Help with Taurus PT99 FTE problem!

[bugman]

Hi CG experts! I know I can avail of the lifetime warranty of Taurus and send this back to them for repair, but I am tight in budget department right now. I am also saving up the few extra dollar to finally order a C&R rifle using my C&R license for the 1st time.

Ok, now to describe the problem. The pistol will not eject the spent shell and just leave it in the chamber. Sometimes you can fire 2-4 rounds before it fails to eject. Sometimes it fails to eject on the first shot. I tried different ammunition brands and loads. It does not seem to be a broken extractor given that it does not look like the extractor is damaged and it does eject shells. I have thoroughly cleaned it too. It's a constant irritation that you cannot even get to fire 5 consecutive rounds before it fails.

Any suggestions and even video/diagram instructions on what to do or check will be greatly appreciated.

On a side note, what is the legal procedure in sending a firearm back to manufacturer for repairs? I know I have to pay the shipping, but what CA laws do I need to be aware of? I assume they ship it back to me directly after the service, right?

[ojisan]

If a unfired round will feed, chamber, extract and eject when manually racking the slide, likely mechanically all is OK.
I had an autoloader that I shot lots of lead rounds through.
Lead built up at the step in the chamber where the case mouth is.
The lead build-up caused problems to extract / eject after a round had been fired and the case mouth had expanded (and stuck). Are you sure there are no scratches or gouges in the chamber walls?
The lead did not come out with casual cleaning, I had to scrape it out with a dental pick.
Yes, you can ship straight to Taurus and they will ship straight back to you.

[bugman]

I tested feeding by manually racking the slide, and it works just fine. As far as I can see there is no lead built up or scratches on the chamber walls.

Any other possibles causes that I can check and fix by myself?

[randy]

Send it back use the warranty.

[Turbinator]

Is the extractor spring still springy and working? Sounds like the spring may not be that great to keep the extractor claw grabbing the case rim. Was the gun purchased new or used?

Turby

[viras]

I have a Taurus PT92.

I used this video when I removed my extractor and cleaned that general area, which is what I recommend. The general cleaning of this area helped me quite a bit with FTE's - I was getting FTE's randomly but in groups, and it was getting annoying. Since cleaning the extractor area, I haven't had an FTE in the last 800 rounds...

Anyway, I realize that the video is meant for the Beretta 92FS, but the Taurus 92/99 is pretty much the same (minus the relocated decocker/safety), and the extractor piece is similar.

Also, what are the first three letters in the serial number on the gun? The first three letters denote caliber, year, and month of manufacture. Older models (<1990's) had inferior parts which wore faster... (Note: All of the information below I obtained at www.taurusarmed.net. I cannot confirm it's validity further than looking at my own serial and confirming that it fits in the model)

Z=2006, Y=2005 and A=2007
E=May, F=June ... (drop I and O as confusing with numbers) ... L=December, A=January.

Mine is TZH, so that's 9mm2006August, which is correct.

+1 to Turbinator's question - is the extractor spring still springy?

[bugman]

Turbinator, the gun was purchased new a loooong time ago. I started to suspect the extractor spring like you pointed out.

Viras, thanks for the informative links and info. I will try to check out and clean the extractor.

[bugman]

I was able to remove the extractor today. It was very dirty, but the spring seems alright. There was considerable dirt build up around the pin hole area of the extractor and also in the spring area. Hopefully, all will work well after I put it back together again.

[Turbinator]

I was able to remove the extractor today. It was very dirty, but the spring seems alright. There was considerable dirt build up around the pin hole area of the extractor and also in the spring area. Hopefully, all will work well after I put it back together again.

Ok - so just a guess, if it was sufficiently dirty under the extractor, maybe the rim wasn't getting under the extractor well enough to encourage 100% extraction and ejection every single time. See if the cleaning solves the problem. In guns I've checked out, I've found that often people forget to clean under the extractor, and this could cause problems as we are speculating here. Good luck and report back what you find out.

Turby