Star Super-SM FTE Issues

jleavy1977 · Oct 2, 2020

Looking for some thoughts on what could be causing intermittent failure to extract issues on my little Star Super-SM .380 ACP.

Cartridges feed just fine, but every other round or so the empty case isn't being pulled from the chamber after firing (see photo.) I've had the extractor inspected and extractor spring replaced, no luck. I tried lubricating the cartridges and the problem stopped, so I had the chamber polished, but the issue is still occurring on unlubricated cartridges.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated, thanks

[edit] forgot to mention that I have also tried different ammo, ran everything from 85-115 grain. Manufacturer specs 95 grain, and for whatever reason the cheap stuff doesn't hang as much as the higher end ammo!

Medic! · Oct 2, 2020

Have you tried different brands of ammo?
Run some hot stuff and see how she dose.

Dose it have the correct recoil spring?

jleavy1977 · Oct 2, 2020

Medic! said:
Have you tried different brands of ammo?
Run some hot stuff and see how she dose.

Dose it have the correct recoil spring?

Yes, forgot to mention in original post. The manual specs 95 grain wt and I ran several different brands/gain weights, everything from 85 to 115. Believe it or not the cheap stuff worked better than the higher end ammo (?!)

As for recoil spring, that's a good thought; I assume that it has the original stock spring and hadn't been fired much when I got it (at least I'm told.) Should be a fairly inexpensive spring to pick up, I'll replace it and see if it makes a difference.

Thanks for the suggestions!