm...makes sense though. Sometimes you have to torque it good to get 'er out.

hh

 

[Shattered Mind]

Really? I clean the entire gun after a shoot. 3 days of blasting will gum up just about anything, and if you might encounter corrosive ammo, it's a must each night. I break it completely down, except for the trigger pack which just gets hosed out with brake cleaner. I don't seem to have any problems with weakened extractor springs. Even one days shooting puts a TON of kalaka under that extractor.

 

[rhouston8]

I never shoot corrosive. I got lazy Shattered. It got to the point that I was spending WAY to much time cleaning guns ...to the point that it started making me not look fwd to shooting as much. After inquiring...I found that bunch of folks just do a quickie clean (bore, general wipedown, etc) and do FULL cleans every other or 1/3 shoot session....I adopted that this past yr and kinda am enjoying shooting more these days. No ill effects so far. Now if Im not planning on shooting for a month or longer...then I'll fully clean the gun for long term stoarge regardless. I'm not touting this as the "right way"...it's just "a way" that sessm to work for me and it allows me to take more guns to the range to blast...knowing that I dont have to spend hrs cleaning them all, etc,etc.
hh

 

[fordemti]

That was my thinking shattered. Just wondering if anyone felt the same way.

 

[rhouston8]

oh to clarify...a "shoot" for me doesnt mean a "Big Sandy" or a 3 day blast-a-thon (for which I'd always do full cleaning)...rather it means going out for a couple hrs with a few guns throwing a few hundred rnds down range....

hh

 

[kwesi]

I used to clean the extractor every time but was told it wasn't needed that often & it would only weaken the spring.

 

[Shattered Mind]

oh to clarify...a "shoot" for me doesnt mean a "Big Sandy" or a 3 day blast-a-thon (for which I'd always do full cleaning)...rather it means going out for a couple hrs with a few guns throwing a few hundred rnds down range....

hh

Ok... cool enough. I have to do more of that. Not too many places around here for informal cap busting. I could shoot out in my backyard, as I'm out in the country and have enough acreage, but there's no need to alert the neighbors as to what's in my safe. I do NO shooting here and it pains me greatly as the yahoos across the street are starting to drag ARs and AKs out, besides the usual yahoo 454 Casulls and 10-22s.

OHIOSUBGUN was supposed to be starting a monthly subgun match in central Ohio, but I haven't heard anything of late... and I NEED to sharpen up the ol' skillz.

 

[RonT]

O.K. Never had a problem with either my 33 or 91, but my mp5k had some issues with bolt gap and bad ammo. Whenever the K stove piped, it seemed to crush the extractor spring. Like others have said a douse of brake parts cleaner removes most gunk from around extractor spring as well as m16 brush and hoppes. I've corrected the problem with the K gun but only 560 rds since last spring change. P.S. shot the hell out of it to reduce bolt gap. If everything is working well you probably won't have to change out extractor springs, however the manual suggests trading out for a new spring at xxxx rounds(sorry don't remember round count off the top of my head) for reliability.

 

[JTinIN]

At the old subgun match (Indiana State Submachine Gun Championship) and some of the guys shooting a lot with out cleaning (did even get to see an Uzi fail due to dirt ;-) the crude on the extractor would build up to the point that needed to use a metal probe to clean the mess out (the crude just laughed at brake cleaner and a M16 tooth brush ;-). This was of course more common on suppressed guns.